Sharjah · Arts & museums
Museum of Islamic Civilization
Astrolabes, manuscripts and a kiswah woven with gold thread, in a restored souk under a blue-tiled dome. The best single room in the country for understanding the region.
2 hoursAED 10 from
City · Sharjah
Sharjah city
Sharjah was named Cultural Capital of the Arab World by UNESCO in 1998 and UNESCO World Book Capital in 2019, and it holds the largest museum estate in the country — several of them within walking distance of each other along the creek. No alcohol is served anywhere in the emirate, which is worth knowing before dinner rather than at it.
What marks it out
- Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, in a restored souk building
- Heart of Sharjah, the restored old town, on foot
- Al Noor Mosque, which runs guided visits for non-Muslims
Getting there
Contiguous with Dubai — twenty minutes off-peak and well over an hour in the morning rush.
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25.3463, 55.4209
Sharjah
Experiences in this emirate
Sharjah · Desert & dunes
Fossil dunes and Bronze Age tombs, Mleiha
One of the oldest recorded human presences outside Africa, in a landscape of petrified dunes. Guides here are archaeologists, not drivers.
Half dayAED 175 from
Sharjah · Coast & islands
Kalba's old mangroves by kayak
The oldest mangrove stand in the UAE, on the emirate's east-coast enclave. Kingfishers, turtles, and water flat enough to hear them.
3 hoursAED 140 from
What's on
What is on in this emirate
Culture
Sharjah International Book Fair
November
One of the largest book fairs in the world by footfall, with a fortnight of readings, translation deals and children's programming.
Free entry
Entry to the fair is free. The programme of talks and workshops is open to fair visitors.
Sharjah
Arts
Sharjah Light Festival
February
Projection works mapped onto mosques, museums and university façades across the emirate, free and after dark.
Free entry
Free and outdoors: the projections are on public buildings across the emirate, and the route is walkable.
Sharjah
Arts
Sharjah Biennial
Spring, every other year
The exhibition that made the emirate a fixture on the international art calendar, spread across restored courtyard houses.
Free entry
Entry to the exhibitions is free, across several venues; a few performances are ticketed.
Sharjah