Lawrence of Arabia's desert is a maze of rose-coloured sandstone mountains rising sheer from red sand, and the way in is a Bedouin-driven 4x4 with tea stops at rock arches and canyon petroglyphs. Stay overnight — day-trippers from Petra miss the main event, which is the sky. Camps range from goat-hair traditional to transparent bubbles for the full Mars effect. Book directly with a Rum village family; spring and autumn have the kindest temperatures.
Featured in Ten desert adventures worth the sand in your boots · Adventure