Oman is a dream destination for the modern explorer.
Untouched and authentic, with a huge variety of places to discover. Plus easy to get around with a great selection of experiential five-star properties.
Walk on wild and empty Indian Ocean beaches. Find adventure in towering red mountains. Stay in private desert camps. Connect with local culture in traditional villages and historic fort towns.
We love how Oman is a destination for everyone, whether you want to spend three days discovering a new country and experience, go exploring for a week, or enjoy a big two-week holiday.
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Why Oman
Oman is rare. It’s an exotic destination that’s mostly unchanged by tourism. And yet Oman is also very developed for visitors.
Like its neighbours Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Oman has invested its oil revenue into roads, infrastructure and shiny new developments. It’s easy to travel here.
The difference to the UAE is that Oman has a much longer history, stronger culture, more diverse landscape and traditions.
You don’t have massive shopping malls, extravagant beach clubs, hundreds of top restaurants or thousands of influencers marketing the destination.
Oman is a more understated and relaxed destination, where you’re encouraged to really explore rather than stay around the resort.
Oman is also four times larger than the UAE. It’s roughly the size of Italy. There’s a lot to discover, framed around four distinct experiences.
- The coast. Rocky cliffs, coral reefs, dune-protected beaches and over 3000 kilometres of coastline.
- The desert. Big remote sand dunes hiding private desert camps.
- The mountains. Jagged peaks for both relaxation and adventure.
- History. Old forts, traditional souks, welcoming villages and a friendly local culture.
Oman is worth a two-week winter holiday if you have two weeks. But you can also enjoy a great experience in only three days, especially if you are already visiting Dubai.
Oman in Three Days
A beach resort experience at Six Senses Zighy Bay
Six Senses Zighy Bay is around 2.5 hours by road from Dubai. It’s one of our favourite resorts anywhere in the world.
Hidden from civilisation, behind desert and mountains, this beach resort is a superb counterpoint to Dubai’s urban experience.
Travel designer Dominika Hüttnerová recently experienced Six Senses Zighy Bay, as an extension to her trip to Dubai.
I can’t praise this resort enough. It’s a paradise. Tranquil, remote and calm, in such a beautiful and untouched environment. Zighy Bay only has one resort and a few local fishermen and herders.
We were picked up from Dubai and the 2.5-hour drive is very comfortable, with refreshing drinks, Wi-Fi and pillows in the car.
The last section of the journey crosses the mountains – close your eyes if you’re scared of heights! It’s one tiny road going down to the resort, past wandering donkeys and goats. Or you can paraglide down instead!
We felt a part of a community here. The service is like you are friends, rather than only guests. Butler service comes with every villa and the overall hospitality is outstanding.
I tried paragliding and archery, joined a sustainability tour and enjoyed the fantastic spa. There’s a daily activities schedule, from chef masterclasses to yoga and workout classes, evening cinema to visiting the local community – it’s the most remote place I can imagine anybody living!
There are multiple restaurants and culinary experiences to try, including shuwa, lamb marinated in Omani spices and cooked underground for several hours, sometimes even a day or two.
You can also hang out on the quiet beach, or in the saltwater or freshwater pools.
The accommodations are in a traditional Omani style, built from local wood and stone. They’re very nicely curated and have an authentic feel. Every villa has a private pool and would provide enough space for a couple.
However, the entry-level villas are not on the front row so they don’t have a sea view, although they do have a nice mountain view.
Six Senses Zighy Bay is a completely different experience to beach resorts in Dubai. It’s a lot quieter and a great place to unwind, but there’s also so much to do at the resort and in the surrounding area.
Why not also try a new country the next time you visit Dubai?
One Week Exploring Oman
Combining city, desert, mountain and town
With one week in Oman you can easily combine different environments and experiences.
There’s a great loop around northeastern Oman that starts and ends in Muscat, incorporating city, desert, mountains and traditional fort towns. Marketing Director Stephen Bailey recalls his experience here.
My biggest memories are the sense of space and raw feeling of exploration. Oman is not an urban experience, it’s an adventure.
It’s a great option if you like fast touring and changing destinations every day or two, a road trip holiday with many places to visit within a relatively short distance of each other.
The main locations in northeastern Oman are connected by new tar roads. We rented a four-wheel drive as we also wanted to go off road in the desert and try some more remote mountain roads.
In hindsight I would do any off roading with a driver, as we weren’t always confident or skilled enough in driving off road. The locals were super friendly and pulled us out of the sand dunes twice!
There are four great experiences you can combine in one week.
Muscat
Muscat is a rapidly developing city that still feels traditional at heart. There’s a lot of construction going on and you can also get lost in a souk that feels centuries old.
This coastal capital is worth a day or two as an orientation at the start of your trip. I really enjoyed the old Muttrah area, with its souk, corniche, traditional palaces and tea cafes.
There’s a nice choice of hotels too. Personally I prefer The Chedi Muscat, for the understated style, Omani architecture and great facilities.
Al Bustan Palace is a much larger and busier resort. The location is more beautiful, with a mountain backdrop, but less convenient for visiting Muscat attractions.
Mandarin Oriental Muscat opened this year and looks like an excellent property, although it’s not been inspected by anybody from our team yet.
A Desert Camp
In Dubai or Abu Dhabi you can experience a desert resort, like Al Maha or Bab Al Shams. They’re relatively big properties just inside the desert.
Desert Nights Camp in Oman’s Wahiba Sands provides a similar experience and has some nice pool villas, in an area of big orange sand dunes.
However, Oman also offers a very unique desert experience. Imagine spending a night or two in the desert, sleeping beneath the stars at a private, exclusive-use camp?
You sleep in vast canvas tents, like an Arabian Nights adventure from centuries ago.
In one way it’s quite basic, you definitely won’t have a marble bathroom. But there’s nothing else in sight except dunes and stars. And the camps are supremely comfortable, with Arabian rugs, nice bedding, lounge areas for drinking tea and more.
Oman is probably the best place in the world to go luxury wild camping – there’s more information about the experience here.
I’ve also experienced the desert in Namibia and Morocco but Oman was my favourite experience, because it felt like we had the entire desert to ourselves.
These private camps either move with the seasons or are specially erected for each stay. You can camp in the desert, next to the sea, deep in the dunes, or somewhere that incorporates nicely into the rest of an itinerary.
The Mountains
Oman has spectacular mountains: red, jagged, dusty, quite different from Europe.
There are two good accommodations in the Al Hajar mountains, at 2000 metres above sea level. Both have stunning locations with sweeping views over the mountain range.
Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar is a nice property. My preference is Alila Jabal Akhdar, as it feels more exclusive and stylish.
The mountains feel like an escape and you can take it easy at the resort, enjoy a mountain spa and do some easy hiking.
Or you can be very active, visiting local villages, oases, and wadis, which are narrow canyons filled with stunningly turquoise waters.
Of all the Oman experiences, I think it’s the mountains that deserve the most time, they’re completely different to mountains in Europe – steeper, redder, starker – and there’s a lot to do.
Definitely try a via ferrata route – a mix of hiking and climbing on iron steps built onto the mountainside.
Traditional Towns
Northeastern Oman is home to many traditional towns, most of them encased within fortress walls.
Nizwa is the most famous and it’s definitely worth visiting for its beautiful architecture and distinct style. Although it’s now a tourist attraction, it still feels like you’ve stepped back in time.
Other fort towns are being redeveloped and you’ll see many castle remains when you drive inland from Muscat.
There isn’t any suitable accommodation in these towns, which are best experienced as stops on route into the mountains or desert.
Traditional weekly markets still operate at Nizwa and other towns, predominantly on Friday mornings.
I loved witnessing the weekly goat market at Nizwa, where hundreds of locals gathered to buy and sell…you guessed it, goats. It was hectic and noisy, but a very interesting cultural experience that’s not made for tourists.
For me, experiences like this are what differentiate Oman from Dubai. In Oman you really have an authentic experience and experience local life, rather than visiting a recreation of how people used to live.
Two Weeks in Oman
Adding Salalah and exploring the south
In two weeks you can explore both the north and south of Oman.
Salalah is a beautiful coastal destination in the south, where palm trees meet turquoise Indian Ocean waters and old-world Arabian culture.
Fly there directly from Muscat. You can also drive but it’s a long way and only recommended if you plan some remote desert experiences and camps on the way.
Much of the Salalah area is dry and dusty desert, but thanks to an annual monsoon you’ll find green valleys, waterfalls and desert oases.
Salalah can have a reputation as a budget beach destination, due to the seasonal charter flights coming from Europe. It’s not a small place with many resorts crowded togather. It’s a big area and you can easily avoid this type of tourism.
Salalah is not only a beach destination. You can relax for a few days. But like Zighy Bay, it’s a place to mix beach time with local experiences.
Visit archaeological sites, connect with traditional Dhofar culture, discover the old city of Mirbat, hike in the surrounding mountains and discover remote oases. Humpback whale watching is possible all year around too.
There are two beach resorts to consider. Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara is close to the old city. It’s a nice base for discovering the area.
Alila Hinu Bay is newer and feels a lot more private, located 90 kilometres from Salalah. The sense of space is pretty much unparalleled for an Indian Ocean beach resort.
Don’t expect somewhere like the Maldives. Oman is less about having the best facilities in your resort, much more about going out to discover somewhere new every day.
Your Oman Holiday?
The best time to holiday in Oman is during the winter, between November and April, avoiding the heat of summer.
Do note it will be cold, possibly even snowy in the mountains during mid-winter.
An exact itinerary will depend on your interests and the time you have.
We will talk you through the options in more details and design something specific, whether it’s a few days, a week or more.
