Begin your 4.5-hour Dubai city tour with an afternoon pickup from your central Dubai hotel. Relax and enjoy the views from your air-conditioned minivan as you set out on your sightseeing. Admire the glittering Burj Al-Arab hotel rising from a man-made islet off Jumeirah Beach and hear how this iconic, sail-shaped hotel stands an incredible 1,053-foot-high (321-meter) high and offers the ultimate in luxury accommodation. Snap photos of the hotel and drive along the waterfront into Jumeirah, Dubai’s most desirable residential neighborhood. Continue to the traditional Al Bastakiya quarter and view the wind-tunnel houses and 18th-century Al Fahidi Fort — the city’s oldest building. Cross Dubai Creek to the bustling area of Deira and visit the colorful Spice Souk, where the stalls sell aromatic herbs, foods and spices. Stroll the alleyways with your guide and afterward, dive into the nearby Gold Souk. Enjoy free time to browse the sparkling gold and silver stores before your tour finishes with a hotel drop-off.

Leave your central Dubai hotel in the afternoon by comfortable 4x4 and relax as you cruise into the surrounding desert. Observe a thrilling Falcon show to learn about the hunting skills of UAE’s national bird. On route, visit a camel farm. View these hardy herbivores in their natural environment, and learn why they make perfect desert transport. Then, if you wish, take a short camel ride around the enclosures. Continue to an area of high dunes and try some sandboarding — the hottest of desert sports. Get instructions from your guide, grab a provided sandboard, and feel your adrenaline race as you slide down the dunes and race your fellow travelers on the sandy slopes. With your sandboarding over, drive to a desert campsite for dinner. Sit down to a scrumptious barbecue meal as the sun sets and afterward, enjoy the traditional Emirati activities on offer. Watch a swirling tanoura folk dance and choose to get a henna tattoo and smoke a shisha (Arabian water pipe). Lastly, sit around the campfire and watch a colorful belly dancing show before your drive back to your Dubai hotel.