Sharjah--woth a trip?

Hi,
Sharjah is very close to Dubai, actually you even dont know where is the intersection between those two cities. Sharjah is a city full of appartment houses that are almost attached to each other as all of the expats (including mostly Indian, Pakistani, Philipino) are living there. There are several malls (Mega Mall, City Center) that you can shop in. To Dubai you can catch a taxi anytime (50 AED to Dubai - cca14 USD) or to go with bus which is cheaper but you may stuck in the traffic for very long time. Now the traffice between Sharjah and Dubai is the worst that can happen to you. But also if you have international driving license or your driving license is valid in UAE, just rent a car and you'll be fine.
You should not get lost in Dubai if you have a map even the roads change each day due to many constructions. Sharjah is different. Lot of mess, detours, cars, stupid drivers..God help us.
Regarding safety, Sharjah as other Emirates are pretty low in crimes so you feel safe and ppl used to let even their cars open. However, recently I would not make that in Sharjah or Ajman. You never know.
On September, Ramadan begins in all Arabic countries which mean you cant eat, drink or smoke on public places and also no restaurant is open until evening (after sunset) so i would reconsider the timing and come in October.
Hope you get enough information my friend.

Da Visna

For anything to do or see in the Sharjah, Dubai region, it will most likely have something to do with the many shopping malls here. If that's your cup of tea, you will be in heaven. If not you'll be out in no-time.

For something to do in terms of seeing, experiencing, i'd say go outside the urban region and spend a few days in the north above RAK or drive to Oman to get a feel over there. Oh, the Dubai museum in Bur Dubai might be interesting - it's largely underground and show quite a bit of the recent history.

For transportation, well it's either taxi's or renting a car. Public transport is there but still on a limited scale compared to huge amount of taxi's and cars on the streets. Car rental is fairly cheap, a taxi ride compared to Europe is not that expensive either.

Good luck!

Key things to know about Sharjah:

1. Its dry, which means that socialising / restaurants etc is severely limited unless you travel to Dubai.
2. Its also a lot more conservative than Dubai in terms of clothing and behaviour and the skimpy shorts and vests that tourists wear in Dubai will get you hostility and scorn from people on the street, and occasionally the attention of the civil police force in Sharjah.
3. It prides itself on being the cultural centre of the UAE - there are 22 museums in total in Sharjah Emirate, including the Natural History Museum, the Captive Breeding Centre for endangered species, museums of islamic heritage and art, and all kinds of other stuff, and many of them are excellent. If that floats your boat, you'll be laughing. Full list here
4. There are multiple bog-standard large malls that hold no appeal at all unless you have never been to a mall anywhere else before, but there are also a couple of more traditional style souks that are worth checking out, especially if you want to buy rugs.
5. Although Dubai is extremely close, and there are regular buses that run between the two emirates, the journey can routinely take over 2 hours, and it only operates from one bus station to another so that the journey actually involves two taxis (one at each end) plus the bus. Realistically, if you have any form of time frame at all, the only way to travel between the emirates is by taxi and depending on the time of day it can be almost impossible to a) find a taxi thats free, and b) convince him to take you to Dubai (or back to Sharjah) without bribing him by offering to pay an additional 20 or 30 dirhams above whats on the meter.

Generally, Sharjah as a community functions as a big low income dormitory for Dubai and hasnt got a lot to recommend it. I work in Sharjah but would never consider living there. However, as #2 say, if you're happy to rent a car and drive, its a great start point for exploring the country - the east coast is only 2 hours drive away, and the Mussandam region of Oman is only 4 hours drive away.

I live in Sharjah and its not a hoping spot but you can find your fun.The wild life center is very good and I highly suggest it and they have just opened up a new aquarium so lokk into that.If you want a drink head to Ajiman about ten minutes away,the outside inn or the kapenski hotel serve them up.Al momzar beach is a very nice beach which is in Dubai but right across from Sharjah.
I have never had to bribe a taxi driver to get me back from Dubai and people drive like nuts all over the UAE that why there is such as high death rate on the roads.

I've only been to Sharjah a couple of times since I moved here, and I have always found it to be really nice. I agree with ctown that there are some really nice places to visit. The wil life center is beside a natural history museum (and one other one that I can't remember off the top of my head); my family got in last year for thirty dirhams total. A lot of people also like some the cultural type museums that are there (the Islamic museum/ the classic car museum, etc.) I would think that a week or two would be quite nice between Sharjah, Dubai, and the northern emirates.