THE DUBAI MALL - SOUK AL BAHAR

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

From 6pm, 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 it is very successful, playful, diverse, airy with these public spaces near the water. A trolley-bus, in the style of an old San Francisco bus, makes the tour of the owner. There are 8 information points as well as terminals to inform you about everything about the shopping centre: finding a shop, service to send your purchases directly to the hotel, strollers for children.

For a visit without a shopping objective, we advise you to come at nightfall. Meet in 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 kilometre. Then take the alley of the great jewellers, walk along the gold souk (the largest in the world with 220 shops) before you come across the Galeries Lafayette. Continuing on, you arrive at the skating rink, as big as an Olympic swimming pool. Further on, a waterfall of more than 24 metres of water awaits you. On these sculptures made of fiberglass, the silhouettes of the divers leave no one indifferent. Take the alley on the right, at the first roundabout turn right to go to the Dubai Aquarium. Retrace your steps until you reach the roundabout. If you take the escalator that descends, you can get to the outdoor fountains: every 30 minutes the Burj Khalifa burst into flames, taking on one of the most striking faces of modern urbanity. There, over the small bridge, you reach the Souk Al Bahar, the old-fashioned Arab-Hollywood-style Souk, where more shops, souvenir stalls, restaurants and bars with a superb view of the Burj and the fountain show await you. It's the most visited building in the world for several years so how not to get in!