Impressions Of Oman

Boring is not necessarily a bad thing in the Middle East. Loved Oman when we visited in 2016 and also have enjoyed Jordan a few times. Found the people very friendly. Would not hesitate to return to either country.

@ Debit - only two of the 9 nights were spent in a luxury hotel (Radisson Blu Sohar).

The other 7 were spent at less expensive 3 star hotels that were still expensive and I would not return to - I.e. see comment about hotel breakfast in Muscat.

It's a difficult destination to do on the cheap without skipping meals (as we did) because accomodation and car hire is expensive and unavoidable.

James have you made it to Israel on this Middle East trip?

Agree with almost everything except that Oman is clean. There is rubbish everywhere.
A pity you didn't go off road, because some of the better sights can only be visited with a 4x4 (for example Wadi Bani Awf, Jebel Shams and Wadi Ghul). Also I think Wahiba Sands is a far better desert experience than Erg Chebbi in Morocco.

I cannot agree about the beaches, one of the best, most peaceful and clean beaches I have ever been to was in Oman - the famous Al Bustan Palace near Muscat, now a Ritz property.
It's also surrounded by mountains, so the atmosphere is incredible. Pity you missed it.

I was in Oman for two days last weekend when the country was celebrating the National Day. The Crown Plaza is nice, high tech and one year old. Most of the guests there were on business trip and not many tourists around. The country is clean as I did not see trash. I visited the mosque as pictured above, the old souk, and main attractions. We hired a private driver from Dubai to Muscat. It is quite expensive and has many rocks and mountains that make construction more costly. The airport lounge serves all foreign airlines, except Oman Air, that only offered salads and deserts when I was there for three hours. A glitch that should not have happened. We planned to spend time outside Muscat but everyone was celebrating the National Day and it did not pan out.

I have different impressions of Oman. I stayed in cheap and expensive hotels and all of them were ok. 3* one bed apartment for around 20 OMR per night (£40, $50), is not expensive. Shangri-la at 80 OMR (£162, $200) was more expensive and Ritz was starting from 100 OMR (£200, $260) depending on the day.

I had no problem finding cheap, local food, starting from 1 OMR per person. I would never think of getting chain fast food in Oman. Lack of any shops or coffee places near attraction is great thing. You can enjoy it quietly.

I enjoyed my time driving around the country and would certainly go back to Muscat and Shangri-la or Ritz for relaxing break and go to Salah during wet season.

BTW, I was travelling as single woman on both occasions and had no issues at all. Locals talked to me, ask me what I'm doing in Oman, etc.

Wondering if you went to Musandam in the north, with its otherworldly fjords, or Salalah beaches in the south. Oman is a large country and the people are very nice. I lived in Dubai for several years and had the pleasure of visiting Oman, and only regret that we did not return.

Comparatively with their Emirati and Saudi neighbors, the Omanis are not at all wealthy. However, I agree that they have the best hats anywhere.

@ Markus - not on this trip but I've been before.

Thank you for the report, planning a trip to Oman, possibly visiting as early as January. Do you recommend it as a fly/drive destination hiring our own car, or better to do with a professional driver?

Happy to see an article like this after a deluge of miles and points, Black Friday and Cyber Monday articles since the AA survey article on Thanksgiving that are of little or no use to many readers. Thank you, James!

Great to hear about your experience.

Not to make you too jealous, but gas isn't actually that much cheaper in Oman than the US. I suppose compared to European standards, it's "incredibly cheap," but keep in mind that in the UK ~65% of what you pay at the pump is tax.

@ Anon - can easily drive yourself. Just get a GPS or local SIM.

No need to hire a driver. Just keep an eye on: taxi drivers, crossing pedestrians, crossing camels and speed bumps. Not sure what's the worst 😉 Probably taxi drivers, as they tend do stop anywhere and often suddenly. Some speed bumps are not signed posted and not visible after dark, so you may go a bit too fast through them.

I never had so many near misses in my life than during 1 week of driving around Muscat. There are some 3-4 lanes roads in Muscat which can get very busy. It's ok outside of the city.

10 days in Oman? Omg! I couldn’t even imagine. That’s part of the problem there.

We stayed 3 nights in Oman from Dubai, and that was the perfect amount of time. You should have stayed in the Crowne Plaza. It has it’s own private beach, and is a resort. They had a DJ on Friday night, plenty of booze, and fantastic options.

You never got harassed once to buy in the souq? Every 5 feet we had multiple people telling us to touch their items and to come look! Honestly, it was the reason we left. Super annoying.

The Wadi Shab hike was 100% worth the trip to Muscat, Oman. I would do it again in a heart beat!

Did you tour the Oman museum? That was worth 2-3 hours of our time. Definitely worth checking out.

We had paid for a car rental. I would say this is a must. Taxis and hiring drivers is way too expensive.

i visited Oman several times and it has some of my favorite hotels like the Chedi and the RC Al Bustan Palace, but i agree 10 days is likely to long. i think 4-5 days is the sweet spot

I stayed at Al Bustan when it was a Shangri La property. Booked 2nd hugest room category Sea View......they gave me a room overlooking the mountains and the hotel next door. When I protested they said it was the best they had. I returned to the front desk, told them I was moving to the Chedi and by a miracle, they “found” a sea view room.

But they do have a very nice beach.

@James -- I too am obsessed with amazing beaches. Can you do a post sometime about some of the good ones you've found?

@james I agree with @Malc

Thanks for the promised review. I must say it has dampened my enthusiasm to visit! I suspect 3-4 days will do the job. There are a few landmark places I would like to visit, and also soak up the ambience of the place, together with indulging in the local food. Living in Australia with miles of great beaches literally at my doorstep, the beach scene in Oman (such as it is, or isn't!) is of no interest.
Think I will revise my planned visit from a stand-alone destination to being a stopover to or from Europe.

We went a few years ago and stayed at the Hilton Salalah, back when it was 5,000 points a night. Amazing property for that price - like $1250 worth of accommodation for 20,000 points, fifth night free. We had great breakfasts everywhere, in Salalah and Muscat (Intercontinental and Grand Hyatt).

Long drive back from Salalah to Muscat, did it in one day. I wouldn't worry too much about the speed cameras on the highways as we drove 160-180km/hour and never had an issue.

Oman should be tolerant of same sex couples as the Sultan prefers men, and has never been married without an heir. Not widely advertised, but true.

@AJ~ might be a case of "do what I say, not do what I do". Hypocrisy is rife in the upper echelons of these Arabic emirates, as in most of the world I suppose.

Visited Jorda and it was one of my best visits so far! The Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, Dead Sea etc.
Drove all around w/o any issues. Wonderful country and people and food! Pretty cheap as well..
Will go back again in future..

Nice post James!

I haven't yet visited Oman, but I've been to Qatar?
'Would very much like to visit Jordan. What say you?