A guide to old Dubai, from Islamic crafts to culinary walks

20.02.2024 - 10:47 / nationalgeographic.com / Art

In a place of superlatives — highest, biggest, priciest — why settle for simple pleasures? Dubai has long been seen as a fun-loving, unabashedly ambitious city, often overshadowing the UAE’s more serious-minded capital of Abu Dhabi. It’s a place where you can swim above clouds in 360-degree infinity pools or quaff cocktails in billowing beach cabanas, and it’s this ‘City of Gold’ most travellers come for. A winter sun utopia, it dazzles with opulence and novelty, from the soaring architecture and dancing fountains of Downtown to Jumeirah’s luxury hotels and the Marina’s million-pound yachts. 

It may seem like it all rose fully formed, mirage-like, from the surrounding dunes; indeed, it only took a generation for this improbable desert metropolis to spring from the ground after the 1960s — a feat fuelled by new oil-funded wealth. But the city’s roots stretch deeper, and to far humbler beginnings. 

Sipping chai from a street vendor’s vat and inhaling spices in a warren of souks: these are the joys of ‘Old Dubai’, in its northernmost reaches. In the 16th century, this once impoverished port became a pearl-trading hub and attracted a global diaspora around its Creek, a natural harbour splicing the disticts of Deira and Bur Dubai. Merchants from across the Middle East and beyond brought recipes and traditions to this medley of markets and mosques. Today, the scent of slow-roasted lamb still wafts from Afghani restaurants, sewing machines thrum in Pakistani tailor shops and heaps of Omani frankincense are swapped for a few dirhams — the deal sealed with a shukran, the Arabic for ‘thank you’. 

Between the old and new is a city that’s maturing. There’s a cultural centre highlighting the little-known warmth of the Emirati way of life, while intimate supper clubs, independent art galleries and homely wellness studios provide an antidote to the palatial luxury. In the alleyways of Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, part of Bur Dubai, the ancient coral and sandalwood mansions of minted pearl traders have been converted into courtyard cafes, artisanal shops and delightfully niche museums specialising in coins, coffee and calligraphy. 

Beyond Al Fahidi’s minarets and wind towers — chimney-like structures used for ventilation — you might spy a distant flash: the silver spire of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, just a 20-minute taxi ride southwards. That’s Dubai’s real kick. It still chases those superlatives, but it treasures the small gems, too, and is all the richer for it. 

Traditional Souks
Haggle in Bur Dubai’s Old Souk for hand-woven fabrics, raw silk and delicate laces, then head across the Creek for more perusing at Deira’s neighbouring Spice and Gold Markets. Cross the waterway with an abra