Oman travel guide

Places to visit in Oman

Oman is a relatively compact country by Middle Eastern or Asian standards – roughly the size of Italy, and with most of the population clustered along the coast. The starting point for most visitors is the low-key capital of Muscat, a sprawling modern metropolis which preserves some absorbing reminders of times past in the old-fashioned districts of Mutrah and Old Muscat. Inland lie the craggy heights of the Western Hajar mountains, centred on the historic capital of Nizwa and covered in a fascinating patchwork of majestic forts and mudbrick villages. East of here, the mountains roll down to the sleepy Batinah Coast, with endless fishing villages and further forts huddled amidst dense swathes of date palms. South of Muscat, Sharqiya province offers a varied array of idyllic coastal scenery dotted with turtle beaches, while inland stretch the dramatic wadis of the Eastern Hajar mountains and the magnificent dunes of the Wahibah Desert.

North and south

At the far northern end of the country (and separated from the rest of Oman by a swathe of UAE territory), the Musandam Peninsula shows the country at its most scenically spectacular, with huge red-rock mountains plunging down into a tangle of sheer-sided fjords and sea cliffs, best explored by boat amidst pods of cavorting dolphins. At the opposite end of the country, the southern province of Dhofar is different again, visited by the annual khareef (monsoon) which turns the region a misty green each year from June to September, creating impromptu rock pools and waterfalls amidst the beautiful Dhofar mountains which encircle the historic city of Salalah – and offering a memorable conclusion to one of Arabia’s most scenically spectacular and culturally absorbing countries.