Shopping at the Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

One of the major sights in Dubai is the Mall of the Emirates.



The Mall of the Emirates is often said to be the largest shopping mall in the world. It is certainly the only mall where you will see a sign which points to both an indoor ski slope (Ski Dubai) and Muslim prayer rooms (more about that indoor ski slope in a future blog post...).



It includes a great mix of shops, including the high-end shops which you would expect. Here is Harvey Nichols:



... and here is Louis Vuitton:



But also medium-end shops such as Benetton:



and Kenneth Cole:



Plus the obligatory Starbucks:



and McDonalds:



The mall also has a "souk" section, which, though of course not an actual souk (such as the Mutrah Souk in Muscat or Dubai's many souks) does contain some good shops for the souvenir hunter, like this one where I bought many predictable gifts such as oil lamps:



Prices in Dubai are linked to the dollar, so they do not vary for American visitors, but have recently gone up for British and Euro-spending visitors. Overall, i found it a little bit cheaper than what I'm used to in the US or Europe.

It is a massive mall. If you put the high-end Tyson's Corner mall in Virginia back-t0-back with the Westfield mall from San Francisco, then added a full-size Carrafour and a Ski-slope, you would have an approximation of the Mall of the Emirates. It is that big.