Dubai's Big Bus City Tour
A Quick Overview of Old Dubai for Visitors to the UAE
© Rod Quin
Mar 11, 2008
The "Dubai Big Bus City Tour" provides an introduction to old Dubai for first-time visitors to the city. Travelers with a short stop-over in Dubai will also find it a convenient way to see the historic sections of the city in a short amount of time.
Like the Big Bus Beach Tour, the City Tour bus operates a convenient hop on, hop off system which allows you to leave the bus, explore places of interest and continue the tour on a later bus. A ticket is valid for 24 hours so if you join the tour in the afternoon you can continue your tour the next morning.
The City Tour takes you through the old towns of Bur Dubai and Deira on each side of Dubai Creek and provides the added bonus of a complimentary ticket for a one hour cruise on an Arab dhow. On its final leg the tour also takes in some of the more modern areas of Deira with their imaginative skyscrapers.
Below are a number of places where its is worth alighting from the bus and exploring on foot.
Al Fahidi Fort
This fort now contains the Dubai Museum, to which your bus ticket provides free entry. Near here is the Dubai Grand Mosque, worth seeing for its 70 metre high minaret, the tallest in Dubai.
The historic Bastakia quarter is also nearby. The houses here, originally built by Persian merchants in the early twentieh century and then allowed to run down, are gradually being restored. Many are being converted into boutique hotels and restaurants and the area is becoming something of an arts centre. Bastakia is worth exploring for its narrow alleys and examples of traditional Emirati wind tower architecture – an early and ingenious form of air conditioning. If you have time, enjoy lunch in a courtyard restaurant, such as the Basta Art Café.
Dubai Old Souk
This is primarily a clothing and fabric market. Next to the souk is the bustling abra station where water taxis ferry passengers to and from Deira across Dubai Creek.
The Gold Souk, Deira
Alight here to see more gold in one place than you might have imagined possible.
There’s a secret to making the most of your bus tour at this point. The gold souk is stop 6 on the bus tour but don’t return to stop 6. Keep walking through the gold souk to the other side.
You will soon find yourself facing the Deira wharf with stop 7, Deira abra station, nearby. You can visit the spice souk facing the wharf and then take your free dhow cruise before rejoining the bus at stop 7.
Useful Information about the Dubai Big Bus City Tour
- Travel time on the City Tour is 105 minutes, but allow additional time for your tour according to how many times and for how long you alight from the bus.
- Wafi City Shopping Centre is the official start and finish point for the City Tour, but you can start and finish your tour at any stop. The nearest stop to the airport is Deira City Shopping Centre.
- Buses run approximately thirty minutes apart and operate from approximately 9 am to 5 pm but departure times vary. Ring 971 (UAE) 4 (Dubai) 340-7709 to check daily times.
- For information on prices and how to obtain tickets see the Dubai Big Bus website.
- A ticket on the City Tour is also valid for the Beach Tour. The tours intersect at Wafi City and Deira City Centre, allowing you to switch from one tour to the other.
- Buses are double decker with an open top. The front half of the upper decks are shaded but it is wise to bring along a hat and adequate sunscreen protection.
- A live commentary is provided in English with recorded commentaries available in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi and Farsi.
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