How to get to Global Village Dubai in Season 31 (2026–27): car, bus, taxi and parking

To get to Global Village, drive or book a chauffeur to the park off Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (E311) in Dubailand, or take RTA bus 102, 103, 104 or 106 from Al Rashidiya, Union, Al Ghubaiba or Mall of the Emirates bus stations. Season 31 opened on 14 October 2026, runs until May 2027 and opens at 4pm every day.

The arrival is the easy part. Leaving is where Global Village nights go wrong: the park stays open until midnight or 1am, but the RTA buses stop running around 11:15pm and every taxi app gets busy at once. We run event limousine and chauffeur transport to Global Village all season, mostly for families and groups, and this guide covers the routes, the car parks and the exit plan we use.

When is Global Village open in Season 31?

Global Village lists Season 31 as 14 October 2026 to May 2027. The exact closing date hasn’t been announced. Last season’s closing date was pushed back three weeks in May, so treat any closing date you see before spring as provisional.

Day	Opening hours
Sunday to Wednesday	4pm to midnight
Thursday to Saturday	4pm to 1am
Public holidays	4pm to 1am
Tuesdays	Families, couples and ladies only (except public holidays)

Tickets are bought online or at the gate. The Weekday ticket is AED 25 and isn’t valid on public holidays; the Any Day ticket is AED 30 and works on weekends and holidays too. Both include VAT. Children under 3, visitors aged 65 and over, and People of Determination with one companion get in free. Rides, games and the Carnaval aren’t included.

The park itself is large. Gulf News reported 29 pavilions on opening night, with more than 200 rides and attractions, and a 600-drone show opened the season. Expect to walk a lot once you’re inside.

Season dates: 2026, 2027 and 2028

Season	Opened	Closed
Season 30 (2025–26)	15 October 2025	31 May 2026, extended from 10 May
Season 31 (2026–27)	14 October 2026	May 2027; exact date not announced yet
Season 32 (2027–28)	Not announced yet; usually mid-October	Usually May
Season 33 (2028–29)	Not announced yet; usually mid-October 2028	Usually May

The pattern holds: Season 30 opened on 15 October 2025 according to RTA, and Season 31 opened on 14 October 2026. Plan on a mid-October start each year.

How do you get to Global Village?

Global Village sits in Wadi Al Safa 4, in the Dubailand area, off Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (E311). There’s no metro station close enough to walk from, so every option is a road option.

Option	How it works	Best for	Watch out for
Chauffeur	Door to gate, car waits or returns at closing	Families, groups, visitors without a car	Book weekends early
Self-drive	Free and paid car parks around the site	Residents	Free lots are 400 m to 1 km from the gates
RTA bus	Routes 102, 103, 104 and 106	Budget trips, solo visitors	Buses stop around 11:15pm; park closes later
Taxi or ride-hailing	RTA taxis, Careem, Uber	One-way trips	Long waits at closing time

By car or chauffeur

Most visitors arrive by car, and the park is built for it, with car parks on several sides of the site. The drive time depends far more on traffic than on distance. Weekend evenings between 6pm and 8pm are the slowest, because that’s when everyone arrives.

With a chauffeur, you’re dropped at the gate you choose. The park names three: Gate of the World (the main entrance, with Lost and Found nearby), Happiness Gate and Cultural Gate. If you have a child in a pushchair or a grandparent who walks slowly, tell us before the day and we’ll aim for the gate closest to where you want to start.

By RTA bus

RTA runs four seasonal routes straight to Global Village. The Global Village getting here page lists them for Season 31, and they match the routes in RTA’s announcement for last season:

Route	Starts from	Frequency (RTA)
102	Al Rashidiya Bus Station (Centrepoint metro)	Every 60 minutes
103	Union Bus Station	Every 40 minutes
104	Al Ghubaiba Bus Station	Every 60 minutes
106	Mall of the Emirates Bus Station	Every 60 minutes

Global Village says the buses run daily from about 3:15pm to 11:15pm and the trip takes around 30 minutes. For stops and timetables, RTA’s line is 800 9090.

Here’s the catch. The last buses leave around 11:15pm, while the park stays open until midnight on weeknights and 1am from Thursday to Saturday. If you take the bus there, decide before you arrive how you’re getting home.

By taxi or ride-hailing

RTA taxis, Careem and Uber all serve Global Village. Getting there is straightforward. Getting a car back at 11:30pm on a Friday is a different story, because thousands of people open the same apps in the same 30 minutes.

Global Village parking: free, paid and VIP

The park publishes its car parks with prices and walking distances. The closer you park, the more you pay.

Car park	Price	Distance to the gates
P1 and P3	Free	About 400 m from Gate of the World
P5	Free	About 450 m from Gate of the World
Paid Parking 2	AED 75 per day	About 350 m from Happiness Gate
Paid Parking	AED 120 per day	Not published
VIP Parking	AED 200 per day; free for VIP pack holders	Not published
P7 to P11	Free; open on weekends, public holidays and busy days	About 1 km from Cultural Gate, with a free shuttle bus or a rickshaw from AED 10
Parking A	A Sticker holders only	Not public

On a busy Friday, the free lots near Gate of the World fill first and late arrivals end up in P7 to P11, a kilometre out. That’s fine on the way in. On the way out, with tired children and shopping bags, the shuttle queue at Cultural Gate is the part families remember.

A chauffeur skips the whole question: you’re dropped at the gate, and the car parks itself while you’re inside.

Leaving Global Village at closing time

This is the bit to plan. Closing is midnight from Sunday to Wednesday and 1am from Thursday to Saturday, and on weekends most of the crowd leaves in the last hour.

How we run Global Village pickups:

1. Agree the gate on the way in. Your chauffeur drops you and notes the gate. Pickup is at the same gate unless you tell us otherwise.
2. The car waits nearby. On hourly hire, the chauffeur stays parked close to the site for the evening. On a drop-and-return booking, we send the car back for a time you set.
3. Message 20 minutes before you walk out. Global Village is big, and getting from the far pavilions back to the gate takes longer than you think.
4. Leave before the final half hour if you can. Gate traffic and the E311 slip roads are calmest before the closing rush.

For families, we usually suggest hourly hire from arrival to home. Hourly chauffeur hire has a 3-hour minimum, and a typical Global Village evening runs four to five hours door to door. We don’t add surge pricing or night surcharges, so the 12:30am drive home costs the same per hour as the 5pm drive out.

Getting a family or group to Global Village

Global Village is a group outing more than a date night. Grandparents, cousins, a school group, a company team. The car question is really a seats question.

Group size	What we send	Why
1 to 3	Business or first-class sedan	Simple drop and pickup
4 to 6	Mercedes V-Class or a large SUV	Sliding doors, room for a folded pushchair
7 to 8	Toyota HiAce VIP from our vans with driver	One vehicle for the whole family
13 to 34	Minibus with driver	School trips, staff outings, tour groups
Up to 53	Coach, which we arrange through our bus rental service	Large company events

Two practical points from our dispatch desk. First, the V-Class is the car families rebook: the sliding door matters when children are asleep at 12:30am and you’re lifting them in. Second, for a group in two vehicles, keep both cars on the same pickup gate, or one half of the family waits for the other on the kerb.

For a large group, pick a weekday. The park is calmer and the exit is quicker, which matters when 40 people have to find one coach. Avoid Tuesday if your group includes men travelling without their families, because Tuesdays are reserved for families, couples and ladies.

Busy nights to avoid (or plan around)

• Friday and Saturday evenings. Heaviest arrivals from 6pm to 8pm, heaviest exits after midnight.
• Public holidays. Hours extend to 1am and the Any Day ticket is the only one valid, so the crowd is bigger.
• New Year’s Eve. For 2025/26, Global Village marked the new year with seven countdowns in one night and was on the official list of fireworks sites. Our New Year’s Eve transport guide covers how the city’s roads work that night.
• The Dubai Shopping Festival. DSF runs from 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027, and evening traffic across Dubai builds through it. See our Dubai Shopping Festival transport guide.

Everything else on this winter’s calendar, with the dates that affect traffic, is in our Dubai events calendar.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to Global Village by public transport?

Take an RTA bus. Route 102 runs from Al Rashidiya Bus Station, 103 from Union Bus Station, 104 from Al Ghubaiba Bus Station and 106 from Mall of the Emirates Bus Station. Buses run from about 3:15pm to 11:15pm, every 40 to 60 minutes, and take around 30 minutes. There’s no metro station within walking distance.

How much is the entry ticket for Global Village?

For Season 31, the Weekday ticket is AED 25 and the Any Day ticket is AED 30, both including VAT. The Weekday ticket isn’t valid on public holidays. Children under 3, visitors aged 65 and over, and People of Determination with one companion enter free. Rides and attractions cost extra.

When does Global Village close for the season?

Season 31 runs until May 2027, but the exact closing date hasn’t been announced. Last season was due to close on 10 May 2026 and was extended to 31 May 2026, so check the official site in spring before you plan a late-season visit.

Is parking free at Global Village?

Some of it is. P1, P3 and P5 are free and about 400 to 450 metres from Gate of the World, and P7 to P11 are free on busy days with a shuttle to Cultural Gate. Paid parking costs AED 75 or AED 120 a day, and VIP parking is AED 200 a day unless you hold a VIP pack.

What is the dress code for Global Village?

Global Village asks visitors to dress modestly and to avoid public displays of affection. Pets aren’t allowed, and neither are scooters, bicycles, hoverboards, skateboards or roller skates. Filming needs a permit. Comfortable shoes help, because the walk from the car parks and between pavilions is long.