Downtown Dubai
With around 1300 shops, this isn't merely the world's largest shopping mall – it’s a small city, with a giant ice rink and aquarium, a dinosaur skeleton,…
Must-see shopping in United Arab Emirates
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Downtown Dubai
The art of crafting fine chocolate is taken very seriously at this high-tech 'Willy Wonka' factory, where all stages from roasting to handwrapping take…
Dubai
More tourist-geared boutique mall than traditional Arab market, this handsomely designed souq is part of the Arab-village-style Madinat Jumeirah resort…
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Sharjah
Herb-infused honey, dates, nuts and dried figs make for great foodie gifts and treats, while the long lines of stalls piled high with fruit and vegetables…
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Dubai
Southeast of the airport, near Business Bay Bridge, this 350-store behemoth has all the standard shops, plus Ikea – a draw for locals and expats. Its main…
Dubai
This top-notch tailor has made bespoke suits for distinguished clients such as Roger Federer and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, along with men's and women…
Dubai
This city-centre shopping, dining and entertainment district has the feel of a European town centre with its faux Georgian-style buildings, water features…
Dubai
This market features not only fruit and veg from local growers but also local honey, nuts, spices and eggs, plus arts and crafts, food stations and…
Dubai
Plain and simple they are not, the clothes and accessories at S*uce (pronounced ‘sauce’), a pioneer in Dubai’s growing lifestyle-fashion scene. Join…
Dubai
Home to Ski Dubai, a community theatre, a 24-screen multiplex cinema and – let's not forget – 630 shops, Mall of the Emirates is one of Dubai's most…
Dubai
Label-lovers on a budget flock to this indoor outlet mall whose architecture was inspired by a Tuscan hillside village. Midrange to fancy brands from…
Dubai
Inspired by the London original, this 1.3km-long outdoor lifestyle mall was built from upcycled shipping containers and has injected a welcome dose of…
Dubai
Hands-down the best spot for kid-friendly camel souvenirs: stuffed camels in all sizes and colours, camels on T-shirts, coffee cups, notebooks, greeting…
Downtown Dubai
This massive shop is El Dorado for bookworms. Shelves are stocked with a mind-boggling half-a-million tomes plus 1000 or so magazines in English, Arabic,…
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Abu Dhabi
This vast wholesale market, partly open-air, is the exchange point for melons from Jordan, potatoes from Turkey and onions from just about everywhere. A…
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Abu Dhabi
British architect Norman Foster's immensely pleasant reinterpretation of the traditional souq is a stylish composition of warm lattice woodwork, stained…
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Sharjah
This new souq, shaded by areesh (palm fronds used to construct huts and houses) panels, is built over the site of an earlier souq discovered during…
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Sharjah
If you're in the market for glitzy gold jewellery studded with semi-precious stones, then this grand, tile-embellished market building, dating from 1978,…
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Abu Dhabi
The garrulous traders from Balochistan, Pakistan, here are good fun, though don't expect to encounter piles of beautiful jewel-toned hand-loomed carpets…
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Bur Dubai
The place for traditional Middle Eastern attars (perfumes), Ajmal custom blends its earthy scents and pours them into fancy gold or jewel-encrusted…
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Bur Dubai
Rather than rest on its laurels, Dubai's oldest high-end mall (open since 1992) just keeps reinventing itself. A recent remodel added some 200 shops …
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Downtown Dubai
The carrots may have roots attached and dirt might stick to the fennel bulb, because both were still in the ground the previous day. Now they're vying for…
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Dubai Marina & Palm Jumeirah
The shopping is good if nothing extraordinary, but it's the lavish and exotic design and architecture of this 400-shop mall that steal the show, tracing…
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Madinat Zayed Shopping & Gold Centre
Abu Dhabi
For first-time visitors to a gold souq, the window displays of bridal necklaces, earrings and belts, the trays of precious stones and the tiers of gold…
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Abu Dhabi
If you've never been to a regional wholesale hardware market before, then this collection of stalls huddled around the harbour edge is a fun destination…
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Bur Dubai
Arguably the oldest shopping district in Dubai, the Meena Bazaar comprises a labyrinth of streets surrounding the Bur Dubai Souq that are packed with…
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Bur Dubai
Now in her 70s, Ritu Kumar is an Indian fashion designer famed for her stunning colourful prints and fabrics. As well as traditional lehengas (ankle…
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Bur Dubai
In business since 1950, Fabindia is one of India's biggest retail chains and mostly sells products handmade by more than 50,000 Indian villagers using…
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Dubai
The first outlet mall in the Middle East is a bargain shopper's nirvana with 240 stores offering discounts ranging from 30% to 90%. Don't expect the…
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Sharjah
One of the oldest souqs in the UAE, Souq Al Arsah once crawled with traders from Iran and India and local Bedouin, their camels fastened to posts outside…
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Dubai
The Syrian couple behind Urbanist dedicate the shop's shelf space to hand-curated items rooted in both tradition and modernity, and Western and Middle…
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Dubai
The modern-Middle Eastern design of this locally adored boutique mall is as much a draw as the shops, which include rare gems like the first UAE branch of…
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Bur Dubai
Really handy if you have a sudden hardware/software demand or dilemma, this jam-packed computer and electronics mall has more than 80 outlets selling…
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Downtown Dubai
Clued-in gourmets know that some of the world's best honey is Sidr, produced by nomadic beekeepers in war-torn Yemen. At this little kiosk near the…
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Downtown Dubai
Stand under the lollipop tree, watch the candy-makers at work or gorge yourself on gourmet popcorn at this colourful candy emporium stocked to the rafters…
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Dubai
This is the kind of shop where 'notebooks' are still made from paper. Indeed, here they come in all shapes and sizes, from cutesy to corporate, along with…
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Bur Dubai
Old-style traditional Arab hospitality meant dates and camel milk. Now Emiratis offer their guests Bateel’s scrumptious date chocolates and truffles, made…
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Abu Dhabi
Make an appointment in advance through the website to view Julia Ibbini's complex, multi-layered artworks in her studio. Her pieces, which riff on the…
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Dubai
This 2000-sq-metre expanse of showroom is the exact opposite of a Scandi flatpack store and its sheer opulence makes it fun to visit. The furniture and…
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Bur Dubai
Trade malls for stalls and look for bargains amid the piles of preloved stuff that’s spilled out of local closets at Dubai's cherished flea markets, which…
