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One week in Dubai DAY 4 – Gold & spice souks
On our fourth day, we finally visited the Old Town Dubai, which is definitely a lot more authentic than the rest of the city. Our first stop was the Gold Souk, which is a large covered shopping street full with jewelry stores. Bring lots of patience and a little bit of money. We saw so many beautiful pieces. Of course, we ended up buying some marvelous rings, which I’m wearingnearly every day now. If you don’t want to buy real gold you can also buy gold-plated silver rings, like we did. Bargain as much as you can!
Continue your walk and you’ll get to the Spice Souks. I don’t know if it is a lot cheaper to buy spices there (haven’t asked for prices) but it is definitely worth seeing. As soon as you’ll get out of the small alleys, you’ll reach the Dubai Creek, which was definitely my favorite part. The sun was shining hot and we walked along the riverside. It was so beautiful and reminded me a lot of Istanbul.
Little recommendation: There are small boats, which will take you around the river. But we discovered that the cheapest way is to simply cross the river. This costs 1 DHS, while taking a longer boat tour costs around 25 DHS.
above Old Town Dubai’s Harbour – looks a bit like Instanbul, doesn’t it?
below crossing the river for 1 DHS
One week in Dubai DAY 4 – Dinner at Ewaan at The Palace Downtown Dubai
We were invited to have dinner at Ewaan Restaurant at the Downtown Palace Hotel in the evening. As I mentioned most of the restaurants and bars are located in hotels. Moreover, most of them offer various theme nights – likewise the Downtown Palace Hotel. Every Wednesday it’s The Return of The Arabian Night at the Ewaan Restaurant, which is quite popular in the city. They serve a huge buffet with Oriental specialties. Outside you’ll find a barbecue. Of course, full entertainment is offered and there is a belly dancer and a traditional dancer (get an idea of it here).
EWAAN at The Palace Downtown
Location
Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard – Dubai
Buffet price
AED 250 (ca. 63€)
Opening
Every Wednesday, 7 pm – 11.30 pm
When you are in Dubai, you can’t miss the beautiful Dubai Fountain Water Performance in front of the Dubai Mall. The performance takes place every half hour in the evening and is so beautiful to see/breathtaking/stunning. You’ll get the full picture in my Dubai Travel Vlog.
One week in Dubai DAY 5 – Off to Abu Dhabi
Luckily, Conny had told us that Abu Dhabi was only a 1.5 half hour drive away from Dubai. Perfect distance for a daytrip! We’ve rented a car via Sixt a couple of days before and booked it for our last two days. We paid around 25$ per day, which was super cheap. Moreover, fuel costs nothing in the Emirates. The main reason we wanted to go to Abu Dhabi was of course the famous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
One week in Dubai Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was initiated by president His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He wanted to establish a cultural center for the diversity of the Islamic religion. Moreover, the aim to combine as many cultures as possible results in using different materials from all over the world, i.e. Italy, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece, the UAE and many more. The mosque was constructed from 1996 to 2007 and is the largest mosque in the UAE. It can hold up to 40,000 worshipers. Another interesting feature is the World’s Largest Carpet in one of the Prayer Rooms.
above Skyline of Abu Dhabi
below … and back to Dubai on Palm Jumeirah
above view from Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites onto the Palm Jumeirah
One week in Dubai DAY 5 – Internet City
The Internet City was one of the last stops of our visit. We wanted to see the Palm Jumeirah from above and discovered that you could enjoy the view from the Observatory of the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites. The Palm Jumeirah is an artificially built island in the form of a palm. On one hand, I don’t recommend to just drive to and on the island because you don’t really get a feeling of the shape of it. Moreover, you’ll only find hotels and housing. On the other hand, I really liked the harbor of the Internet City. The evening light was beautiful and you can take a walk along the riverside.
One week in Dubai DAY 6 – Black Palace Beach
Definitely plan in a day (or two days) at the beach! There are tons of beach clubs but we weren’t willing to pay a lot for entrance or consuming/alimentation. We discovered the beautiful public Black Palace Beach and drove there by car. The beach is quite calm even though you’ll find lots of local people. The water is super clear and you’ll have a nice view onto the famous Burj Al Arab Hotel.
One week in Dubai DAY 5 – Madinat Jumeirah
Last but not least, you can combine a day at the beach with a little evening walk through the Madinat Jumeirah. The Madinat is a cluster of hotels, restaurants and shops along the beachside. Of course, all artificially built in 2004. All in all, it’s nice to see but not a must-do in my opinion. Parking is free for two hours, which is absolutely enough time to visit the whole place.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the last part of my Dubai travel diaries! If you want to read more articles about Dubai, have a look here!
