Dubai’s best shopping

More than just a shopping festival – though the festival does bring huge discounts at all the malls – there’s also plenty of entertainment and events, including traditional heritage activities, happening all over the city.

Dubai’s extraordinary malls are a shopper’s heaven but so much more. They’re entertainment hubs, with cinema complexes, ski slopes, ice rinks, giant aquariums and regular live events.

An atmospheric bazaar where dazzling chains, earrings, headdresses and more drip from the shop windows, and good deals can be had if you know what you’re looking for. It’s regulated by the Dubai government to ensure authenticity.

A staggering replica of an Arabian walled citadel from medieval times, complete with towering sand-coloured buildings topped by wind towers, a touristy-but-fun covered souk, some great restaurants and bars, and a maze of meandering canals and lagoons plied by abras.

Where to go and what to see in Dubrovnik – a 3-day itinerary from destination expert and travel writer Annabelle Thorpe.

Where to go and what to see in Dubrovnik – a 5-day itinerary from destination expert and travel writer Annabelle Thorpe.

A desert city playground with a unique combination of Arabian culture, mega-malls and audacious architecture in a setting of year-round sun, sand and sea. Great family hotels and a ridiculous number of family attractions too.

Dazzling Dubrovnik offers UNESCO-listed heritage set against the pure blue backdrop of the Adriatic.

Our summary of the typical foods, ingredients and flavours, cooking styles, dining scene and best foodie experiences in Dubrovnik.

Nicole rounds up the typical foods, ingredients and flavours, cooking styles, dining scene and best foodie experiences in Dubai.

A 2km walk along these 13th-century walls is a feast of dazzling views over Dubrovnik’s old town rooftops and the Adriatic.

An annual celebration of world-class music, theatre and dance, performed beneath the stars in Dubrovnik’s magnificent Old Town.

Escape the sweltering heat and spend some time at Dubai’s beautiful golden beaches. Choose from hip beach clubs or family-friendly public stretches of sand.

Often referred to as Dubrovnik’s ‘Gibraltar’, the St Lawrence Fortress sits on an outcrop of rock just outside the City Walls, and took 600 years to complete. Originally built to protect against the Venetian fleet, its walls are between 4 and 12 metres thick.

Rising 415m above the city, topped with a historic fortress and accessible by cable car, Mount Srd offers spectacular views across Dubrovnik and beyond – on a clear day, the vista stretches for up to 60kms. The lower station is just ‘above’ the Old Town on Ulica Petra Kresimira IV, and it’s 3 and a half minutes to the top.

A charming Romanesque monastery with a hidden garden of orange and palm trees, a religious museum and the world’s oldest pharmacy, still functioning today.