This place is FULL of scammers. The sellers chase you down, harass you, and make you feel uncomfortable. They STARE, so if you go, cover up. Do not go as a solo female. I felt so uncomfortable that I left after 30 minutes. These sellers have no decency. This is a tourist trap where you will be bothered and it’s not worth it.

I was a bit uncomfortable cause the sellers were extremely pushy. When you go inside the store it's almost impossible to get out without buying anything. My brother literally got dragged into a store In one store the seller at first wanted us to pay 400aed just for some spices. we negotiated the price down to 200 aed but that's still too much just for a couple of spices in my opinion. nevertheless it was an interesting experience

Appearance, smells etc similar to the past except gone is the genteel approach of the locals as the place is staffed by pushy Asians trying to catch an unwary tourist, in any language you care to choose. Nowadays we find it simpler to buy from a major brand such as Bayara from Carrefour for reliable quality at a reasonable price. Such a shame this seems to be the price of progress! However, if you are interested in semi-precious stones, beads, trinkets etc you could do worse than visiting Shop No. B-2, near National Tailoring near one end of the souk, where Ibrahim Khan will make it a pleasure for you to spend money ! I know, I paid the bill.

The spice souk in Deira is just behind the abra ferry station, which can be easily reached by the 1 dirham boat in Bur Dubai near Ghubaiba metrostation. It is a very colourful and odour rich area with narrow alleys and lots of people. You can see many different kind of spices. For me, many I had never seen or heard of. As mentioned by others the vendors can be rather pushy and insistent. Look determined, keep the direction of your eyes downward and walk through. If you want to buy, do not start a bargaining proces if you do not know the price. The vendors in this area have much more experience in dealing with potential buyers than you have with dealing with wicked dealers. Keep in mind: you are never obliged to buy anything, also not after taking a photo or entering a shop and having a tea.

This place looks amazing with all the spices piled high, fresh dates, teas and lots of cleaning and healing crystals. It also has lots of tourist type gifts that the vendors are desperate for you to look at and buy. Be careful when buying that you clarify the price. Sometimes it seemed to be per kilo and at other times it was a lesser weight.

There were apparently some locals shopping here, but I suspect that this place is mainly for the benefit of tourists. I lost count of the number of times we were accosted with offers of (fake) watches and handbags - 'Just come inside and look, no need to buy' with an intensity bordering on desperation. So many shops apparently selling exactly the same goods - not sure what's really going on. The Spice sellers' tactics were mainly to leap out and thrust something in your face and ask 'Do you know what this is?' Of course, after the 20th time this happened, we were able to answer correctly which made them look crestfallen. There were no prices shown on anything at all, so I guess you'd have to be seriously good at haggling, if indeed there was anything you wanted to buy. We saw several heavily veiled women shopping, being meekly trailed by male porters pushing sack barrows loaded with their purchases, so there is evidently some 'real' shipping done here. The constant haranguing by sellers was exhausting and detracted from what could have been an interesting experience in this colourful souk.

We took the Metro to the Dubai Creek at the Spice Souk and had a lovely afternoon. The souk is the traditional style with vendors stalls and stores in rows, many selling the same products. We do not appreciate being harassed so as soon as we passed a vendor sitting quietly outside his shop we went in. I'm not a driven barterer and the prices were fair so we picked up some jasmine flowers for tea, some butterfly tea mix, and a 1/2 kilo shelled raw pistachios. Great buys. The best of the souk is people watching. The visual effects of the mounded spices on display reminded me of the spice bazaar in Istanbul.

Visting the Old Souk area including the Spice Souk left me somewhat disappointed. It's fun to take an Abra across the Dubai Creek and this is a good place to pick up some inexpensive souvenirs, but the souk did not provide the exotic or energetic experience that I was expecting. It is essentially a flea market similar to that you can find in many large cities but here with pushy and annoying vendors who will constantly pester you as you try to enjoy the experience.

I don’t cook anything other than basic stuff like omelettes, so my knowledge of spice is zero. However my mum who likes to cook and use a variety of spices understood and enjoyed this. The Saffron is dirt cheap here. Especially if you bargain, as it’s like 10 times more expensive in the UK. The shop we bought, pure saffron 2 grams for 50 Durhams. You can probably get it cheaper elsewhere but the spices here are plentiful and affordable compared to the West.