Luxury Desert Tours in Abu Dhabi: Private, VIP and Bespoke Desert Experiences

Almost every desert safari sold in Abu Dhabi ends at a shared camp with a buffet and a show. That is the standard product and it is good value, but it is not what a high-end traveller means by luxury. The premium range separates into four tiers, and the first question to answer is which one you want.

Prices as listed on arabiers.com in September 2026. Child rates apply on premium camp tours; private tours are priced per vehicle or per couple.

This is the private evening most high-end guests end up booking, and the one to compare everything else against. From the moment a private, roller-protected Land Cruiser collects you at your hotel lobby (between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.) you are with your own driver-guide and no one else. The afternoon runs through a dune drive at whatever intensity you ask for, a camel farm visit, and then a walk or sandboarding while the sun drops. Dinner is a private live BBQ laid on open dunes near the base camp, not inside it, with Arabic coffee and dates on arrival, water, soft drinks and tea, fire torches, low tables and cushions, and a bonfire on cool evenings. The base camp is used for washroom facilities only. Drop-off is between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

Two set-ups to choose from

Both include the private Land Cruiser, driver-guide, camp assistants, insurance, camel farm, sandboarding, sunset, desert walk and private live BBQ dinner.

• Desert Romantic Sunset Setup, AED 1,690 per couple. A table for two on the dune crest, positioned for the sunset. The choice for anniversaries, proposals and couples who want the evening to themselves.
• UAE Majlis Style Setup in Dunes, AED 2,190 per couple. A traditional floor majlis with carpets and cushions, more space, and the layout that works for a family or a small group who want to eat together Emirati style.

Excluded: alcohol, quad or buggy ride (available on request), camel riding and stage shows. If you want an hour on a camel, add the hour-long camel ride into the inner desert. Vegetarian and dietary menus are prepared on request. See the Desert Dinner in Style inclusions and menu.

These four tours are for guests who want the driving to be the point, without a camp and without strangers. Each is a private 4x4 with your own driver, a Polaris buggy session on the Al Khatim dunes, return transfer from Abu Dhabi, and a minimum of two guests.

Private Morning Desert Tour by 4x4 with Buggy Ride

About 5 hours, morning. AED 550.

Cool air, empty dunes and the best light for driving. The morning is the least crowded time in Al Khatim and the buggy session runs before the sand heats up. Morning buggy tour itinerary and rates.

Private Evening Desert Tour by 4x4 with Buggy Ride

About 6 hours, evening. AED 625.

The same private format timed for sunset, with the buggy session as the sun goes down. No dinner is included, which suits guests who would rather eat back at their hotel. Sunset Polaris session with a private 4x4.

Private Dinner in the Desert with Buggy Ride

Evening. AED 1,025.

Open dune dinner at your own table with a bonfire, preceded by a Polaris buggy run. The mid-point between the private evening tour and the Desert Dinner in Style: simpler set-up, more driving. Dune dinner with a buggy run, AED 1,025.

Private Overnight Desert Tour with Buggy, Nature Camping

About 18 hours, overnight. AED 690.

Open dunes, no base camp, a buggy session, dinner, a night under the stars and sunrise on the dunes. This is the closest thing to a private expedition without driving to Liwa, and the option for guests who want a night out of signal range rather than at a resort. Overnight nature camping on open dunes.

The premium camp tier keeps a private 4x4 transfer and moves the meal from a buffet to table service at Arabian Nights Village, the best-appointed desert camp near Abu Dhabi. You share the venue with other premium guests, but not a queue. These are the right choice for guests who want the comfort without paying for a fully private set-up, and they are the only tier with a proper overnight bed.

• Premium Abu Dhabi Evening 4x4 Tour. Arabian Nights Village, table service and smaller groups. Not a buffet queue.
• Abu Dhabi Bonfire Tales Premium Evening 4x4 Tour. Storytelling around a desert bonfire at the premium camp. Winter evenings only, and the most Emirati of the evening formats.
• Abu Dhabi Premium Overnight Stay 4x4. Premium camp, table service at dinner, a proper room rather than a tent, and sunrise on the dunes the next morning.
• Premium Sunrise Tour with Breakfast. Watch the sun come up from the dunes, then breakfast in the desert. AED 390 adult, AED 290 child. Sunrise desert tour timings and pick-up.
• Bedouin Desert Breakfast Experience. A traditional breakfast in the quiet early desert, for guests who want the calm of the morning without a dune drive.
• Abu Dhabi Premium Camel Trekking. Nearly an hour on camel from an inner desert point to Arabian Nights Village, morning or evening. Camel trek to Arabian Nights Village.

Al Khatim is 50 minutes from the city and the right choice for an evening. When a guest asks for the most memorable desert experience with no budget ceiling, the answer moves 240 km south-west to Liwa and the Empty Quarter, where the dunes reach 300 metres and the only hotel is Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara. The Qasr Al Sarab dinner day tour from Abu Dhabi (BBQ Dinner at Qasr Al Sarab Liwa Day Tour, AED 2,990 per vehicle) is a full private day: a Land Cruiser with an Emirati driver holding Empty Quarter permits, Moreeb Dune, a camel farm, and a private dinner at the resort with a personal chef and butler. Guests can return to Abu Dhabi that night or stay at the resort. The full range is on the Liwa desert safari tours page.

Everything above is a listed product with a fixed price. Beyond it, Arabiers builds private desert set-ups to order, and has done so for VVIP guests. What can be arranged:

• Transfers: Mercedes V-Class or luxury SUV pick-up from your hotel, residence or private aviation terminal, with a Land Cruiser convoy for the dunes.
• Private camp: Arabic majlis tents, carpets, lanterns and torches at a location away from any commercial camp, with private washroom facilities.
• Dining: live cooking stations, a private chef, butler or waiter service, a personalised menu (Emirati, international, dietary), and licensed beverage arrangements where permitted.
• Celebrations: a cake with a personal message, flowers, decoration, a photographer, an oud player or other musician, falconry display, henna artist.
• Activities on request: quad bikes, Polaris buggies, camel trekking, a nature drive instead of dune bashing for guests who prefer a gentler ride, stargazing with a telescope.
• Discretion: a single point of contact, staff briefed on no photography, booking held under an alias, and a fixed named driver for the whole engagement.

To quote a private camp we need the date, the number of guests, the occasion, morning, evening or overnight, whether dune bashing is wanted, and any menu or beverage requirements. A full private camp needs about seven days' notice; additions to a listed private dinner (cake, flowers, decoration) can usually be arranged within 48 hours.

"Not touristy" usually means three things: no coach party, no stage show, and something that feels connected to how the desert was actually lived in. The listed tours that meet all three are the Bedouin Desert Breakfast Experience (a dawn meal in the quiet desert), the Bonfire Tales evening (Emirati storytelling around a fire in winter), the Premium Camel Trekking (nearly an hour on camel from an inner desert point, which is how you would have arrived at the village), and any private Liwa tour, where the guides grew up in Al Dhafra and the Empty Quarter is the ancestral home of the ruling family. The Private Desert Dinner in Style with the Majlis set-up is the evening version: floor seating, Arabic coffee and dates on arrival, live BBQ and a bonfire, with nothing performed.

Most desert safari operators in Abu Dhabi sell shared evening tours and add a "VIP" label to a better seat at the same camp. Arabiers Travel and Tourism LLC (Licence No. 1176592) runs private and premium desert products as a core line, with its own desert ground operations team in Abu Dhabi and Liwa, private roller-protected Land Cruisers, Polaris buggies, private dune dinner set-ups and the Qasr Al Sarab dining programme. The full Abu Dhabi desert safari range, from shared to private, is on one page so that the difference between tiers is visible before you book. For venue-based luxury, the properties Arabiers works with are Arabian Nights Village and Telal Resort near Al Khatim, and Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara in Liwa.

The word private is used loosely in Abu Dhabi. Before paying for any tour sold as private, luxury or VIP, ask the operator these six questions. The answers separate a genuinely private evening from a shared tour with a better seat.

1. Is the vehicle exclusively mine from pick-up to drop-off? Some "private" tours share the 4x4 for the dune drive and only privatise the transfer. On every Arabiers private tour the Land Cruiser carries your party only.
2. Where exactly is dinner served? "Private dinner" can mean a reserved table inside a shared camp. Ask whether the table is on open dunes and whether other guests can see it. The Desert Dinner in Style is laid outside the camp; the camp is used for washrooms only.
3. Who else will be at the location? Ask how many other bookings are at the same site that evening. At a premium camp the honest answer is other premium guests; at a private dune set-up it should be none.
4. Can the dune drive be adjusted or removed? A private driver can go gently for children, older guests or anyone who dislikes dune bashing, or replace it with a nature drive. A shared vehicle cannot.
5. Is the price per person or per vehicle? Private tours on arabiers.com are per vehicle or per couple. A family of four on the AED 625 Private Evening buggy tour pays about AED 156 a head, which is close to a shared premium tour. Ask for the per-vehicle figure and divide it yourself.
6. What is the cancellation cut-off and the wet-weather policy? Get the cut-off in writing. For a fixed-date celebration, ask what happens if fog or a Shamal wind closes the dunes on the day.

• Timings: evening private tours collect between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. and return between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.; morning tours collect around 8 a.m.; sunrise tours before dawn; overnight tours run from mid-afternoon to late morning the next day.
• Pick-up: any hotel, residence or mall entrance within Abu Dhabi city limits is included; Yas, Saadiyat and locations outside the city limits carry a small supplement; airport pick-up for layover guests is arranged from the airport hotel lobby.
• Season: October to March is best. Private dinners run all year, but winter evenings are the ones the bonfire was designed for; desert nights can drop to around 10°C, so bring a layer.
• Dress: light, breathable clothing, closed shoes for the dunes, a scarf or shawl for the evening. There is no dress code at a private set-up, so guests who want a photo shoot can bring what they like.
• Health: dune bashing can be removed from any private tour and replaced with a nature drive; tell us about pregnancy or back, neck or heart conditions when booking.
• Cancellation: free cancellation and date change options apply; the cut-off is shown on each tour page.

Book a private desert evening, or tell us what you want built

Tell us the date, the occasion and the number of guests. The Abu Dhabi team replies with a firm proposal, and private bookings are confirmed on payment.

Reserve a private desert evening

Ask for a private camp quotation