The typical tour itinerary, giving visitors a taster of desert life, is easily slotted into even a short trip to Dubai, taking around six hours door to door, with a mid-afternoon departure from the city. The Dubai Desert 4x4 Safari offers a half-day desert adventure and includes a camel ride, sandboarding lessons, a sunset barbecue, and a belly dancing show. For a less rushed tour experience, choose one of the companies that operate inside the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, where trips can include wildlife drives to spot the reserve's free-roaming herds of gazelles and, if you're lucky, Arabian oryx.
