4 of 12 places fit
Two rows of 1970s houses and a mosque half swallowed by red sand, free to walk through, about an hour from Dubai.
Man-made lakes in the dunes 40 minutes from the city, with flamingos and swans, reached on tarmac in any car.
The paved spur from Hameem winds between tall red dunes to a fort-style resort, so you get the deep-desert scenery without leaving tarmac.
A lit dual carriageway strings together about 100 km of date-farm villages with dunes rising straight off the hard shoulder.