The Falconer's Journey
Falconry, dune drives and the living traditions of the Bedu. 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$13,500 per traveler.
- Heritage · Private
- Ideal length: 4-5 days
- Best time: From November to March, the best window for The Empty Quarter.
- Private guiding, access and transfers throughout
- From US$13,500 per traveler — a starting point, tailored to you
- Designed one-to-one by a Forest Travel advisor
- Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels
Falconry, dune drives and the living traditions of the Bedu. 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$13,500 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
From November to March is the best window for The Empty Quarter. 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:
- Spend the morning with a master falconer, the bird returning to the glove against the open desert.
- Ride out across the dunes as the Bedu have for generations, guided by those who know the sand.
- Learn the living traditions of the desert people, from the coffee ritual to the reading of the land.
- Close the day at a private camp where the old ways and a quiet luxury meet under the stars.
A sense of the rhythm
The days keep the desert's own rhythm, falconry and drives in the cool hours and the heritage of the Bedu unfolding slowly, at the pace of the land itself.
How to do it well
The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:
- Meet the falconer in the early light, when the bird and the desert are at their best.
- The cooler months suit the drives and the long hours outdoors.
- Come with genuine curiosity, for the traditions open most to those who ask.
- A private guide steeped in the culture turns each ritual into something you carry home.
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$13,500 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:
Begin the conversation
Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design The Falconer's Journey around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →
Questions, answered.
Falconry runs to the heart of Emirati heritage, and in the Empty Quarter it is still lived rather than performed, shared by those born to it.
Early morning. Our advisors suggest meeting the falconer in the early light, when the bird and the desert are at their best. The journey keeps the desert's own rhythm, with falconry and dune drives set in the cool hours. You spend the morning with a master falconer, watching the bird return to the glove against the open desert, before the heritage of the Bedu unfolds slowly, at the pace of the land itself.
Come with genuine curiosity, because the traditions open most to those who ask. A private guide steeped in the culture turns each ritual, from the coffee ritual to the reading of the land, into something you carry home. In the Empty Quarter these ways are still lived rather than performed, shared by those born to them, and your Forest Travel advisor chooses and sequences every guide and moment for you.
At a private camp, where the old ways and a quiet luxury meet under the stars. After falconry with a master falconer and rides across the dunes in the cool hours, guided by those who know the sand, the day closes in the desert itself. Each experience is arranged privately and shaped to you, and your advisor stays one message away before and throughout your trip.
Plan on 4-5 days. That gives the journey room to keep the desert's own rhythm: mornings with a master falconer in the early light, when the bird and the desert are at their best; rides across the dunes in the cool hours, guided by those who know the sand; time to learn the living traditions of the Bedu, from the coffee ritual to the reading of the land; and evenings at a private camp under the stars. Your advisor tunes the length to your calendar and pace.
As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$13,500 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.
November through March, when the desert cools into clear, temperate days and long golden evenings by the Gulf. The cooler months suit the dune drives and the long hours outdoors, and they make the early-light sessions with the falconer, when the bird and the desert are at their best, a pleasure. Evenings at a private camp under the stars close each day. Your Forest Travel advisor times the journey to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
On The Falconer's Journey, you ride out across the Empty Quarter's dunes as the Bedu have for generations, guided by those who know the sand. The drives are set in the cool hours, keeping the desert's own rhythm alongside the falconry. The cooler months of November through March suit them best, along with the long hours outdoors. Like every experience on the journey, the drives are arranged privately and shaped to you.
Yes. The guide describes the United Arab Emirates as 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. In the cooler months from November through March, the desert brings clear, temperate days and long golden evenings by the Gulf. Your Forest Travel advisor designs the journey end to end and times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
United Arab Emirates
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