THE DUBAI MALL - SOUK AL BAHAR

"Welcome to everything", it's all in the slogan! Welcome to the biggest mall in the world! Among other things, 1,200 stores, 160 restaurants, a giant aquarium, an ice rink, a gold souk, another souk dedicated to shoes, a 22-screen multiplex, the first Galeries Lafayette in the Middle East as well as the first Bloomingdale's store await you. 5% of the UAE's GDP comes straight out of this shopping temple and the mall welcomes 80 million visitors a year.

From 6pm onwards, the artificial lake comes alive with spectacular water games under the watchful eye of the Burj Khalifa. Here, everything is "more something". Let's admit that the affair is very successful, playful, diverse, airy with these public spaces near the water. A trolley-bus, like an old San Francisco bus, goes around. 8 information points are present in addition to the kiosks to inform you about everything concerning the shopping center: finding a store, service to send your purchases directly to the hotel, strollers for children.

For a visit without a purchase objective, we recommend coming at nightfall. Go to the lobby of the main entrance. You will be able to admire the model of the new Calatrava tower which was to rise to a height of over 1 kilometer. Then take the alley of the great jewelers, along the gold souk (the largest in the world with 220 stores) before coming across the Galeries Lafayette. Continuing on, you arrive at the ice rink, as big as an Olympic swimming pool. Further on, a waterfall of more than 24 meters of water awaits you. On these sculptures made of fiberglass, the silhouettes of divers leave no one indifferent. Take the alley on the right, at the first traffic circle turn right to go to the Dubai Aquarium. Go back to the traffic circle. If you take the escalator down, you can go to the outdoor fountains: every 30 minutes, the Burj Khalifa blazes, taking on one of the most striking faces of modern urbanity. From there, by the small bridge, you can reach the Souk Al Bahar, this part of the building decorated in the old Arab-Hollywood style, where other stores, souvenir stands, restaurants and bars await you with a superb view of the Burj and the spectacle of the fountains. It is the most visited building in the world for several years so how could you not go there!