Properties in Bur Dubai

Bur Dubai is the old city on the west side of Dubai Creek, and the name means "Dubai land" in Arabic. It is the part of Dubai with the longest history and the densest, most mixed street life, running from the Textile Souk and Al Fahidi down to Al Mankhool, Al Raffa and the newer towers around Al Kifaf and Zabeel.

A short history and how the name is used

Bur Dubai sits opposite Deira across the creek, and the two names mark the historic split of the city into its two original halves. Between 2013 and 2016 the creek was extended south to form the Dubai Water Canal, which technically turned Bur Dubai into an island, though the change made little difference to daily life in the district. A bridge connecting Bur Dubai to Dubai Islands is planned to open by 2026, according to Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority.

Landmarks and sub-areas

The historic core, around Al Fahidi and the Textile Souk, holds Al Fahidi Fort, now the Dubai Museum, the Grand Mosque of Dubai with the city's tallest minaret, the blue tiled Iranian Mosque, and Al Bastakiya, a quarter of old courtyard houses with wind towers. The Shindagha peninsula, the historic ruler's residence, sits at the mouth of the creek. Away from the historic core, Bur Dubai spreads through Al Mankhool and Al Raffa towards newer, taller development at Al Kifaf and Zabeel. Bur Dubai also has a long established Indian community, associated with a Hindu temple founded in the area in the 1960s.

Getting around

Bur Dubai is well served by the metro. BurJuman station, beneath the BurJuman shopping centre at the junction of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Street and Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, is one of only two stations where the Red and Green lines meet, giving direct access to Al Karama and Al Seef as well as connections across the rest of the city. Sharaf DG station, on the Green Line at the edge of the historic core, serves the Grand Mosque, the Dubai Museum, the Textile Souk and the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding. Abras, the small wooden ferries that cross the creek, connect Bur Dubai to Deira from stations near the souk.

What living in Bur Dubai is like

Bur Dubai suits tenants and buyers who want to be central and well connected and who prefer a real, working neighbourhood to a planned one. Rental demand is steady and driven by proximity to work and to the metro rather than by lifestyle marketing, and it is considerably cheaper per square foot than other central districts. It is not a community for someone who wants a pool deck and a concierge.

The sub-areas we hold stock or records for include Park Gate, Park Gate Residences and Al Kifaf, where new towers sit closer to Downtown Dubai and Zabeel than to the historic souk.

What is the postal code of Bur Dubai?

Dubai does not use postal codes. There is no postcode or ZIP system for addresses anywhere in Dubai, including Bur Dubai, so any five digit number you find online attached to the area has been invented. Dubai uses the PO Box instead: post goes to a numbered box at an Emirates Post branch rather than to a street address.

Where an online form insists on a postcode for a Bur Dubai address, the usual workarounds are to enter 00000, which most international forms accept for the UAE, to enter your PO Box number if the form allows letters and spaces, or to leave the field blank where it is optional and give the building name, street and area instead, which is what a Dubai courier actually uses.

What to check before you buy here

• The age and condition of the building, which varies enormously street by street, more than anywhere else on our list.
• Whether there is a functioning owners association, and what the reserve fund looks like. In older stock this is the difference between a good buy and a liability.
• Parking, which is genuinely difficult in parts of Bur Dubai.
• Noise and footfall, which are the character of the area and not a fault, but worth experiencing before you commit.
• Freehold status, which is not uniform across the district. The newer towers around Al Kifaf and Zabeel are freehold; much of the older stock in the historic core and Al Mankhool is not open to foreign ownership, so confirm what you would actually own before you commit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the postal code for Bur Dubai?

There is not one. Use a PO Box, 00000 on forms that insist on a postcode, or the building name and street.

Where is Al Mankhool?

Al Mankhool is one of the residential districts that make up Bur Dubai, between Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road and the creek, and it includes the area immediately around BurJuman.

Is Bur Dubai freehold?

Only in parts. The newer towers around Al Kifaf and Zabeel are freehold; the historic core and most of Al Mankhool and Al Raffa are not open to foreign ownership in the same way.

What areas make up Bur Dubai?

Bur Dubai is an umbrella name for several districts, including Al Fahidi, Al Bastakiya, Al Raffa and Al Mankhool and, at its newer edge, Al Kifaf and Zabeel.

Nearby, compare Al Karama, Oud Metha, Al Kifaf, Zabeel and Deira across the creek. Browse what we currently hold to rent and for sale.