Oman, a country of speed bumps, football courts in insane places, electricity everywhere (courtesy of Sultan Qaboos), beautiful mosques, mountain roads with amazing views and even more surprising steepness and people who are nice and helpful to the core. Let’s not forget hummus, mango juices, beautiful beaches, and the possibility of wild camping. We have only felt safer traveling in Japan, but Oman is holding a strong second place.
We had 15 days in Oman, rented a car and made almost 3500 km from Muscat to Salalah and explored places in between. This is not our exact itinerary, but our idea of a great one. In it, we skipped places that didn’t impress us and included the ones we’d love to spend more time at.
Day 1: Fly to Muscat and pick-up your rent-a-car at the airport. Get accommodated and have some sleep. We booked A’Sinamar Hotel Apartment near Muscat airport.
Day 2: Explore Muscat, walk around Mutrah Corniche, its Souq and see Sultan’s Palace in Old Muscat. Finish your day with a meal at Bait al Luban on the Corniche. Stop by the Royal Opera House if you can.
Day 3: Muscat Start your day visiting the Grand Mosque (Opening hours Saturday – Thursday from 8-11 am for non-Muslims) then head towards Carrefour to gear up for the camping part of your trip. Drive past Nakhl and its fort and set up camp in Wadi Bani Awf.
Day 4: Mountain Road through Wadi Bani Awf to Sharfat al Alamayn with many beautiful vistas, trekking options, photo ops. Check out the pretty Bilad Sayt village. You’ll need a 4WD for this part of the trip. Set up camp somewhere towards the end of the day. We managed to come all the way to Misfat (which we thought was not worth a stop, because it is really full of tourists). This road was definitely one of the many highlights of our trip.
Day 5: Jebel Shams Take a day to explore and camp out at one of the resorts or outside in nature. We didn’t, because we were a bit afraid of the cold, but there were actually lots of people camping on top in February.
Day 6: Nizwa If you ended up camping in Jebel Shams, drive to Nizwa today. We stayed in Antique Inn with amazing views of the Fort – admission to the Fort is not really cheap but it is worth seeing, especially if you’re not gonna visit any other forts. If you are here on a Friday, check out the livestock market. Nizwa is also a good place to re-stock if you are a camper.
Day 7: White Beach Drive towards White Beach near Tiwi and set up camp there. It’s gonna be a long day of driving. You could also have some shawarma in Sur at Zahrat Bilad al-Sham restaurant if you get hungry and if you are driving that way.
Day 8: Wadi Shab Explore this beautiful Wadi and make it all the way to the cave. Be early to avoid crowds and try to plan it so you don’t come here on a Friday/Saturday.
Day 9: Wadi Tiwi We didn’t actally see this Wadi due to the lack of time, but it is supposed to be beautiful. If you try it, let us know.
Day 10: Desert Camp Spoil yourself in one of many
Day 11: Sugar Dunes near Al Khaluf. Honestly, the drive in between the desert camp and the dunes requires some good music or an audiobook. You can find a camping spot at Sugar Dunes. Duqm and the places around it didn’t impress us so we suggest you skip them.
Day 12: Drive to Ash Shuwaymiyyah Start early and drive, drive, drive. The nature around you will start to change noticeably. You’ll see camels and more and more green. A few kilometers after Ash Shuwaymiyyah, the road climbs up a bit. Find a cool camping spot in a small wadi. You can use the help of a cool book – Oman Off-Road Guide. By this point, the long drive is coming up to an end.
Day 13: Beaches between Hasik and Mirbat are really beautiful. Stop, dip in for a swim and drive on towards Wadi Dharbat, which is amazing. You can also do a cultural stop at Khor Rori. You could sleep on a beach or drive on to Salalah and book one of the many resorts and hotels. We stayed in InterCity Hotel Salalah.
Day 14: Salalah Enjoy in the relaxed atmoshpere of the city. Buy some halwa, have some great food and do some shopping.
Day 15: Mughsail beach and the road towards Yemen. Jump in the water at this wonderful beach and also check out Fazayah Beach. R
Day 16: Fly from Salalah to Muscat and back home You can leave your car at the Salalah airport for an additional fee.
If you are a diver you could take an extra day and do a few dives near Mirbat. We did our dives with ABT divers, which are based in Crowne Plaza Hotel in Salalah.
We had 15 days in Oman but an additional day or two would not hurt. I think 17 days would be ideal to explore everything and do some dives. This itinerary includes a mix of camping and sleeping at accommodations, which we think is also the best way to see this beautiful country.