Hi, Kish here to talk about the Dubai gold market

The gold market in Dubai is world famous and almost every traveler must have heard of it or would hear of it the minute he or she lands down there.

The city truly deserves its moniker ‘city of gold’ because none of the other gold markets in the world can match up to the gold market in Dubai - not in its beauty or the tons of jewels on open display!

The Dubai gold souk is located in one of the narrow alleyways of the old Deira area, a place that any tourist should be able to locate with ease.

If you are still unsure as to how to get there you can always ask your hotel receptionist to guide you.

Your first visit to this market will be more surreal than you could have possibly imagined it to be.

As westerners, we are more or less used to air-conditioned, closed atmosphere shops, well; if that has been your experience with shopping in the past then you are in for quite a surprise.

The gold souk is more or less an open air market, consisting of more than 300 jewelry shops. So make sure that you organize your visit to this market accordingly.

It can take quite a while to window shop through all of them. The jewelry on display generally consists of the usual bangles, amulets, good luck charms, necklaces, pendants and even the odd foot bangles.

But this is also the place where you can purchase gold in the ingot form as well, but keep in mind that like every other market in the world, there are shady dealers here as well (not too many though in my experience).

There have been cases of artificial gold being passed off to the customer as the real McCoy, so make sure that when you are purchasing your items, to keep a beagle eye out for the hallmark symbol, a circle encircling a ‘H’.

The best time to visit the markets would be the late afternoon, when the sun would not be so harsh on the skin. If you have taken residence in one of the hotels on the beachfront, then you would be glad to know that these hotels offer their guests free shuttle bus rides to the Deira markets, such visits generally taking place in the afternoon. You can shop here even after dark as most of these shops are generally open until 10 pm since most of the tourists seem to hit these shops only after the sun has set.

The (and biggest) main attraction of the Dubai gold market over any other market is the low price that is charged over there. Compared to markets in other places like, say, Europe, the price is lower here by as much as 60%! That is crazzzzyy! Now that is something, which we can brag about to our friends and family anywhere in the world.

When making the purchases at the gold souk, try to use cash instead of credit cards because you will be able to bargain better. Cash is king and will give you negotiating power with the merchant. I am sure that you will have quite a wonderful time visiting the gold souks of Dubai. Make sure you bag a ton of gold at dirt cheap prices!