If you’re visiting Dubai on holiday, there’s one thing you won’t be able to avoid: the shopping!  Dubai is known as the Shopping Capital of the Middle East, and it well deserves that name.  While there are many other tourist attractions in the city, people come from far and wide to shop.  Part of this is because Dubai has low import duties and is an open port.  This means that you can often find luxury and brand name items for much less than you would in other parts of the world.

There are a number of different shopping malls and outlet stores in Dubai, with quite a lot of these found in the many hotels in Dubai, that sell electronics, clothing, jewellery, hand-made crafts, furniture, artwork, carpet, cars, and much more.  You will also find many souks, or traditional markets.  These markets include hundreds of booths that are run by locals.  Two of the most famous souks are the gold souk and the spice souk, which sell jewellery and spices, respectively.  Souks are good places to go if you want to find something hand-made and shop in an area that’s much less commercial.  Haggling at a souk booth is very welcome and is, in fact, almost expected.  While the more commercial stores and supermarkets have had an effect on the souks, there are still many booths and products available.

There are also a number of duty free shops in the city.  These shops allow their merchants to sell items at even lower prices since no duty fee is charged.  Note that while shopping in Dubai, no matter what type of store or souk you’re visiting, that the hours of operation are most likely not the same as in your home country.  In Dubai, stores are open in the morning, but they are all closed in the afternoon.  They generally open back up in the early evening after the hottest part of the day.  On Friday, all shops close for prayers around noon.