The sight of an open expanse stretching into infinity is a tonic for clearing cluttered minds. Promising silence, solitude and stark minimalist beauty, our world’s driest regions lure bold explorers with a thirst for adventure and a desire to escape the complications of modern living.
Characterised by varying terrains and topography, and temperatures fluctuating from sizzling to sub-zero, our world’s deserts have dramatically distinct personalities. Compare my top selection to discover which empty space best fills your needs.
1. Sahara
An arid, empty expanse almost the size of China, the world’s largest hot desert stokes the imagination. There are legends of lost civilisations, submerged cities and sands with the power to swallow armies. Surviving temperatures ranging from 50C to freezing, indigenous tribes place their faith in ancestral spirits and jinn.
It spans 11 countries, although distinct borders are hard to discern. A wilderness of gravel plains, salt flats and dry valleys, the Sahara covers 31 per cent of the African continent, and is woven with rocky plateaus (hamada) and rolling dunes (ergs). Morocco is one of the safest and most accessible entry points, offering hikes, camel treks and an opportunity to sample authentic Berber culture. Admire the sculpted contours of Erg Chebbi and Erg Chigaga – seas of sand ever shifting with the tides of time.
How to do it
Yellowwood Adventures (0207 846 0197) has an eight-night Wild Morocco Sahara Desert Adventure small-group tour from £1,699pp excluding flights.
2. Atacama
This landscape of smoking volcanoes is the closest most humans will ever come to visiting Mars. Similarities with the red planet have led Nasa scientists to test their equipment in this alien expanse, which spreads across northern Chile and parts of Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.
Solar systems and distant galaxies are visible through telescopes at leading observatories in the area, while a more spiritual connection with the heavens can be achieved by scaling Andean peaks where the remains of 6,000-year-old mummies have been found.
Small town San Pedro is the gateway to multiple adventures. Rise at dawn to witness steam plumes soar from the El Tatio Geyser field and end the day with an otherworldly sunset above the Moon Valley. Cross the border into Bolivia for surreal sandstone sculptures and colourful lakes filled with flamingos.
How to do it
Latin Routes (020 8546 6222) has a 14-day tour of the Andes through Chile and Bolivia from £5,904pp including flights.
3. Namib
A surprising amount of life thrives in the world’s oldest desert, which stretches for almost 2,000km along the south-west coast of Africa. Formed between 55 and 80 million years ago, 300-metre-tall dunes shelter jackals, brown hyenas and a contorted sprawl of Welwitschia plants coiling from roots dating back 2,000 years. Flora and fauna thrive on moisture carried by fog rolling in from the Atlantic, creating an extraordinary ecosystem found nowhere else on earth.
Experience the extremes by driving in a 4x4 along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast or through Angola’s Iona National Park. Slowly opening to tourism, the latter has fewer crowds and no major lodge developments – making it more appealing to adventurers. Time tides to drive between cliffs of sand and rolling surf, racing with flocks of pelicans and cormorants as seals dive into the waves.
How to do it
Okuya Adventures (+244 921 337 352) offers a five-day Tiger Bay and Mouth of the Cunene River small-group camping tour along the Namib coast from £1,394pp excluding flights.
4. Antarctica
Don’t be fooled by appearances. Although blanketed by 90 per cent of the world’s glacial ice, our seventh continent claims the crown for world’s largest desert. Receiving less than 166mm of rain per year, it’s the windiest and driest place on the planet. Most visitors explore the wildlife-rich peninsula on cruise ships, but if you have deep enough pockets, it’s also possible to travel further inland.
High-end adventure company White Desert operates a five-hour private flight from Cape Town to touchdown on a blue-ice runway in Queen Maud Land. Using one of their three camps as a base, descend into ice tunnels, hike over rocky tundra and admire the sparkling beauty of ice caves. Travel in November to see emperor penguins and their chicks. Additional flights to the South Pole operate until early February. But be warned: extreme adventures come with a price tag to match.
How to do it
White Desert (+27 60 999 9191) has a six-day Baby Penguins and Blue Tunnels trip from £55,000pp including flights from Cape Town.
5. Wadi Rum
The silence and solitude of south Jordan’s charismatic crimson valley have been a source of poetic inspiration for multiple scribes. British archaeologist, army officer and writer T.E. Lawrence, who visited several times during the Arab Revolt in the early 20th century, was mesmerised by the “vast, echoing and God-like” landscapes.
The blood-red sandstone cliffs, narrow canyons and natural arches featured in Lawrence’s memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom can still be hiked today – with the coolest, most comfortable months falling between October and April.
Distant descendants of the Bedouin nomads he mobilised have now settled in the moon-like valley and many operate overnight camps, 4x4 rides and camel treks. Elevate the experience by sleeping in a glass bubble dome or bed down in a bivouac to watch the same stars that would have guided ancient caravans.
How to do it
Exodus (020 3811 4374) has an eight-day group Petra and Wadi Rum small-group trekking tour from £959pp excluding flights.
6. Kalahari
The remains of a vast, ancient lakebed stretching across southern Africa has supported life for thousands of years. Beyond camels, expect to find a wide variety of desert-adapted mammals. Between December and April, up to 30,000 zebra cross Botswana’s Makgadikgadi salt pans as part of the continent’s second-largest animal migration. At other times of the year, lions and cheetahs can be seen roaming.
One of the oldest continuous cultures, the indigenous hunter-gatherer San people have been surviving in this environment for up to 200,000 years. They provide demonstrations of their way of life, such as harvesting water from plant roots, lighting fires by rubbing branches, and balancing live scorpions on their tongues. Botswana’s epic salt pans are also a habitat for brown hyenas and a habituated community of meerkats prone to leaping on to spectators’ heads.
How to do it
Coral Tree (01242 908 720) has a six-night family trip to the Makgadikgadi salt pans and Chobe from £5,448pp excluding flights.
7. Gobi
In a rain shadow desert formed by the Himalayan Mountains, precipitation can be a cause for both joy and concern. Watermelons, peaches and apples thrive in scattered oases, but flash floods can also awaken the Mongolian Death Worm. According to legend, the cryptid surfaces to spray humans and livestock with corrosive venom.
While no evidence of the creature has ever been found, the region was famously the focus of a large dinosaur fossil discovery. Remains belonging to around 80 of the 400 dinosaur species known to science have been found here.
Move between the “singing sands” of Khongoryn Els and the permanent ice field of Yolyn Am National Park to experience the extremes in temperature responsible for making Asia’s biggest and most beguiling desert one of the only landscapes where dunes can be dusted with snow.
How to do it
Regent Holidays (0117 453 4203) has a 16-day small-group tour from £4,345pp excluding flights.
8. Colorado Plateau
Deserts are not all barren and flat. Here, deep canyons, mountains and tabletop mesas create a cinematic backdrop featured in multiple Hollywood films. Spanning the Four Corners area of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, this A-list of arid spaces also contains the world’s densest concentration of national parks.
Set aside a week for a road trip through Utah’s Mighty Five: hike the Angels Landing trail in Zion; gaze at spire-shaped hoodoos in Bryce Canyon; witness warps in the Earth’s crust at Capitol Reef; photograph through 2,000 natural stone frames at Arches; and watch the sunrise through Mesa Arch at Canyonlands.
Popular sites can be overwhelmed with tourists between late May and October, when a timed entry reservation system operates in some parks.
How to do it
Wexas (020 8125 4216) has a 16-day Canyon Country and National Parks fly-drive trip from £3,735pp including flights.
9. Mangystau
What lies at the bottom of our oceans is largely a mystery, but scanning the colossal cliffs, chalky towers and limestone curves of Bozjyra Tract in Kazakhstan’s Ustyurt Plateau will give you a good idea. Accessed only by a bumpy 4x4 drive from oil capital Aktau, this photogenic wilderness on the Caspian coast is set for tourism development, with government investment in rail stations, a new airport and multiple resorts planned. Go now to enjoy the solitude and earn kudos for being ahead of the crowds.
The wealth of geological wonders on offer is of far greater value than the store of mineral reserves that have been unearthed in the region. Look beyond mines and gas plants to find colourful, stripey mountains, valleys of enormous stone balls and complex subterranean mosques.
How to do it
Native Eye (01473 328546) has a 15-day Hidden Kazakhstan small group tour from £4,075 excluding flights.
10. Empty Quarter
Wilfred Thesiger’s journeys across the Rub’ al Khali on the Arabian Peninsula are documented as a struggle of endurance against the elements and a rapidly changing world. Hot, suffocating winds and treacherous quicksands posed perilous risks, along with the challenge of navigating unpredictable, shifting terrain.
Access has improved over the last 80 years, but this remains one of the Middle East’s unconquerable final frontiers. In 1992, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes famously joined an expedition to locate the lost city of Ubar, a trading outpost for frankincense swallowed by a sinkhole. By taking a 4x4 tour from Salalah, tourists can visit the submerged ruins of this ancient settlement in Oman. Tours led by Bedouin guides typically run from October to April, featuring dune driving, camel rides, overnight camping and a chance to hear singing dunes.
How to do it
Wild Frontiers (020 8741 7390) has a 12-day small group tour to Wahiba Sands and the Empty Quarter for £3,950pp excluding flights.