Dubai: Shop Until You Drop

Dubai is a truly luxurious destination for travellers, offering a wealth of options with regards to entertainment, food and drink, accommodation and shopping. It has become a real playground for the rich and famous, but is not out-of-reach of tourists on a more modest budget.

One of the key attractions of Dubai is the shopping experience. Catwalk and high-end brands all have flagship stores or boutiques here, so if “shop until you drop” is the mantra for your visit to Dubai you will not be disappointed.

Wherever you stay in Dubai you will not be far from some great shopping locations. Here are some of the highlights.

Dubai Shopping Festival

Dubai is such a great place to shop that it even has a whole festival devoted to the activity. Held in January and February the Dubai Shopping Festival sees stores offer huge discounts and amazing promotions. As well as sales and raffles on things like Porsches there is plenty of entertainment for all the family, firework displays and more food and drink than you can shake a stick at.

Dubai Summer Surprises

This is the summer equivalent to the shopping festival and offers even more for the kids as it is held during school holidays. Dubai’s malls are perfect for shopping in the warmer months – the air conditioning and plentiful cafes are a great relief from the scorching sun.

Mall of the Emirates

The opulent and magnificent Mall of the Emirates offers sumptuous shopping like nowhere else, the architecture of the mall itself is transfixing. This is no ordinary mall though - department stores, designer shops, boutiques, cosmetics supermarkets sit alongside cinemas, a theatre, art galleries and even an indoor ski slope. To make your Dubai shopping trip really luxurious and hassle-free stay at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates and have all this right on your doorstep.

Souks

The hustle and bustle of the souks, or bazaars, is a must-do experience when in Dubai. Wander through the many stalls to soak up the atmosphere as locals haggle over everything from fake designer shawls to cooking utensils. The Dubai souks are an Aladdin’s Cave for shoppers and you can buy everything from gold and saris to clothes and gadgets.

Souk Madinat Jumeirah is one of the most stunning, styled on an old Arabian shopping centre with wooden arches and courtyards. It is great for picking up souvenirs and gifts, or sitting down for a cold drink and soaking up the atmosphere.

Pay the right price

Except in the malls, bargaining, or haggling, is part of the fun of shopping in Dubai. When you ask the price of something in a souk or independent shop you are likely to be told twice the actual value of the item. So then you say you will only pay half that, the seller comes down a bit, you go up a bit, and eventually you meet somewhere in the middle.

Haggling is a serious business so do pay attention to what others are doing and learn from fellow shoppers.

*Written in conjunction with Kempinski Hotels