Dubai Old Town
When Brandon and I started planning our trip to the Maldives I noticed that most flights had a layover in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Both have been bucket list places for me so I specifically chose an Emirates flight with a 23 hour layover in Dubai to make the most of our time there.
Our first tour for the day was the Dubai: Souks, Street Food, Abra and Old Town tour through Get Your Guide. After searching through Get Your Guide and Viator, I felt that this specific tour gave us the most sightseeing, activities and bang for our buck. In fact, it had a 4.9/5 star rating with over 400 reviews at the time I booked it.
I love this shot of Old Town Dubai on one side of Dubai Creek and new Dubai on the other side.
Al Seef is the waterfront promenade in Al Fahidi neighborhood that mixes modern style with traditional Emirati heritage - fort like buildings with sandy stone facades and watch towers along the creek. It opened in 2017 as a recreation of the old world style and since then it has become a tourist hot spot.
Brandon and I actually arrived early so that we could visit the local Starbucks because of the outside appearance - and I wasn’t the only one. There was another couple there taking pictures with the exterior. Instead of ordering my usuall iced vanilla latte, I actually ordered an iced Spanish latte, medium roast, and it was delicious. Would do it again. I’m used to popular hot spots being crazy crowded with long wait times so I was surprised that wasn’t the case here. They open early, the inside is small but there is a ton of outdoor seating.
Moving on now…..
Beginning our tour, our guide, Saif, gave us a bit of a history lesson on how the UAE came about and the history of the Sheikh. While the Arabian peninsula’s history can be dated back to 6000BC, it wasn’t until December 1971 that it became known as the United Arab Emirates. The UAE comprises seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah.
We walked past several shops selling trinkets and into the Al Bastakiya neighborhood. One of the first places we went inside was the Smart Police Station (SPS). It’s actually a cool concept. Inside are 2 rooms to make video phone calls to the police. While the adult/parent is doing so, the main room is interactive. There’s a video game, plenty of seating and a small library with books. While there are 20+ of these scattered around Dubai, our guide said that they’re mostly used for people wanting to escape the heat and enjoy the air conditioning. Even after just a 5 minute walk, the air conditioning was a nice reprieve.
We visited one of the actual original houses to see the design and layout. There are few original buildings left and most of the houses in this area are now used as government office buildings. We were greeted in each house with a sampling of gahwa coffee. Served with dates beforehand, gahwa is light, bitter and typically made with cardamom, saffron and rose water.
After this, we walked to Dubai Creek. Here we had a Dubai juice (fresh squeezed orange juice and sugarcane) and chicken shawarma. Both were so good! We were also offered a bottle of water before getting on the abra. Once aboard the abra we had a quick 10 minute ride up and down Dubai Creek before docking across the creek from where we started. It was a nice relaxing way to eat our snacks and drink before heading to the souks. It’s also a great way to see the traditional Emirati-style buildings on one side and new Dubai on the other. Did you know that when Britain invaded, they landed their seaplanes on Dubai Creek because there were no actual runways!
Dubai Spice Souk
Dubai Spice Souk was the first Souk on our stop. Honestly, this was my least favorite part of the tour, which is a bummer but not unexpected. I love shopping a market but I do not love being hassled and harassed. Our guide, with the help of a few vendors, gave us an overview the spices and a few tips to not get scammed. For instance, a vendor might try to see you sunflower instead of Saffron. Saffron floats in water, sunflower doesn’t. After a quick talk and a few tips on average pricing, we were given 20ish minutes to walk around. It was a walkway of vendor after vendor after vendor trying to talk to sell you the same spices over and over. Were they respectful? Yes. Was it overwhelming and anxiety inducing? Yep. We did finally walk into a shop because I liked his cashmere scarves - and even his lowest price was double the recommended price. And then he chased us back down the hallway. Everyone else was still respectful but I wasn’t paying $300 for two scarves and a bag of tea. Three hundred US dollars. This was just * my * personal experience and I can’t imagine that it happens often, so don’t let it deter you. I hope your experience is better!
We also sampled chocolates while we here and we couldn’t get enough. The chocolate, date and nut mixes are so yummy! A must try for sure! (We even bought some in the airport on our way back to Seoul.)
Gold rate on July 1, 2024
After that, we walked to the Dubai Gold Souk. All the souks are located in the same area, separated by category. It was less than a 5 minute walk. Did you know that in Dubai, only women wear gold? Also, the price of gold is set by the government and is sold by the weight. On top of that price, there’s a 5-40% fee for the work that went into a piece and that is where you can negotiate on price. After that, a 5% VAT that you’ll be refunded upon exiting the country. Obviously, with mostly set prices, walking through the Gold Souk had less hassling occurring and was much nicer. We looked through the windows but didn’t purchase anything.
If you’re visiting Old Town Dubai on your own and don’t want to pay for a tour, here are some other places you should check out while you’re there:
Bayt Al Khanyar Museum, also known as the dagger museum.
Coffee Museum, a showcase of the treasured tradition, featuring local antiques such as coffee grinders used in the First World War and from an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Upstairs, you will find a lounge and library housing a selection of coffee books from around the world.
Coin Museum where over 470 rare coins from the Middle East dating back to the 7th century are on exhibit.
My handsome husband :)
If you’re looking to stay in this part of Dubai, there’s a gorgeous Hilton collection hotel right near the tour meeting point called Al Seef Heritage Hotel Dubai, Curio Collection by Hilton. If we come back with the girls, we’ll be sure to spend a couple of nights here. We originally looked into staying here as it’s budget friendly and has an authentic vibe. There’s so much that we DIDN’T see and do that it would be easy to fill more time here - plus all the market shopping! Our suitcases couldn’t hold another ounce, thanks to the seaplane limits, and I’ll be regretting everything I didn’t get to buy for a long time.
It was a hot morning for us, although the temperature was only 99F when we were leaving around 12:30. Our tour started at 9:30 in the morning which was perfect. I couldn’t imagine doing this tour later in the day, we were sweating only 30 minutes in. We were offered water bottles at the start of the tour and when we got lunch just before getting the abra to cross Dubai Creek. Wear lightweight, breathable fabrics and don’t forget your sunscreen!
Have you ever been to Dubai? Leave any tips in the comments!
Green dress, thrifted. Chanel Gabrielle hobo, secondhand. Cream ballet flats, Shoopen Korea.
