The Desert Camp

Days in the dunes, a private camp and the silence of the Rub' al Khali. A private, tailored journey of 4-5 days in The Empty Quarter, United Arab Emirates, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$14,500 per traveler.

A country where the vertical glamour of the city, the quiet of the dunes and the warmth of the Gulf are all within a private morning's reach.

When to go

November through March, when the desert cools into clear, temperate days and long golden evenings by the Gulf. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.

The experiences

A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:

• Reach a private camp set deep in the Rub' al Khali, where the dunes rise higher than anywhere on earth.
• Climb a great ridge at golden light and watch the sand run to the horizon in every direction.
• Spend the still heat of midday in the shade of the camp, the silence unbroken for miles.
• Dine beneath a sky thick with stars, the Empty Quarter holding its ancient quiet all around.

A sense of the rhythm

The days follow the light of the great desert, out among the dunes at dawn and dusk and at rest through the heat, the nights given wholly to the stars.

Why the Empty Quarter

The Rub' al Khali is the largest sand desert on earth, and a private camp within it offers a silence and a scale no other landscape can match.

How to do it well

The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:

• Keep to the cool hours for the dunes and rest through the fierce midday sun.
• The winter months make the great desert its most forgiving and its most beautiful.
• Ask for a camp set well apart so the silence and the stars are entirely yours.
• Bring warm layers, for the desert night grows sharply cold beneath the clear sky.

What only your advisor can open

The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.

Who it's for

Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.

Estimated investment

From US$14,500 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.

Designed entirely around you

Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.

Your Virtuoso privileges

As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.

Continue exploring The Empty Quarter

Part of our The Empty Quarter travel guide. Related private journeys:

• The Falconer's Journey
• Desert Honeymoon
• Dunes & Family

Begin the conversation

Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design The Desert Camp around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →