Things To Do in Sharjah

Sharjah cannot compare with Dubai in terms of the quantity and quality of shopping centers, although there are a few options that come close. Sharjah City Centre (tel. 06-532-7700; www.sharjahcitycentre.com), Mega Mall (tel. 06-574-2574; www.sharjahmegamall.com), and the Sahara Centre (tel. 06-531-6611; www.sahara-centre.com) all have international and national brand stores, with typically fewer shoppers than Dubai's crowded malls. Sharjah also has excellent traditional markets, including the Central Souk (also called the Blue Souk, next to the Khalid Lagoon), which sells jewelry, carpets, perfumes, shawls, and other Arabian goods, and the Souk Al Arsah, the old bazaar in the Heritage Area where Bedouins once traded charcoal from the desert for goods from Iran and India. Today it, too, offers authentic Arabian products. Both of these covered souks are now air-conditioned, and open daily from 9am to 1pm and again from 4:30 to 9pm or later.