I went to Old Dubai last year with my wife and two children. One child is seven years old. The other one is four. We did not have a big budget. We did not want fancy rides or fast roller coasters. We just wanted to see the real Dubai. The one our fathers told us about. And let me tell you. Old Dubai did not disappoint us.
People think Dubai is only about tall buildings and big malls. That part of Dubai is new. But the soul of Dubai lives in the old part. You will find it near the creek. The water is greenish brown. Small wooden boats move slowly. Shopkeepers call you bhai and ask where you are from. The smell of biryani and coffee fills the street. If you are taking your family there, you need a good plan. Because the sun is very strong. Children get tired fast. And old people cannot walk too much.
So let me tell you what we did. And what you can also do.
Start Your Day at the Dubai Museum
Do not go anywhere before you see this museum. It is inside a very old fort. The fort walls are made of mud and stone. When you enter, you feel like you have gone back two hundred years. My son asked me why the walls look so rough. I told him because there was no cement company at that time. They used whatever they found near the creek.
Inside the museum you will see real size people made of plastic and cloth. They are sitting like real people. One man is diving for pearls. One woman is grinding wheat. One shopkeeper is weighing rice on a old scale. My four year old daughter got scared of the statues at first. But then she started waving at them. It was funny. The best part of the museum is underground. You walk down a ramp. It feels like going inside a cave. There you will see a old classroom. The teacher has a long stick. The students sit on the floor. My son said he is happy his school has chairs and things to do in old dubai with family.
The whole museum takes one hour. Do not stay longer. Children will get bored. The ticket is very cheap. Three rupees? No sorry. Three dirhams. That is around sixty rupees. Children pay one dirham.
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Then Walk to the Abra Boat
From the museum you walk for five minutes. You will reach the water. That water is called Dubai Creek. There you will see many small wooden boats tied to each other. Those are abra boats. The boat man will shout. He will say Creek side, Deira side, come come. You pay him one dirham per person. One dirham. That is twenty rupees. Your children will pay the same. Nobody pays less.
You sit on the wooden seat. The boat moves. The wind hits your face. Your children will want to put their hand in the water. Do not let them. The water is not clean. The boat ride is only five minutes. But your family will remember it for many years. Why? Because there is nothing fancy about it. No music. No seat belt. No safety video. Just you, your family, the boat man, and the water. We took the boat two times that day. Just for fun.
Get Lost in the Spice Souk
When you get off the boat in Deira side, you will see a covered street. That is the spice souk. The moment you enter, your nose will wake up. You will smell red chilli. You will smell dry lemon. You will smell cinnamon. You will smell something sweet. That sweet smell is saffron but do not tell your children that. They will ask you to buy it.
The shopkeepers are all Indian and Pakistani. They will say kya chahiye bhai. They will say best price only for you. Do not feel pressured. Just smile and say dekh rahe hain. That means we are just looking. Your children will see big sacks of yellow, red, brown, and green powders. Some shops have dried fish also. My daughter held her nose when she saw the fish. You can buy small things here. Take some dry dates. Take some tea leaves. Do not buy expensive saffron because you do not know if it is real or fake. The spice souk is covered so no direct sun. But the lanes are very narrow. Hold your children's hands. Do not let them run.
See the Gold Souk
The gold souk is very close to the spice souk. You just walk for three minutes. Here you will see gold like you have never seen before. Each shop window has so much gold that your eyes will hurt. Necklaces as thick as rope. Bangles that cover the whole arm. Rings with stones so big you cannot close your finger.
My wife looked at one necklace. Then she looked at me. I looked at my pocket. We both started laughing. Do not worry. You do not need to buy anything. Just looking is free. The shopkeepers will not force you. They see Indian families and know we are there for timepass only. But one thing. Keep your bag close to your body. The gold souk is safe but it is very crowded. Pickpockets can come. I am not trying to scare you. I am just telling you what I heard from other people. We spent twenty minutes in the gold souk. That was enough for us.
Eat Lunch at a Small Restaurant
By now your family will be hungry. Do not go to a big hotel. Go to a small restaurant near the creek. Look for a place called Arabian Tea House or any small shop that sells falafel and rolls. We found one small place. The name was something in Arabic. I cannot remember. But the food was very good. We ordered chicken roll, egg paratha, and two cups of karak tea. The total bill was less than thirty dirhams. That is around six hundred rupees. For four people. The karak tea in Old Dubai is not like the tea we make at home. It is more sweet. More creamy. More cardamom smell. My son had two cups. Then he could not sleep at night. So keep that in mind.
Rest at Al Seef Walk
- After lunch your family will feel tired. The sun will be very hot. This is the right time to go to Al Seef.
- Al Seef is a new area but built to look old. The buildings have stone walls and wooden doors. But inside there are nice coffee shops with cold AC.
- You can sit near the water. There are many benches in the shade. Your children can run on the flat path. There is no traffic. No cars. Just families walking slowly.
- We sat there for one hour. My wife slept on a bench. My children played with a street cat. I just watched the water.
- Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do with family.
Visit the House of Sheikh Saeed
After resting, if your family still has energy, walk to this house. It is near the Shindagha area. The house is very old. More than one hundred years old. A sheikh used to live here with his big family.
What is special about this house? The wind towers. You will see four towers on the top. Each tower has small holes. The wind comes into the holes and goes down into the house. This was the old AC system. No electricity. No gas. Just wind and smart design.
My son asked me why we do not make houses like this now. I did not have a good answer. Inside the house there are many old photos. You will see Dubai from 1950. No buildings. Just sand, some houses, and the creek. Your children will not believe it. My daughter asked me where is the mall.
The ticket is three dirhams. Very cheap. The house is not big. You will finish in forty minutes.
Evening at the Creek Park
Now the sun is going down. The heat is less. This is the best time to go to the Creek Park. The park is on the same side as the museum. So you take the boat back to Bur Dubai. Then walk for ten minutes.
The Creek Park has many green grass areas. In Dubai, green grass is very hard to find. So your children will want to roll on it. Let them. Just check for water sprinklers first. There is a small train inside the park. It goes around in a circle. My children made me sit in that train three times. The train ticket is five dirhams per person. Worth it for the smile on their faces.
There is also a children play area. Swings, slides, see saw. All free. No one asks for money. My children played there until it became dark. We bought ice cream from a small shop near the gate. Twenty dirhams for four ice cream sticks. Expensive but okay. Once in a while.
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Watch the Night Boats
After the park, walk back to the abra station. Do not take the boat. Just stand on the bridge near the station.
Look at the water. You will see many boats decorated with small lights. Some boats have families eating dinner. Some boats are empty and moving slowly. The reflection of lights on the water looks very pretty. We stood there for fifteen minutes. Nobody spoke. We just watched. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel. The taxi driver was from Kerala. He asked us what we saw. My wife told him everything. He said we did more in one day than his family does in one year.
That made us feel good.
Some Final Helpful Things
- Do not go to Old Dubai in the afternoon. The sun is very strong. Go early morning or after four in the evening.
- Carry water with you. The shops inside the souks sell water for two dirhams but you can carry your own bottle for free.
- Wear shoes that cover your feet. The streets are old and dirty. My wife wore open sandals and her feet became black.
- Keep some coins in your pocket. The boat man will not return change if you give him a big note.
- Do not be afraid to say no to shopkeepers. They will keep calling you. Just smile and walk away. They will call the next person.
- Old Dubai is not shiny. It is not on Instagram a lot. But it is real. Your family will feel something there. A connection to the past. A slow life. A simple things to do in old dubai with family.
- I hope you go. I hope you enjoy.
- And after you come back, write to me. Tell me if your children liked the boat ride. Because my children still ask me when we are going back.
Last Words
Look. You can take your family to any place in Dubai. Big malls. Water parks. Fast cars. But those places are the same everywhere. London has them. Singapore has them. Mumbai has them.
Old Dubai is different. You cannot find another Old Dubai anywhere else.
When you walk on those old stone streets. When you sit in that small wooden boat. When your child holds your hand because the spice smell is too strong. That feeling is not for sale. That feeling is not in any brochure.
Your family will not remember the gold. They will not remember how much you spent. They will remember the boat man who smiled at them. They will remember the cat that sat near their feet at lunch. They will remember you holding an umbrella over them because the sun was too hot.
FAQs
Is Old Dubai safe for small children?
Yes very safe. People there are used to families. Shopkeepers will not trouble you. The only thing is the lanes near the gold souk are very narrow. Many people walk close to each other. So hold your child's hand. Do not let them run. Also the roads near the creek have cars coming and going. So when you cross the road look left and right two times. Other than that no problem. We went with a four year old and a seven year old. Nothing bad happened.
What is the best time of year to go to Old Dubai with family?
Do not go in summer. Summer means May to September. The heat is very bad. Your children will cry. You will also cry. The best time is November to March. In those months the weather is like a nice winter morning in Delhi or Ahmedabad. Not cold. Not hot. Just right. You can walk for hours without sweating. But even in good months go in the morning before eleven or evening after four. Afternoon sun is still strong.
Do we need to buy tickets online for anything in Old Dubai?
Almost nothing needs online ticket. The abra boat takes coins only. The museum takes cash at the door. The gold souk and spice souk are free to enter. The House of Sheikh Saeed takes cash. The only place that needs online booking is the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for the cultural lunch. That place fills fast. So if you want to eat there book one week before. For everything else just go and pay at the counter. No need to book. No need to show anything on your phone.