# Spice Souk, Dubai > The Spice Souk is a few narrow lanes of saffron, frankincense, dried-lime and tea stalls in Deira, beside the Gold Souk and the Deira Old Souq abra station. It's free to wander and bargaining is normal. Allow 30–40 minutes. Most stalls open daily around 10am–10pm, many pause mid-afternoon, and on Fridays they open about 4pm (unofficial). Web page: https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-spice-souk - City: [Dubai](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai), United Arab Emirates - YesGo score: 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 30 min - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free — it's a set of streets lined with shops - Hours: Usually 10am–10pm, Friday from 4pm, many stalls closed roughly 1–4pm (unofficial) - Abra across the Creek: Bur Dubai to Deira Old Souq, AED 1, cash only - Metro: Green Line, Al Ras station, ≈ 5–7 min walk - Paying: Cash in dirhams is safest; some stalls take cards, sometimes with a surcharge (unofficial) - Bargaining: Expected — first prices are high - Address: Baniyas Road, Al Ras, Deira — next to the Gold Souk - Coordinates: 25.26756, 55.29706 - Facts checked: 03.11.2026 ## Key facts - **Deira, Al Ras** — on the north bank of Dubai Creek, right beside the Gold Souk (source: English Wikipedia; Gulf News) - **AED 1** — the traditional abra crossing from Bur Dubai to Deira Old Souq, cash only (source: Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA)) - **≈ 350 m** — in a straight line from Al Ras metro station to the souk (source: English Wikipedia and Wikidata coordinates, YesGo calculation) - **سوق التوابل** — the Arabic name, Souq Al Tawabil — the spice market (source: English Wikipedia; Wikidata) - **3 trails** — of heritage walkways, 1,784 m in all, opened through Deira's old souks in 2025 (source: Hi Dubai (Dubai Media Office); Scene Now) - **7 souks** — linked by those trails, including the spice, perfume, carpet and textile markets (source: Hi Dubai (Dubai Media Office); Scene Now) - **Sarooj** — a traditional clay-based plaster used to restore the façades (source: Hi Dubai (Dubai Media Office); Scene Now) - **14 km** — the length of Dubai Creek, which divides Deira from Bur Dubai (source: Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA)) - **Haggling** — is how most sales happen — price tags are rare (source: English Wikipedia; Dubai Online) ## Spice Souk Dubai opening hours There are no official hours — every stall is a private shop. Most guides give **10am–10pm, Saturday to Thursday**, and **4pm–10pm on Friday**, when shops open after midday prayers. Many stalls also close for a break between roughly 1pm and 4pm. Treat this as unofficial: we found no official timetable. The best windows are mid-morning, around 10–11am, before the heat, or after 5pm, when Deira's evening trade picks up. From May to September the lanes are stuffy in the afternoon, so go in the evening. There's no weekly closing day. During Ramadan and public holidays, shop hours can shift, so leave some slack. > **Mid-afternoon and Friday mornings are dead** The souk never shuts as a whole, but many shutters come down from about 1pm to 4pm, and on Fridays most stalls stay closed until after prayers, around 4pm (unofficial). Turn up then and you'll walk past rows of locked doors. ## How to get to the Spice Souk 1. From **Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall** station in Downtown, take the Red Line towards Centrepoint for 6 stops to **BurJuman**. 2. Change to the Green Line towards E& (Etisalat) and ride 3 stops — Sharaf DG, Al Ghubaiba, **Al Ras**. Door to door it's about 30 minutes with the change (YesGo estimate). 3. From Al Ras, walk towards the Creek and Baniyas Road: the souk is about 350 m away, 5–7 minutes on foot. 4. The scenic way: get off at Al Ghubaiba instead, walk through the Bur Dubai old souk to **Bur Dubai Abra Station** and cross on a wooden abra to **Deira Old Souq** for AED 1 cash. The first spice stalls are 2 minutes from the jetty. 5. A taxi from Downtown takes about 20 minutes outside rush hour (YesGo estimate). Ask for Deira Old Souq Abra Station — cars can't enter the lanes. Careem and Uber work here too. ## Is the Spice Souk worth visiting? Yes — as part of a walk through old Dubai, not as a trip of its own. It's small: you can see every lane in 15 minutes, and the rest is sniffing, tasting and haggling. It isn't Istanbul's Spice Bazaar or a Moroccan medina, and some stalls sell the same souvenirs as the Gold Souk next door. What makes it worth the detour is the setting. You arrive by abra across the Creek, step off the jetty straight into sacks of dried limes and frankincense, and two minutes later you're among the gold windows. For a free stop that takes under an hour, few places in Dubai feel this far from the malls. ## What to buy at the Spice Souk - **Saffron** — the souk's star, often Iranian. Buy whole threads, never powder: fakes hide more easily in ground saffron. - **Frankincense** and bakhoor — resin and scented wood chips, plus small clay burners to use them. - **Dried limes** (loomi) — black or pale, for stews, rice and tea; hard to find at home. - Spice blends for Arabic and South Asian cooking, especially for rice dishes. - Cardamom, cinnamon bark, cloves, nutmeg, cumin and turmeric. - Tea, dried flowers, dried fruit and nuts. ## Bargaining and paying Opening prices are set to be haggled down. Ask at two or three stalls first, then make a clearly lower offer and meet somewhere in between. Buying several things from one shop is the easiest way to get a real discount. **Cash in dirhams (AED)** is the safest way to pay. Many shops take Visa and Mastercard, but not all, and some add a few per cent for cards (unofficial). ATMs and exchange offices are a short walk away in Deira. Keep small notes — they help when haggling and you'll need AED 1 coins or notes for the abra, which is cash only. Spices travel well. Ask for tight, ideally vacuum-sealed, packing if the stall can do it — it keeps your suitcase from smelling of cumin. Check your home country's customs rules on bringing back plant products before you stock up. > **How to spot real saffron** Real threads are deep red with slightly paler tips and smell of honey and hay. Ask the seller to drop a few into water: genuine saffron releases a golden-yellow colour slowly and the threads stay red. Fakes bleed colour at once. Very cheap “saffron” is often safflower. ## Spice Souk and Gold Souk together They're neighbours — the spice lanes run straight into the [Gold Souk](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-gold-souk) within a couple of minutes. The natural order is to cross [Dubai Creek](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-creek) by abra, walk the spice lanes from the jetty, then turn into the jewellery arcades. Allow an hour to an hour and a half for both. With half a day, start on the other bank in [Al Fahidi](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/al-fahidi), the wind-tower quarter, which is a short walk from the abra stations. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Cash in small dirham notes - [ ] Not between 1pm and 4pm, and not a Friday morning - [ ] nol card for the metro, or coins for the abra - [ ] Water and a hat if it's daytime - [ ] A rough idea of what I'll pay for saffron - [ ] Room in the suitcase for shopping ## Spice Souk vs Gold Souk vs Dubai Mall | | Spice Souk | Gold Souk | Dubai Mall | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Lanes of spice stalls | Jewellery market next door | Huge shopping centre | | Area | Deira, Al Ras | Deira, adjoining | Downtown, by Burj Khalifa | | Entry | Free | Free | Free | | Prices | Haggled | By gold weight, labour negotiable | Fixed | | Time needed | 30–40 min | 30–60 min | 2 h and up | Deira's souks are about old-Dubai atmosphere and haggling; the mall is about brands and the aquarium. See the spice and gold souks in one go. ## Dubai's markets compared Every market in Dubai rated by YesGo. - [The Dubai Mall](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-mall) — YesGo score 56/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h · Free entry - [Spice Souk](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-spice-souk) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free entry - [Dubai Gold Souk](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-gold-souk) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free entry - [Madinat Jumeirah and Souk Madinat](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/madinat-jumeirah) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free entry; abra ride AED 100 - [Global Village](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/global-village-dubai) — YesGo score 20/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · AED 25–30, under-3s and 65+ free ## Old Dubai in half a day Al Fahidi's wind towers, an abra across the Creek, then the spice and gold souks of Deira. 1. [Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood (Old Dubai)](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/al-fahidi) — YesGo score 37/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free to walk 2. [Dubai Creek and the abra crossing](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-creek) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Abra AED 1–2, waterfronts free 3. [Spice Souk](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-spice-souk) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free entry 4. [Dubai Gold Souk](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/dubai/dubai-gold-souk) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free entry ## Good to know Don't confuse this with Istanbul's covered Spice Bazaar, which is far bigger. In Dubai, “Old Souk” also refers to the textile souk on the Bur Dubai bank by Dubai Old Souq abra station; the jetty you want on the Deira side is Deira Old Souq. ## Tips - Arrive by water: the AED 1 abra across Dubai Creek is the best cheap ride in town. - Walk the whole souk before buying — stalls with the same stock sit side by side. - Ask to smell and taste; sellers happily open jars and hand you saffron threads. - Dried limes and rice blends make cheap, unusual gifts you won't find in supermarkets back home. - Make the souk your last stop before Al Ras metro so you're not carrying bags all day. - Dress modestly, as anywhere in old Dubai — covered shoulders and knees are safest. ## Questions ### What are the Spice Souk Dubai timings? There are no official hours. Most stalls open about 10am–10pm, many pause in the afternoon, and on Fridays they open around 4pm (unofficial). ### How do I get to the Spice Souk by metro? Red Line to BurJuman, change to the Green Line and ride to Al Ras, then walk 5–7 minutes towards the Creek. ### Can I take an abra to the Spice Souk? Yes. The traditional abra runs from Bur Dubai Abra Station to Deira Old Souq for AED 1, cash only. The souk starts 2 minutes from the jetty. ### Is the Spice Souk free to enter? Yes. It's a set of public lanes with private shops — no tickets or gates. ### Is the Spice Souk worth visiting? Yes, as part of an old-Dubai walk with the abra and the Gold Souk. It's small, so don't cross the city for it alone. ### What should I buy at the Dubai Spice Souk? Saffron threads, frankincense and bakhoor, dried limes, cardamom, cinnamon, rice-dish blends, tea, dried flowers, dried fruit and nuts. ### Do shops in the Spice Souk take cards? Some do, sometimes with a small surcharge, but cash in dirhams is safer. The abra across the Creek is cash only. ### Do you have to bargain at the Spice Souk? Yes — first prices are high. Compare a few stalls and ask for a discount when buying several items in one shop. ### How long do you need at the Spice Souk? 30–40 minutes for the souk itself, or about 1.5 hours with the abra ride and the Gold Souk. ### Is the Spice Souk next to the Gold Souk? Yes. The spice lanes lead into the Gold Souk in a couple of minutes, both in Deira's Al Ras area. ## How we checked The abra fare, jetty names and nol card details come from the official RTA pages. Metro station order is checked against English Wikipedia, and the walk from Al Ras is calculated from coordinates. The souk has no official hours and guides disagree (anything from 7:30am–9:30pm to 10am–10pm), so we show the most common pattern and mark it unofficial. The 2025 heritage-trail figures match in two publications. Metro and taxi times are YesGo estimates. Saffron prices vary wildly by grade and source, so we give none. Card surcharges are unofficial. ## Sources - Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA): marine transport page — traditional abra routes and fare, 03.11.2026 - Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA): nol cards page, 03.11.2026 - English Wikipedia: Dubai Spice Souk, Green Line (Dubai Metro), Red Line (Dubai Metro); Wikidata Q5310610 - Hi Dubai (Dubai Media Office), August 2025 — heritage trails in Deira's markets - Scene Now, August 2025 — heritage trails in Deira's markets - Gulf News, 2024 — Spice Souk photo essay - Dubai Online — Spice Souk guide (unofficial hours) --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.