Dubai Museum & Al Fahidi Fort

Set inside Al Fahidi Fort, the oldest existing building in Dubai, dating to around 1787, the Dubai Museum offers a grounding contrast to the city's gleaming modernity. The squat coral-and-gypsum fort, with its wind-tower and wooden cannons, once guarded the Creek; inside and in atmospheric underground galleries, dioramas and displays recreate pre-oil Dubai: the souks, pearl diving, desert and sea life, and the dramatic transformation that oil triggered from the 1960s.

It's a modest, affordable museum, but a genuinely useful half-hour or hour for understanding how a small trading and pearling settlement became a global metropolis in a single lifetime. It sits in the historic Al Fahidi (Bastakiya) quarter by the Creek, easily combined with the souks and an abra ride. (Note: the museum has periodically closed for renovation, verify it's open before visiting.)

Don't miss

• Al Fahidi Fort, Dubai's oldest building (c.1787)
• Underground galleries recreating old Dubai's souks and trades
• Exhibits on pearl diving and pre-oil life
• The wind-tower and traditional construction
• Its location in the Al Fahidi heritage quarter by the Creek

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Dubai Museum & Al Fahidi Fort

Cheapest way inOld Dubai tour: Local Market, Tasting, Dubai creek with Abra ride4.8★ · 984 travelers2–4 hoursFree cancellationFrom$22 per personSee dates →Best full dayDubai To Abu Dhabi: Grand Mosque, Royal Palace & Etihad Tower4.9★ · 10,179 travelers9–10 hoursFree cancellationFrom$89 per personSee dates →Private & flexibleHalf Day Dubai City Tour of Frame, Future Museum, & Blue Mosque4.9★ · 56 travelers~4 hoursFree cancellationFrom$95 per personSee dates →

Good for

How travelers rate it

Know before you go

• Check it's open, the museum has periodically closed for renovation.
• It's very cheap and quick, but a great primer on Dubai's pre-oil history.
• Combine it with the Al Fahidi heritage quarter, the souks, and an abra ride.
• The underground galleries are the most atmospheric part, don't miss them.

A bit of history

Al Fahidi Fort was built around 1787 to defend Dubai, later serving as a residence, garrison, and prison. It was restored and opened as the Dubai Museum in 1971, the year the UAE was founded, to preserve and present the emirate's heritage.