Dubai is a city soaked in luxury, created to make you and everyone else spend money (they even have an annual shopping festival), but since everything is tax-free, you will find shopping here isn’t very expensive.

Many shops are extravagantly decorated and it is worth spending an afternoon just wandering around to look at the decor – also who wouldn’t want to go inside the world’s biggest shopping mall?!

Visitors who choose to explore below the shiny surface of this city of skyscrapers can enjoy deeply rooted heritage. Old Dubai is filled with ancient mosques and souks (markets) selling traditional goods and gold jewelry. There are endless opportunities for bargains, especially as the price of gold in the gold souk is very competitive! Get to the fish souk early in the morning or late at night when the fishermen arrive to sell their catch. If you want to stock up on spices or rose petals, the spice souk… obviously!

You can drink tea with the locals or try some of the unleavened bread from the traditional bakeries while you shop for beautifully decorated textiles. The Dubai Museum in Al Fahidi Fort features an area on Bedouin lifestyle and a diorama of pearl divers.

Most desert safaris offer camel riding, dune driving, sand-skiing and spectacular sunsets; some tours offer romantic, intimate experiences and others are fast-paced evenings of traditional feasting, music, belly-dancing, henna painting and smoking hookahs under the stars in Bedouin-style tents. Pick your experience and enjoy!