WINNING TIP: Sahara desert gardens, Algeria

We used a company based in Algiers to do a tour of the gardens – yes, gardens! – of the Sahara. Flying from Algiers to El Oued we could see great green circles in the desert. They weren't crop circles, but potato fields. We visited an English garden in a palace in El Oued and toured plantations and gardens in Tam and Djanet in the south of the country, before ending up back in the beautiful private gardens of the Hotel St George in Algiers and the nearby botanical gardens.
expertalgeria.com/saharagardens.html. Check the Foreign Office website for travel advice: fco.gov.uk
desophia

Chile

Stargazing in the Atacama desert
In the driest desert in the world, a company called Space runs stargazing tours. The view of the night sky is fantastic – there are more stars than you could ever imagine and we were able to spot Mars, Saturn and Sirius as well as many constellations. French astronomer Alain talks you through the signs of the zodiac and entertains with hilarious stories. Temperatures fall below zero at night but the hot chocolate at the end will warm up those freezing toes. Also not to be missed in the Atcama is the sunset at Valle de la Luna – watching the colours appear over the lunar landscapes is out of this world.
spaceobs.com
Bex871

Iran

Toudeshk Cho, Dasht-e Kavir desert
The charismatic and very genuine Mohammad Jalali started fishing overland cyclists off the highway when he was 19, and offering them a (somewhat cracked) roof to sleep under in the tiny desert community of Toudeshk Cho. Over eight years, his reputation has grown, and he has shown more than 1,000 travellers a true desert experience. Mohammad has founded Silk Road NGO, a charity aiming to preserve village life. I found his tour of Toudeshk Cho – from how to store water safely to keeping camels in and cats out – fascinating. An evening trip to the "moving sands" dunes was stunningly beautiful, and eating with his family in an oasis at the bottom of a mountain we had just scrambled up hugely exciting as it involved spaghetti, rather than the Iranian staple of kebab! The village is conveniently located on the main highway between touristy Esfahan and Yazd in central Iran – it's very easy to reach, just hop off any bus on that road.
$15 a night including food; donations to the charity welcome. +98 913 9165 752, silkroadngo@yahoo.com. Check the Foreign Office website, fco.gov.uk
CloJo

United Arab Emirates

Al Ain by 4x4
Not many tourists visiting Dubai and Abu Dhabi experience the local heritage and deserts that make up so much of the character of the Gulf. One easily accessible side trip from the main tourist centres is to Al Ain, part of the ancient Silk Road junction post of Buraimi, which the UAE shares with Oman, where some of the most beautiful areas of desert can be easily reached by 4x4. Colours are brightest November to March. If you approach Al Ain from Abu Dhabi, bright green date palms stand against glowing red dunes and a deep cobalt sky as you pass the town of Al Yahar. From Dubai the approach is through Al Foah on the outskirts of the town, through quite different shades of paler sands and the soft green of the ghaf trees, branches drooping gently until they are clipped into a perfect horizontal line by grazing camels. If you're lucky, it will rain. Local families adore desert rain; they pile into truck-sized SUVs and drive out for a desert picnic. Stop at a respectful distance to observe and you will almost certainly be invited to join them.
Marilyn

Arabian Adventures
Ignore the bling of Dubai's five-star hotels and head out instead for an overnight safari in the spectacular rolling red dunes half an hour south of the city. My wife organised a birthday convoy of 4x4s, hotdogging over yardangs accompanied by the screams of fear and delight as we flew over crescents of ochre sand dunes. An evening camp in a natural bowl, eating a birthday dish of barbecued quail, was topped by an undamaged and proudly presented black forest gateaux served under the gaze of a herd of wild camels. You get a comfy mattress in your tent, the chance to pee in the sand under Ursa Major and fresh, unbroken eggs for breakfast transported carefully by gentle Palestinian drivers.
arabian-adventures.com
Scousetone

Jordan

Camping with Bedouins in Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum is how I imagined a desert to be – beautiful, playful sand beneath your feet, rather than ugly harsh rocks. Bedouin guides take you bombing around the desert in 4x4s, stopping to explore beautiful scenery, jump off sand dunes, and try a little rock climbing. Expect to camp and eat in simple Bedouin camps with basic amenities, in the middle of the vast desert. Wadi Rum can be enjoyed as a day-trip from Petra, but budget two to three days to properly appreciate it.
wadirum.jo
Muldoon84

Oman

Driving from Muscat to Salalah
On the 1,000km-plus drive from Muscat south to Salalah, capital of Dhofari province, you pass through the most extreme, silent, brutally hot, lunar landscape for eight hours, occasionally filling up at petrol stations manned by lonely south Indian attendants. Then, if you go during the Khareef, or monsoon season, all of a sudden you hit a thin film of rain, fog and brilliantly green hills. You battle for the road with camels in scenery that more resembles Switzerland than Arabia. It is a surreal and demanding expedition, but well worth it.
PRPringle

Namibia

Sossusvlei Lodge
It's a modern lodge, beautifully decorated, on the edge of the Namib Desert. Perfect for trips into the spectacular dunes. Friendly staff, great food and a very relaxing atmosphere. Units are built with adobe bricks typical of Arabian villages and tents similar to those of the Bedouin.
sossusvleilodge.com
Bluebottle3

US

Death Valley national park
A road trip through California's Death Valley is really just like it is in the movies: driving miles upon miles through atmospheric, desolate landscape, passing only the odd Harley Davidson, and signs to helpfully tell you there's "no gas for next 100 miles". The Eureka Valley sand dunes in the northwest of the park are spectacular and the hike to the summit is well worth the effort for the amazing views. Stay at the nearby Stovepipe Wells Village and enjoy a cold beer on the porch while gazing over the dunes and desert as the setting sun turns everything red. Magic.
On Hwy 190 between Panamint Springs and Furnace Creek.
http://www.stovepipewells.com; nps.gov/deva
littleD

Palm Springs to the Mojave
Begin your adventure in Palm Springs with a night in a classic mid-20th- century motel such as The Horizon (thehorizonhotel.com). You could sign up for an architectural tour with Robert Imber (psmoderntours@aol.com). Then head south-east and camp in Anza-Borrego desert state park (parks.ca.gov). Next up are the desolate shores of the dazzling Salton Sea. Drive up to its North Shore Yacht Club. This fantastic building, designed by Albert Frey in 1959 and frequented by the likes of Dean Martin, has just been restored and reopened as a museum (saltonseamuseum.org). Follow eery Box Canyon Road 20 miles up to Joshua Tree national park (nps.gov/jotr). Camp again – there is nothing finer than waking at dawn in the Mojave desert. Continue to the north side of the park and check into the 29 Palms Inn (29palmsinn.com). You can turn your desert experience into art on a printmaking course with Gretchen at the Creative Center (29palmscreativecenter.com).
desertrocklady

Kenya

Lake Turkana
It is 45C and the gale-force winds that began when we crossed the northern end of the Chalbi desert three days ago are still going strong, but the view of the Jade Sea makes up for it all. We are at Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, the largest desert lake in the world. The blue-green water comes from algae and changes colour with the light. Getting here we came through some amazing scenery, including some sections of volcanic desert that reminded us of Iceland. This morning it was too windy to take the boat out (fine by us as this is the home of the largest concentration of Nile crocodiles in the world) so we visited an El Molo village. The El Molo are the smallest ethnic group in Kenya and live by fishing, with a lifestyle hardly touched by the 21st century. Gametrackers have their own camp, where accommodation is in the igloo-shaped palm huts of the Turkana tribe. If you want to go where few others do, this is the safari for you. One day we travelled for five hours without seeing another vehicle.
gametrackersafaris.com
sueclaydon

Libya

Waw an Namus
Desert perspectives are intriguingly misleading, none more so than in the approach to this remote and enormous crater. After six hours of relentless, mostly featureless high plain desert, you are suddenly peering down into a mile-wide crater. The palm trees at the bottom are picture postcard stuff. Waw an Namus means Oasis of Mosquitoes in Arabic, but this must be historical. We were not troubled at all and stargazing from deep down at the bottom with the perfect rim framing the shimmering-density of the Milky Way was unforgettable. You'll need a travel company to get there as the tarmac finished 300km from it. The rest of the way was a track but it certainly wasn't a beaten one.
blagg