Oman Itinerary: A 5-6 Day Visit

I had been wanting to visit Oman for a while, and mostly because I had seen gorgeous pictures of a hotel in the mountains, the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort, located about 2 hours away from Muscat. But I really didn’t expect Muscat and its surrounding areas to be just as beautiful! The city is clean, well maintained, the people are extremely friendly, and the architecture of most of the buildings is really quite elegant, mostly reflecting Omani aesthetics and tradition.

I have to say though that Muscat is far quieter (and more expensive) than I thought it would be. Dhahran seems more happening in terms of liveliness! But to be fair, it seems like the type of place where you’re supposed to just relax and enjoy the mountains and the sea. And honestly, that’s pretty much what we did… While there are a few touristy things to do within city limits, we weren’t really in the mood to do most of them, but I’ll list out all of your exploration options in this post.

Overall, if you’re interested in a relaxing, luxurious, nature-focused, laid-back approach to vacationing in Oman, then read on…

Day 1

We took the super early morning flight (4AM) on Oman Air to Muscat from Dammam. They have 3 flights throughout the day, but we really wanted to maximize our time in Oman. We stayed at the W Hotel, which is a fabulous option for those of you looking for a more lively scene (A Siddharta Lounge by Buddha Bar, and a shisha spot by the pool), as well as a beautiful pool.

Since we had planned on going to Jebel Akhdar the next day, we decided to not rent a car and just explore around the hotel. Luckily, the hotel is next to the Royal Opera House – they didn’t have any performances going on while I was there, but I’ve heard it’s definitely worth checking out. The hotel is also within walking distance of a cute strip mall with a homey diner with great food (D’Arcy’s Kitchen) and cafes.

For DH compound people… this felt like I was sitting at the golf club… what it should have been or probably was a version of at one time… 🙂

You could easily have dinner at the lounge at the hotel or walk to a restaurant. We were within walking distance of Caramel, so we decided to try that out, and then hung out by the pool with an awesome shisha later that night!

Day 2

To get to the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort we had asked the hotel to send a driver, and boy was that a great idea. It’s a very twisty road, and you could easily feel sick going up if you’re going too fast. A 4WD vehicle is a requirement to go up as well; they physically check your car before you go up.

As I thought it would be, the hotel was absolutely gorgeous and so incredibly relaxing. I highly recommend trying Al Qalaa restaurant there as I thought their food was the best on the resort.

They also had the most incredible sunsets…

Day 3

Since we both needed a very relaxing vacation, we spent our day at the hotel, but you have some options if you need activities; book various day trips through the hotel or get a private tour guide.

A view of 2 out of 3 villages that you can visit on Jebel Akhdar

There’s a small village within walking distance, which is nice, but we opted to not get a guide and then didn’t really know what we were doing… So maybe a guided tour would have been better! The hotel also offers some great day trips to nearby Wadis, which looked amazing.

I definitely enjoyed the pretty doors of the villages even if I didn’t know what to do there! 

Day 4

The next day we went back to Muscat and checked out another resort, the Ritz Carlton, which was a totally different kind of experience than the W Hotel. They definitely had the resort vibe down. There were lots of nice restaurants, and you could easily spend all day relaxing at the hotel. I would love to come back here!

And if you don’t feel like relaxing at the hotel, you can always visit Muttrah Souq, and Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. I’m actually really sad I missed the mosque because it looked beautiful online, but hopefully I’ll get to do that next time!

Day 5

I desperately wanted to visit Wadi Shab, a 2 hour drive outside of Muscat, so we decided to rent a car to get there (FYI – they have daily mileage limits so make sure you stay under that).

This was probably my favorite experience of the whole trip! You take a short boat ride across a river (you’ll need 1 Omani Rial for the ride), and then it’s a 45 min. to 1 hour hike to the pools. The hike is just beautiful – I loved every second of it! However, I did think it was a little dangerous for little kids to be doing, but there were also parents who brought them along… so I guess it’s up to you!

There are 3 pools at the end of the hike and one has access to a cave and waterfall through the water – you can’t hike there – so make sure you bring a swimsuit! We didn’t stay for too long, but it looked like a fabulous spot to sit and hang out for a couple of hours.

And on Day 6 we were back in Dhahran on a very convenient afternoon flight!

I’m hoping that we get to explore more of Muscat in the future, and after seeing how beautiful Oman is, I will definitely be planning a trip to Salalah as well.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip! If you’d like to see even more details about our trip, make sure to visit my Instagram page @thedesignsouk and check out my “Oman” highlights!

If you’re interested in more Middle Eastern travel, check out my posts on my day trip to Al Hasa (Saudi Arabia) and to the Design District in Dubai for their annual Design Week!