
Visiting Dubai for the First Time? Here's What to See and Do
Don't let Dubai overwhelm you with our first time–friendly recommendations.
The fountain-fronted mall echoes a Renaissance-era Italian town with confetti-colored replica merchants’ houses, colonnades, and bridges flanking two levels of tiled walkways and airy piazzas. Visitors can delve into a range of upmarket shops, including brands such as Armani Jeans, Mango, Diesel, Gap, and Nike; as well as cosmetics, jewelry, gifts, toy, and homeware retail chains and emporiums. Cafés, ice cream parlors, and dining spots serving international cuisine provide the finishing touches, as do a Spinneys supermarket, 7-screen VOX cinema, and a family games-and-entertainment center.
One option for those wanting to experience the Mercato Shopping Mall is to take a hop-on hop-off bus tour. Buses along selected routes stop at nearby City Walk, about a 15-minute walk away.
The Mercato Shopping Mall is ideal for keen shoppers, families, and movie lovers.
Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the center.
ATMs are dotted around the basement and ground-floor levels.
The mall is wheelchair-accessible, with wheelchairs available on loan at the customer service desks.
The Mercato Shopping Mall faces the beach on Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Road, a few minutes’ drive south of Jumeirah Mosque. The easiest way to visit is by car or cab, although the mall is accessible by metro and bus. Take the metro to either the Financial Centre or Al Jafiliya stop and make the 5-minute cab journey from there. Alternatively, catch the X28 bus, which runs to the mall from Al Jafiliya.
The mall is open seven days a week from 10am to 10pm. Since it’s smaller and located away from Dubai’s main leisure hubs, it doesn’t tend to get as crowded as some of the city’s larger malls—making it great for quieter shopping and dining.
Make the most of a visit to the Mercato Shopping Mall by combining it with downtime at Jumeirah Beach. A beautiful public stretch of the beach is located just across the road from the mall. After shopping, come to sunbathe, swim, or stroll along the Jumeirah jogging track.