Al Seef Dubai Old City is one of those must-visit stops if you’re traveling to Dubai, UAE.
If you’re visiting Dubai, this is a place you really shouldn’t skip.
Old Dubai’s Al Seef
I went last year, and somehow ended up going again this year too.
(Twice is probably enough though, so I think I’m done for a while.)
Don’t search “al seef” on Google Maps and head out blindly—
use Dubai Old Cityor Al Seef Starbucksas your pin
and you’ll have a much easier time getting there!
Random Dubai Frame sighting, haha.
I just snapped it because it popped up on the way to Al Seef.
Once you’re almost at Dubai Old City,
this kind of Arabian-style village starts to appear.
It already gets you excited.
We headed into the underground parking lot.
There was a gate arm at the entrance,
but I don’t think we were charged for parking either time.
I’m not sure if it’s always free
or if it depends on the day or season.
Back again!
This post mixes photos from last year
and this year, so everything’s a little all over the place.
Al Seef is completely outdoors,
but because the sun is so intense,
they’ve installed overhead shade covers like this, which makes it much more walkable.
Ahh, the atmosphere here is so wonderfully exotic.
The busiest
and most popular spot in this whole area is this Starbucks.
On Google Maps it just shows up as “Starbucks,”
without the branch name attached,
so check the C pin on the map I added at the top of this post.
That outdoor table right in front of the logo is the prime photo spot,
and I’ve honestly never seen it empty.
Attention seekers from all over the world come here
and take what feels like thousands of photos in that exact seat.
It’s always crowded like this, and you can hear Korean here too.
I don’t run into many Koreans elsewhere,
but I feel like I hear Korean every single time I’m here.
Starbucks is still just Starbucks—coffee, pastries, the usual.
They also sell merch, and as a Dubai travel souvenir,
a lot of people pick up a Starbucks city mug here.
But there are Starbucks locations everywhere, so you definitely don’t have to buy it at this one.
We got lucky and found a seat inside, so I had an iced Americano before heading back out.
The coffee honestly tastes worse than it does in Korea.
I think my husband was wearing long pants that day because we were going somewhere palace-like after this, but wow, he looked so hot in that weather.
For the restroom, go back outside
and walk around to the left side of the building—there’s a large bathroom there, and it’s gloriously air-conditioned.
Also, the toilet flush
works with one of those pull handles on a chain,
which I don’t think I’d seen in at least 20 years,
so I thought it was funny enough to take a photo.
Step out beside Starbucks
and Dubai Creek opens up right in front of you.
It’s actually a great little photo spot.
Across the water is the Gold Souk area,
and you can get there by water taxi.
I’ll show you that ride a little further down.
Then it was back to wandering around the Old Dubai shopping streets.
There are snack shops here and there,
and lots of stores selling traditional clothing too.
Last year, when I was planning to visit the Grand Mosque,
I bought a women’s traditional outfit—an abaya—here.
This one.
And this place…
is my husband’s favorite shop.
The Al Seef antique store.
I couldn’t find it on Google Maps,
but it’s in the middle of the main alley, so if you walk around this area you’ll naturally pass by it.
Every time we go in there, he gets completely absorbed
looking at everything, and honestly it’s pretty cute.
He kept going, “Wow—wait, is this real??”
while having the best time browsing.
It felt like a mix of genuinely old items
and things made to look old.
And near there, this shop!
It’s a souvenir store, though I don’t know the exact name.
But when you buy something there, the paper bag saysIDUBAI,
so
maybe the store is called I Love Dubai…?
There are lots of souvenir shops around Al Seef, but this one seemed to have the best variety
and the nicest selection,
so I bought all my gifts and souvenirs here.
I picked up a miniature Arabic coffee set
because the detailing was gorgeous and it was just too pretty to leave behind.
I also found some really cute magnets and bought those too.
You’ll also see lots of beautiful Turkish-style plates
and those evil-eye-shaped souvenirs everywhere.
There are colorful lamps too, and they’re so pretty.
There’s one ice cream spot in Al Seef that I visited both last year and this year.
We stopped by it both times.
It’s not actually an ice cream shop,
but a Japanese restaurant that also sells ice cream and drinks.
It’s called Wokyo Noodle Bar.That’s the place.
There was a picture of ice cream
on the sign out front, and it looked so good that we went in.
Ordering time.
They sell Ramune and Asahi Zero too.
In Dubai, regular shops
generally don’t sell alcohol, so only the zero-alcohol version was available.
We bought just one bubble tea ice cream and shared it.
These are the ones we had this year and last year.
I think the flavors were matcha and milk tea.
Since it was so hot, they told us we could stay and eat inside,
so we enjoyed it in the blast of the air-conditioning.
After ice cream, it was time to go ride the boat.
A lot of people doing an Al Seef Dubai Old City itinerary
take the boat across toward the Gold Souk,
but it’s not really a tourist boat—
it’s more like local public transportation, kind of like a neighborhood bus on water.
People call it a water taxi,
but it doesn’t take you anywhere on demand like an actual taxi.
Each dock has its own destination, so you just choose the right one and board.
You have to buy your ticket at the pier,
and while there are set departure times,
the intervals are pretty short, almost like the subway, so it’s convenient.
The fare is 1 dirham
—about $0.30—no matter where you go, which is incredibly cheap.
Walking over to catch the boat.
This water taxi is called an abrahere.
The first time I rode it last year, it was to go look around the Gold Souk.
This year, I rode it again just because it was fun.
I bought a ticket for an abra that went across
and then came right back.
The twin towers you can see across the way
are the Rolex Towers—so sleek.
Dubai is brutally hot,
but once you’re on the boat, you get this damp, cool breeze that feels amazing.
We arrived on the opposite side of Dubai Creek.
It takes maybe 2 to 3 minutes.
As soon as we got off, we bought tickets to head straight back to Old Dubai.
Just make sure you check the pier number carefully before boarding.
Other boats pass by alongside you too.
It’s definitely fun, but now that I’ve done the round trip twice,
I probably wouldn’t ride it again next time without a specific reason.
I already want to go back to Dubai again.