Global Village and the Miracle Garden

Two of Dubai’s best-loved outings only exist in winter. Both shut for the hot months and open again in October, and between them they fill an afternoon and a whole evening. They also line up neatly with the best time to come, November to March, when the evenings are cool enough to spend outdoors.

The Miracle Garden is flowers built into shapes. There is a tunnel of hearts, a castle, a passage roofed with umbrellas, a clock, and an Emirates A380 made of flowers, which holds a Guinness World Record as the largest floral structure anywhere. The displays change through the season, so a photograph from last year is not a promise for this one. The paths are paved and easy with a pushchair, and shade is limited in places, so bring a hat and sun cream. The Butterfly Garden next door is a separate visit with its own ticket, and it adds an hour or two.

Go in the late afternoon, around four or five. That way you see the colours in daylight and stay while the lights come on after sunset, when the whole garden changes character. Two or three hours is enough for most families. Weekday mornings are the quietest time, if crowds bother you more than the light does.

Global Village has been running since 1997, and it works like a world’s fair that comes back every winter. It is a large open-air park of pavilions, each given over to a country or a region: carpets, honey, spices, sweets, clothes and whatever else that corner of the world is known for. There are more than two hundred places to eat, a fairground with rides from gentle to frankly alarming, a big wheel and stages with shows running through the evening. Nobody sees all of it. Pick a few pavilions, eat as you go, and let the children choose one ride each.

It opens in the late afternoon and stays open until around midnight, an hour later at the end of the week, so it takes the evening after the garden with room to spare. It has no metro station, which is one reason we book a transfer, and we time the pick-up for when the children start to flag rather than for closing time. IMG Worlds of Adventure is next door, so a family can spend the afternoon on indoor rides at the theme parks and cross over when the village opens.

Good to know

• Global Village keeps most Tuesdays for families, couples and women. Groups of men should choose another night.
• Comfortable shoes. Both places are big and outdoors, and shade in the garden is limited.
• No outside food or drink at the garden. There are places to eat inside.
• Global Village asks visitors to dress modestly, and that is the easier choice at the garden too.
• Evenings in the cooler months can turn chilly outdoors. A light jacket is worth carrying.
• Season dates and hours change every year. We confirm both for your dates before you fly.