Excursion to Sharjah from Dubai by car: what to do in one day

Sharjah is one of the seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates. It has a reputation for being the most conservative, but don’t let that stop you. Sharjah is also one of the most interesting and also has a considerable extension that includes both coasts of the peninsula. Find out all you can see and do in a day in Sharjah and how to organize your visit.

If you prefer an organized tour, you have one at this link.

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These links allow you to follow my recommendations and book them, and provide a little commission. Thus, you help keep this travel blog ad-free at no extra cost to you.

Sharjah (الشارقة) is the capital of the eponymous emirate and concentrates almost its entire population. You could almost say that a street separates Dubai from Sharjah, and yet in the neighboring emirate life has remained much more traditional. You hardly see any Western foreigners, and you feel the presence of the mosques calling to prayer much more than in Dubai.

Sharjah also has some territories on the east coast of the UAE and has some interesting beaches.

Things to do in Sharjah

The city has positioned itself as a major museum center and can be a good cultural getaway. This is the itinerary I prepared to get to know the emirate of Sharjah in one day with a rental car.

The archeological site of Mleiha

Here is the Mleiha Archaeological Museum (the signs also say Maleha and Maliha), a modern facility that displays the discoveries of tombs from the Paleolithic, Neolithic and pre-Islamic periods in the Fossil Rock region. It is an interesting visit for archaeology lovers, but also for those who want to know more about the migrations of our ancestors from Africa to the other continents. The entrance fee is 25 dirhams.

If you do not want to pay the entrance fee, you can also visit the remains of a Bronze Age tomb in front of the museum and the caves where some of the remains of the museum were found in the nearby mountain.

Red dunes and Fossil Rock

The most spectacular thing is walking through the red sand dunes of Mount Mleiha which is also known as Fossil Rock. This mountain is quite well known in the country because on one side it is pure rock, while on the other side the sand reaches almost to the top. You will have the best views from the village of Al Khatam. You can reach this village with any vehicle, as the road is paved.

I am not very fond of jeep safaris in the Emirates and I prefer to see the desert in silence and solitude, by camel if possible. However, if you are interested in safaris in the dunes of Fossil Rock, but you can find some ideas at this link.

In Mleiha there are not many options for lunch, so we went to the old part of Sharjah to eat and continue the visit.

Heart of Sharjah

Most of the city center has paid parking, but there is plenty of space so you can park almost at the door of your destination.

The truth is that there were not as many dining options as I expected, but in the Emirates the Arabian Tea House is always a guarantee of good food. In addition, the restaurant is located in the heart of the souk with a very nice place. I recommend the chicken biryani and the haloumi roll with rose jam.

You can spend the whole afternoon visiting Hearth of Sharjah, the restored old part of the city. There are some significant buildings, such as the Al Hisn fort, which contains a small museum. There is also a walled area and some restored historic houses.

Museums of Sharjah

If you have come to Sharjah, you cannot miss its museums. Here are the ones I visited:

• The best art museum in the United Arab Emirates with the permission of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The sheikh of the city is passionate about modern art and has a permanent collection that includes Orientalist works and a wide selection of contemporary art by artists from the Arab-Muslim world. A temporary exhibition is on display on the first floor. Admission to the museum is free and there is a café.

• The Museum of Islamic Civilization has a first floor dedicated to explaining the basics of the Muslim religion, while the four galleries on the upper floor display a wide selection of Islamic art from ceramics to metalwork to textiles, woodwork, jewelry, etc. Admission costs 25 dirhams, and it takes an hour and a bit to go through the entire museum attentively.

• The Sharjah Art Foundation has several temporary exhibition galleries. When I visited, there was an exhibition of The Rain Room, an installation I had seen at the Barbican Centre in London and later installed in New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. It’s a highly recommended visit, as well as a great opportunity for amazing photos. The entrance fee is 25 dirhams.

The museums close at 8 p.m., so you can enjoy the day well into the evening.

A walk through the souks and the Corniche of Sharjah

Unlike Dubai, the souks in Sharjah are simpler, but also have many much more genuine local products. Both fabric and homeware stores sell many everyday Emirati items at local prices, as there are not many tourists in Sharjah. Normally, the most recommended souk in the city is the Blue Souk south of the old area.

At sunset, the city revives from daytime lethargy. The place to enjoy the sunset is the Corniche, an avenue in front of the port of Sharjah. When the mosques call to prayer, it is truly a magical moment. Then it’s time to stroll through the souks, which are much more lively. By the way, if you want to dine in the city, I recommend another restaurant in the museum district: the Pakistani restaurant Al Nawab.

The return to Dubai can be little more than fifteen minutes if you are in Deira or more than an hour to Burj Khalifa or Dubai Marina.

Sharjah in one day

This whole tour is done with a rental car, leaving from Dubai. I was staying in the south of Downtown, towards Ibn Battuta.

• Start the day at 9 am by driving one hour east to the center of the Emirates.
• At 10.30 am, you can visit the Mleiha Archaeological Museum.
• When you finish, climb up to the caves where the excavations took place and take pictures with the Fossil Rock dunes at Al Khatam.
• Return to Sharjah for lunch at Arabian Tea House.
• At 4 pm, you can go to the Sharjah Art Museum.
• On your way out, walk around the restored old area and wait for the sunset at The Corniche and wait for the mosques to call to prayer.
• Afterward, you can go to the Museum of Islamic Civilization just across the street.
• End the day with a Mughal dinner at Al Nawab restaurant before returning to Dubai.

Alternatively, you can hop on a sightseeing bus that tours all the must-see places in Sharjah or take a guided tour of the city.

A two-day route to Sharjah

If you have an extra day to visit Sharjah, you have to go to The Rain Room and the Archaeological Museum of the city.

It may also be a good idea to tour the coast of Sharjah, in the eastern part of the emirate, where there is one of the most famous beach destinations in the country: Ras al Khor.

Finally, consider whether you want to visit Sharjah’s two neighboring emirates: Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, a few kilometers north of the city.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS. This post contains some affiliate links.

These links allow you to follow my recommendations and book them, and provide a little commission. Thus, you help keep this travel blog ad-free at no extra cost to you.