The souks on both sides of the Creek are attractive not just for their shopping bargains but also as places for the sightseer and photographer. A huddle of narrow alleyways has survived on the Deira side despite intensive building in recent years.

In the tiny lanes of the spice souk, the atmosphere and the scents of the past can be savoured. Bags of spices, incense, rose petals and traditional medicinal products are stacked outside each stall. Along the slightly larger lanes of the gold souk, each shop window is crammed with gold necklaces, rings, bangles, earrings and brooches. In the evening the area is a hive of activity. Gold prices are among the lowest in the world.

In other small streets, the visitor can find shops selling nargilehs (hookah or hubble-bubble pipes) and coffee pots, and nearby tea stalls where both of these items are in daily use. There are traditional bakeries where large flat loaves of delicious unleavened bread are baked to order inside a domed oven called tandoor. Small textile shops sell veils with decorated edges, pantaloons with embroidered anklets, and dress lengths with similarly embroidered necklines reminiscent of The Arabian Nights.

On the Bur Dubai side of the Creek are lanes full of textile shops, where a blaze of colourful raw silks and cottons hang in profusion in shop windows. The fish souk in Deira is an attraction in itself. Early in the morning and late at night, local fishermen unload mountains of fresh fish which they sell in a frenzied bargaining session.

Kingfish, red snapper, rock cod (the popular hammour), barracuda, tuna, lobster, crab, king prawn, sea bream, squid, pomfret, shark, mackerel, sardine and other species are available in abundance for most of the year.