Dubai City Tour

Half Day: approximately 9:00am to 1:00pm and 3:00p

The first half of the tour is all drive-by sightseeing with photo stops along the way. The tour begins at the Burj Al Arab, reputedly the only 7-star hotel and the tallest in the world. Built on a man-made island, this futuristic edifice is created from azure glass and swathes of white teflon.

The next stop is the Jumeirah Mosque. This epitome of Islamic style is built according to the Egyptian Fatimid technique, each arch and pillar painstakingly hand crafted from sandstone.

Close by is the Union House – often overlooked by tour guides, the treaty of the Federation of the Seven Emirates was signed in this historical building. Proceeding to the next stop, we pass the Emirates Towers - twin towers positioned to face each other as though in conversation, the greater of which is the tallest building in the country. At Zabeel Palace, peacocks unfold their magnificent tails in front of the imposing gate at the entrance to the residence of Sheikh Mohammad, the current ruler of Dubai.

The second half of the tour is continued on foot beginning at the Dubai Museum, which is housed in the Al Fahidi fort, built in 1800 from sea rocks and gypsum to defend the city. The floor of the museum is mock sandstone strewn with sand and connected by wooden walkways – here you really are walking on the sands of time! Feel the cooling effect of an old burslap wind tower; wander past cabinets housing traditional khanjars (curved daggers) as well as musical instruments of yore like the tambura, a curious type of harp; see early Bronze Age snake figures from the mystical Mound of Serpents; learn how the early pearl divers risked their lives for the bounty of the Gulf waters.

Abras, or water taxis, take visitors past the rows of trading dhows to the Spice Souk, sheltering under two barjeel (wind towers). In cobblestone alleys, chattering merchants offer handfuls of twisted pods and roots with curative properties. Each stall burns frankincense on charcoals and you can almost taste it in the air. The stalls of the Spice Souk unravel into the Gold Souk where around 200 shops contain enough gold to shame a dragon’s horde.