Old Dubai and Its Museums

Al Fahidi is a few square blocks of the city as it was before the oil: buildings of coral block and gypsum, flat roofs, heavy wooden doors, and lanes deliberately kept narrow so that two walls always throw shade into them. Above the roofline stand the wind towers, open-sided square chimneys that catch whatever moves and drop it down into the room below. They are the reason people could live here at all, and they still work.

The quarter is not a single museum. It is a scattering of small ones in restored houses: textiles, coins, coffee, calligraphy, a house given over to poetry. Then courtyards, a couple of galleries and a coffee house where the answer to any question is another cup. You choose two or three and skip the rest, which is the correct way to do it.

Along the water at Shindagha the story gets told properly: the creek itself, the pearl divers who worked it, the merchant families whose houses stand on the bank, and the point at which a small trading town made a decision that produced everything you can see behind you. It is plainly presented and it takes an hour, and afterwards the Burj Khalifa reads as something that happened to people rather than something that was always there.

The whole of it is a walk. From the lanes to the textile souk is a few minutes, from there the abra crosses to Deira, and by then you are in the souks whether you meant to be or not. Start early, keep the middle of the day for somewhere with air conditioning, and come back out when the walls start throwing shade again.

Good to know

• Which houses are open changes, and restoration closes buildings for long stretches. We check your dates.
• Flat shoes. The lanes are uneven underfoot in a way that photographs beautifully and walks less so.
• Shoulders and knees covered is the courteous choice here and makes the mosque and the older houses easier.
• The coffee house in the quarter is a proper stop rather than a break. Sit down for it.
• A guide is optional for the walking and useful for the century. Fees are set by the guide and quoted in writing.
• Two museums is a good day. Four is a lesson nobody enjoys.