Several blocks with a preponderance of perfume shops hardly warrants the title ‘souq’, yet these stores sell a staggering range of Middle Eastern attars: oil-based perfumes that are usually kept in large bulbous bottles and siphoned off into elegant flacons upon purchase. The most precious scents contain oud, from a resinous hardwood called agarwood, formed by the southeast Asian aquilaria tree.

Transportation

  • metro: Palm Deira

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Covered Souq

0.09 MILES

Despite the name, this souq is not really covered at all; rather it's an amorphous warren of narrow lanes criss-crossing a few square blocks roughly…

2. Women's Museum

0.12 MILES

Try on a burka (long, enveloping garment), find out about Ousha Bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi (the UAE's most celebrated female poet) and learn about the…

3. Gold Souq

0.2 MILES

All that glitters is gold (and occasionally silver) along this covered arcade where dozens of shops overflow with every kind of jewelry imaginable, from…

4. Dhow Wharfage

0.24 MILES

Stroll down the Creek for photogenic close-ups of dozens of brightly coloured dhows docked next to the Deira souqs that load and unload everything from…

5. Spice Souq

0.25 MILES

Steps from the Deira Old Souk abra station, the sound of Arabic chatter bounces around the lanes of this small covered market as vendors work hard to…

6. Museum of the Poet Al Oqaili

0.31 MILES

In 1923 this beautifully restored home tucked into the narrow lanes on the edge of the Spice Souq became the home of Saudi-born Mubarak Bin Al Oqaili …

7. Naif Market

0.32 MILES

The historic Naif Souq was burned down in 2008 and replaced by this mall-style version, albeit fronted by arabesque arches. It is especially popular with…

8. Heritage House

0.37 MILES

Closed for renovation until the end of 2019, this 1890 courtyard house once belonged to Sheikh Ahmed Bin Dalmouk, a wealthy pearl merchant and founder of…

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