Reef Al Bustan Garden

This guide to Reef Al Bustan Garden in Medina traces how a working date farm on King Abdullah Road became a park without ever tearing out its palms. You'll hear about the family who still sells dates from farm stalls at prices below the malls, the free gahwa poured during Ramadan, and why the gates only open after dusk in a city where daylight makes walking among palms the wrong idea. It follows the aviary of local and migratory birds and the food stalls that now share the orchard with visitors. Go after sunset, when the string lights and the smell of the old farm both come alive at once.