All breakfasts, four lunches and six dinners are included.

Omani cuisine is influenced by Arab, Persian, Indian, Asian, Eastern Mediterranean and African cuisine. Rice is a staple and often includes a variety of flavours and ingredients, while fish and meat, such as chicken and lamb, feature prominently. Dishes are full of rich mixtures of spices, herbs and marinades. Dates are much loved and are an essential part of the Omani diet.

Curry, soups, fresh salads and vegetable dishes are all very common. Coffee is the national beverage but tea is also drunk. Yoghurt drinks and soft drinks are also popular. Alcohol is not readily available but can be purchased in some hotels and likely to be quite expensive.

During the tour, you have the opportunity to taste and experience a variety of dishes and eat in local restaurants and cafes. The night spent at the desert camp includes a barbecue with traditional dishes.

Non-Muslims are permitted to bring in two litres of alcohol by air only. Alcohol may be purchased at Muscat airport after having cleared immigration. Care must be taken not to cause offence through the use of alcohol and should not be consumed in public places apart from licensed premises, such as hotels and restaurants. It is generally not a problem to bring your own alcohol into hotels but please always ask the hotel first out of courtesy.

Please advise at time of booking if you have any dietary requirements.

Ride 4x4s into the Wahiba Sands, a sea of red and white dunes sculpted by desert winds. Skilled drivers crest ridgelines and descend slipfaces for a controlled adrenaline rush amid 200m-high dunes.

Pause to watch a desert sunset ignite rippled sands before settling into a remote camp. Far from city lights, silence and a star-filled sky reveal why Bedouin navigate by constellations across this timeless expanse.

Witness the live cattle auction as farmers parade goats and cows around a circular arena while bids ring out. The energy is infectious as buyers assess lineage and weight before sealing deals.

At Nizwa Fort, climb the circular tower for palm-dotted views, then browse the souq for silverwork and khanjars crafted by Omani smiths. This weekly ritual—often on Friday—lays bare the city’s enduring trading spirit.

Visit a Bedouin family to share kahwa (Omani coffee) and dates, a hallmark of desert hospitality. Conversations touch on camel keeping, storytelling and how seasonal movements shape life in the sands.

Admire motifs in hand-woven textiles and learn how traditional skills persist alongside solar panels and smartphones. This respectful exchange opens a window onto customs often glimpsed only from a passing vehicle.

Enter Muscat’s spiritual landmark to step inside the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and its vast prayer hall. Admire the soaring dome, elegant arcades and a single hand-knotted carpet spreading beneath a glittering chandelier.

Guides explain how this modern masterpiece blends Omani, Persian and Mughal motifs. Respectful attire is required; women cover arms, legs and hair, men wear trousers. Quiet courtyards and polished marble evoke an echoing cathedral-like nave beneath the dome.

Swim in the turquoise pools of Wadi Bani Khalid, a palm-fringed valley hemmed by smooth, honey-colored rock. Clear channels thread between natural basins, inviting a refreshing dip alive with dragonflies and birdsong.

Follow stone paths to smaller pools and listen to water trickle through a date-palm oasis sustained by falaj. Conditions can affect swimming access; your leader advises on safety and local etiquette to keep this serene stop respectful.

Wander Misfat Al Abriyeen, a stone village clinging to a mountainside, where lanes brush past falaj channels and terraced date gardens. Houses of rough-hewn stone blend into the rock.

In nearby Al Hamra’s mudbrick houses, centuries-old architecture shows cooling techniques and family layouts. This gentle walk shows how communities adapted to altitude, water and heat using local materials and ingenuity.

Wander the lantern-lit lanes of Mutrah as you stroll the lanes of Mutrah Souq, a maze of spice stalls, textiles and silver. Breathe the aroma of fragrant frankincense and oud while merchants polish silver khanjars and weigh saffron by the gram.

Your leader hosts a convivial welcome dinner nearby, helping decode Omani flavors and bargaining etiquette. Between sips of kahwa, hear how this harbor once linked Oman to India and Zanzibar, shaping the cosmopolitan wares piled along the alleys.

Visit the coastal village of Sidab to meet local women at the Sidab Women’s Association, a community cooperative known for hand-stitched bags and social initiatives. Share stories over Omani kahwa and dates, learning how micro-enterprise supports families.

Browse traditional embroidery and learn how craft keeps identity alive in a fast-modernizing capital. Purchases here directly support training and education, making this cultural stop both personal and purposeful.

Explore Muscat’s heritage as you step inside Bait Al Zubair Museum, a private trove of Omani arms, jewelry and traditional dress housed in restored residences. Dioramas and a miniature village map daily life from mountains to desert.

Nearby, pause for photos at the gates of Al Alam Palace, the Sultan’s ceremonial residence, framed by the Portuguese bastions of Al Jalali and Al Mirani. Royal colonnades set against sea-battered cliffs capture Old Muscat’s stately aura.

Visit Hawiyat Najm Park to see the Bimah Sinkhole, a dramatic limestone collapse filled with blue-green water and ringed by sea-blown palms. Chalky rock and turquoise hue create a striking natural amphitheater.

Pair this with a gentle walk in Wadi Tiwi, where terraced gardens and tamarind shade flank emerald pools fed by ancient falaj irrigation channels. Cliff-hugging villages and canyon walls reveal how water shapes life along Oman’s coast.

Join an ecologist-led walk at Ras Al Jinz, Oman’s premier turtle reserve, to search for nesting green turtles on protected beaches. Move quietly under minimal light, following strict guidelines to reduce disturbance.

Rangers share insights into migration across the Indian Ocean nesting beaches and the challenges hatchlings face. Peak laying is in summer; sightings vary at other times, yet the hushed shoreline and conservation focus make this encounter deeply resonant.

Walk through Birkat al Mouz oasis, where date palms shade crumbling quarters and mountain views frame the village. Paths weave between gardens watered by the UNESCO-inscribed Falaj Al Khatmeen channel.

Follow water as it splits into rills feeding terraces, a system refined over centuries to share scarce resources. Quiet lanes and mudbrick ruins reveal how irrigation underpins settlement across Oman’s interior.

Explore Jabrin Castle, a 17th-century seat of learning famed for painted ceilings and carved doors, secret stairways and breezy courtyards. Rooms illuminate scholarship and strategy under the Ya’aruba dynasty.

Pair this with a photo stop at the UNESCO-listed Bahla Fort, whose vast adobe walls command a palm oasis. Together, these monuments chart Oman’s fortress tradition in both form and function.

Walk the Wadi Nakhr gorge, a stony path threading the base of Oman’s deepest canyon near Al Nakhar village. Towering limestone walls rise on either side, throwing cool shade across the boulder-strewn floor.

Short, scenic sections reveal rock strata and hardy shrubs clinging to ledges, with glimpses toward the ‘Grand Canyon of Arabia’ above. It’s a compact window into the geology that defines the high Hajar.

Gaze across the ‘Grand Canyon of Arabia’ from Jebel Shams, Oman’s highest mountain. From cliff-edge viewpoints, Wadi Ghul plunges in terraces carved by time into buttresses and ledges.

Crisp air carries the scent of juniper as the jagged Hajar Mountains ripple to the horizon. Photographers prize the shifting light that sculpts ridges and ravines in high-altitude clarity.

Journey the Wadi Bani Awf mountain road, a dramatic graded track of switchbacks threading bare limestone. The drive reveals cliffs, wadis and orchards tucked into improbable pockets.

Pause for a photo stop at Bilad Sayt, a village of stone houses and date terraces beneath a natural amphitheatre. In wet conditions, alternate routes may be used to keep the adventure safe without losing the scenery.

Visit Nakhal Fort, dramatically poised on a rocky spur with pre-Islamic origins and sweeping views over gardens and groves. Thick walls and crenellations evoke centuries of regional power.

Nearby, Ain Al Thawarah hot spring bubbles through a palm-shaded ravine, a soothing counterpoint to the fort’s battlements. It’s an ideal moment to pause for photos and reflection before returning toward the coast.

Ride a camel across the dunes, swaying to the rhythm of the ‘ship of the desert’ as golden sands unspool ahead. Bedouin handlers lead small groups at an easy pace ideal for photographs.

This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable with your leader on tour. Choose sunrise or late-day light to savor desert silence and long shadows that sculpt the sands into soft relief.

Cruise the Muscat coast aboard a traditional wooden dhow, tracing coves and sea cliffs where the saw-toothed Al Hajar range meets the Gulf of Oman. Recline on cushioned decks as crew serve soft drinks, tea and dates, and watch fishing skiffs slip past rocky headlands.

Sail by the whitewashed Old Muscat waterfront, with the Portuguese-era forts of Al Jalali and Al Mirani guarding the bay near the royal quarter. This relaxed voyage channels Oman’s seafaring heritage and often delivers a glowing sunset over the water.