Sharjah - earned the name "cities from Scheherazade's tales." On the way to the city from the airport, first and foremost, two- and three-story mansions appear, domes of mosques and arrows of minarets, then multistory buildings with shops on the ground floor; in the evenings, the shop windows are flooded so that the goods seem to be on display right on the street.
Sharjah is a 10-minute drive on a multi-lane, modern highway from Dubai. You can drive a car along this highway and miss the moment when you get to one city from another, but there is a natural border separating them - this is Al Khan Bay. In the old days there was a strong current in the bay, during high tide, water flooded large areas, disrupting communication between the two cities. There were two villages between Sharjah and Dubai. Abu Hail, which is now part of the Deira district, and all that remains of it is the watchtowers on the Dubai side of the bay, built by Sheikh Sharjah in the middle of the last century to oversee the expansion of Dubai and Al-Khan - it has survived to this day in its original form and is located at the base of the bay.
Sharjah has great beaches, hotels for every taste and budget. The most beautiful and largest oriental bazaars in the country, a fish market, a historical museum, a park with crazy, stunning imagination attractions. But not only bazaars, beaches and hotels are famous for this city, which is called the cultural capital of the Arab world. This is the "city of museums": the Museum of National Heritage, Art, Archaeological and Scientific Museum. Once, the first comprehensive school in the UAE was opened here in 1953. And it is in Sharjah that the largest mosque of King Faisal is located, accommodating 3,000 believers at the same time, the Unification memorial, a monument dedicated to the Holy Quran, a monument to Progress.
The merger of the past, present and future is expressed in the peaceful coexistence of mosques, museums, modern supermarkets, eastern markets, educational institutions, cultural and art centers. For the last 300 years, this emirate has been ruled by the Al Casimi family, once the most powerful in the entire Persian Gulf. Over the past 20 years, the city has greatly increased in size, incorporating suburban villages. Now Sharjah covers an area of 70sq. km, industrial quarters and suburbs stretched for several kilometers in the direction of deserts to the north and east. The center of the city still remains near the bay.
Sharjah is a very well-kept green city with an amazing lagoon with beautiful parks and gardens. There are many hotels located right on the seafront, making Sharjah one of the favorite tourist destinations. But tourists who choose a vacation in Sharjah should know that this is the most strict emirate in terms of customs. Here you cannot sunbathe topless even on the territory of a private beach, you can swim in the sea only on the territory of the hotel's private beach. This is a non-alcoholic emirate where alcohol is completely absent even in hotels.
Intricate abstract sculptures, fountains, a fiery riot of advertising stretch for kilometers. The purely modern look of the city is combined with oriental flavor. There are very few old buildings. Like the modern complex of the Fish Market in Deira or the Gold Market in Dubai and Deira, Sharjah has a similar attraction - the new Central Market, which earned the nickname of “steam locomotive” from Russian tourists: it seems to consist of several sections - “wagons” topped with wind-tower fans. Arches, slits, ornate ornaments, countless shops that can not be reached all day long (especially since they are closed at 12-16 hours, during the hottest times) - it is no coincidence that this place is considered the main attraction of Sharjah, famous for its carpets and gold products. There are, of course, large shops where you can drive by car and then gradually go upstairs on foot. On the roof, Italian, Chinese or Indian restaurants are arranged. Sharjah restaurants have a “dry law”, unlike the major restaurants in Dubai