United Arab EmiratesFrom Abu Dhabi's domes and ruby-red dunes

Today, you will encounter Abu Dhabi at its most sophisticated. With your private guide, you will drive through a city that is slowly opening up—behind glass facades and gardens where date palms rustle in the wind. The first stop is the Louvre Abu Dhabi: a place where art and architecture merge. Under the silver dome, sunlight dances on the water, while masterpieces from East and West tell of the connections between the world.

Next, you will visit Qasr Al Watan, the presidential palace – not a government building, but a symbol of Arabian splendor. Marble halls, filigree ornaments, ceilings like starry skies. In the afternoon, take a seat at the Emirates Palace, where classic afternoon tea is served – with fine pastries, tea from porcelain cups, and a view of golden domes. Back on Saadiyat Island, the evening light is reflected in the sea. The city retreats, and you feel art, history, and elegance flow together.

Early in the morning, you leave the city and head south. Behind the last houses, the Rub al Khali, the "Empty Quarter," begins—a landscape so vast and silent that time becomes meaningless. In an off-road vehicle, you drive through waves of sand whose shapes change with every gust of wind. You reach the Liwa Oasis, once an important trading point for caravans, now a place of almost mystical tranquility. At Moreeb Hill, one of the highest dunes in the region, the world is bathed in gold and light. You stop, breathe, look – and understand why this desert is more than just a place: it is a feeling.

You will spend two nights at the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, nestled in the endless expanse of the Rub al Khali. A picnic in the shade of a palm tree, a trace of sand on your skin – and in the evening, a view of the starry sky as the sun sinks behind the dunes. On request, we will be happy to plan a stopover near the airport at the end of your trip to make your return journey more relaxed and shorten the transfer time.