Shopping in Dubai

If you love shopping then Dubai is definitely the place to be! There are several malls of all sizes and they are nothing like the rather plain (aka boring!) shopping centres in the UK.

These are truly palaces dedicated to shopping, they may look fairly ordinary in some places with the usual escalators and shiny floors….. (that's me on the left by the way!)

but others have some fabulous objects within them such as dhows or elephants…

Some of them are set up to look like the old souks (markets)

All of which is very different, beautiful and amazing, but the artwork that truly stunned me was this utterly incredible waterfall with divers. I must have stood in front of it for quite a while, rather transfixed by what I was seeing.

The funny thing was seeing some of the familiar shops but with names written in Arabic! On the left of this sign it says “Debenhams”!!

Dubai is definitely a mecca for the serious shopper, the biggest mall has about 1,400 shops – yes you read that right! There are some smaller boutique type malls that feel more personal. However, no matter the size or shape, they are all usually very well air conditioned and end up being the place to be because you can shop without getting caught up in all the heat and sand that makes Dubai what it is.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) Mum and I didn’t buy very much at all, mostly because the import costs of bringing in all the goods means that things cost a bit more in Dubai than they would here in the UK. We did manage to get some souvenirs though, I picked up a couple of scarves and a lovely arabian looking metal bowl and Mum found herself a gorgeous metal coffee set – six tiny cups set around a tall coffee pot on a silvery tray – of course, it now takes pride of place by the fireplace at Mum and Dads!!