I used to save taking a trip down to Old Dubai as something to do with guests when they’re over on holiday. But lately, it seems I have swapped Friday Brunches, for Friday adventures – and I like it!
Dubai is such a vibrant, advanced and modern city to live in, but I love heading down to the Creek to experience the “old Dubai” and see some of the amazing variety of culture that this city has to offer. So, if you are planning on taking a trip down to the Dubai Creek soon, here are some of my favourite things to do there:
Gold Souk / Spice Market
Obviously this has to be first on my list, because diamonds 
really are a girl’s best
friend! I love visiting the Gold Souk to window shop and also barter on jewellery to haggle the price down. I recently visited to search for my wedding jewellery, albeit some ambitious wedding jewellery, but it was still fun!
Just around the corner from the Gold Souk is the Spice Market. All of the shops sell a range of local and imported spices at great prices (I should copyright that slogan).
Abra across the Dubai Creek
Previously, if someone told me I could purchase something in Dubai for AED 1 (=£0.20 / $0.27) I would not have believed them. But you can take one of the small abra boats across the Creek for AED 1 for a return trip!
Visit the Iranian Mosque
When I visited the Iranian Mosque I saw just how beautiful it was from the outside, but sadly, we hadn’t planned the timing of our trip very well and arrived at prayer time on a Friday! So the mosque, and car park, was actually packed full to the brim so we were unable to enter and explore inside.
I would therefore advise visiting the mosque on any other day of the week and also try to avoid prayer times! One important thing to note is that when visiting this mosque you should be sure to cover arms / legs fully. I was also advised to take a headscarf to enter the mosque – but sadly didn’t need to use it on this occasion!
Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood allows you to see what traditional life was like in Old Dubai hundreds of years ago. You can walk around the narrow streets which are full of pop up shops, cafes, art galleries and even a boutique hotel.
You can find out more about it here: https://dubaiculture.gov.ae/en/Live-Our-Heritage/Pages/Al-Fahidi-Historical-Neighbourhood.aspx
Lunch at the Arabian Tea House
I’m getting hungry just writing this part of the post! The Arabian Tea House is located in the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood so it’s a great place to stop and refuel. The food at the Arabian Tea House is traditional Emirati food so you can be sure to find a selection of breads, hummus, meze, biryani, shawarma and grilled meats. The food is delicious and really reasonably priced but, because of that, the queue is out of the door! If you are able to make a reservation here in advance, I would definitely advise doing so.
Ride on the Dubai Metro
This may seem like a strange one, but Dubai Metro is one of the top things to do in Dubai on Trip Advisor… I live in the Marina and a taxi up to the Creek would cost around AED 90 whereas the metro is AED 10 (in Gold Class or AED 5 in normal) so it’s a no brainer! If you’re looking for a cheap day out then I would definitely advise jumping on the metro. You can use the Journey Planner to help plan your trip.
Vacays and Sunny Days 