Driving Oman's cool-season loop: Wadi Shab, Wahiba Sands, Nizwa and the Balcony Walk

By seven on a Friday morning the pickups have been rolling into Nizwa’s livestock market for an hour, and the bidding on goats has begun. By half past nine it is over. The trucks pull out, the dust settles, and the town goes back to its fort, its souq and the date palms that run right up to the walls. It’s a good first morning in the interior, and the roads that lead away from it are the reason to come.

Lonely Planet named Oman in Best in Travel 2027 as its pick for Arabian hospitality. Its writer Jenny Walker put it simply: “the most memorable part of a trip here is meeting the hospitable Omani people, who make a virtue of cherishing their visitors.” The cool season has just begun. Muscat averages about 28°C in November and 25°C in December, cool enough to walk a canyon rim at midday. British and EU visitors get 14 days without a visa, which is about right for the loop below: Muscat, the coast road to Sur, a night in the Wahiba Sands, then Nizwa and the Hajar Mountains.

One date to plan round. National Day moved in 2025 from 18 November to 20 November, and this year the public holiday falls on 25 and 26 November. The flags and the red, white and green lights at the roundabouts are worth seeing. The mountain hotels and desert camps, though, fill with Omani families on holiday, so book those nights early.

Muscat, slowly

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is open to non-Muslims from Saturday to Thursday, 8 to 11am only. Cover your shoulders and knees, and women cover their hair too; abayas and scarves are available at the entrance. It was built from nearly 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone, has five minarets, and its prayer hall carpet is the second-largest hand-woven Persian carpet in the world. Sources disagree on whether there is still an entry fee, so check before you go.

Spend the evening in Mutrah, where the souq lanes run back from the corniche. On the waterfront, Bait Al Luban (luban is frankincense) serves Omani food from noon to 11pm. Order the shuwa, lamb marinated in spices and slow-cooked for hours in an underground oven, and book ahead. The Royal Opera House Muscat is in its 15th-anniversary season. The Butterfly Lovers plays on 27 and 28 November, and on 17 and 19 December there’s Sindbad: The Omani Sailor, an Omani opera. Curtain-up is at 7pm, and Al Angham in the Opera Galleria next door is one of the Omani restaurants worth booking for dinner beforehand.

The coast road south

Heading south towards Sur, the first stop is just off the highway. Bimmah Sinkhole is a hole in the limestone about 20 metres deep, with turquoise water at the bottom, inside a fenced park with toilets and a staircase down to the water. A little further on is Wadi Shab. A boat takes you across the creek at its mouth, then you walk about three kilometres up the canyon past green pools, scrambling in places. To finish, you swim through a gap in the rock into a cave with a waterfall inside. Allow half a day and start early. Wadis flood quickly after rain, and the cool season is when the rain comes.

At the eastern tip of the country, Ras Al Jinz is the only place in Oman where you are allowed to watch turtles nest. Guided groups go down to the beach at 9pm and 5am (12 OMR for adults), and staying at the reserve includes the walks. Be realistic about the season: hatching peaks from May to September. Green turtles nest all year, so a November night gives you a chance, but you may see nothing.

A night in the sands

From the coast it is about three hours inland, by way of Wadi Bani Khalid, to the Wahiba Sands. The desert covers about 12,500 square kilometres and takes its name from the Bani Wahiba tribe. The camps sit a short way into the dunes, and you need a 4x4 on the sand, so ask your camp whether it will collect you from the tarmac. 1000 Nights Camp is the classic choice: 42 Bedouin-style tents with their own bathrooms, all meals included, and camel rides at sunset. The Oman Observer’s round-up of winter camps includes Sunrise Desert Camp, which has only five solar-powered tents. In December the desert nights get properly cold, so bring a fleece.

Nizwa and the high Hajar

Nizwa Fort was built under Imam Sultan bin Saif Al Ya’rubi, who ruled from 1649 to 1679. Its round tower is 34 metres high and 45 metres across, and the stairs to the top pass through seven fortified doors. Come for the Friday goat market, then spend the rest of the week in the mountains that rise behind the town. The road up Jebel Akhdar starts at a police checkpoint at Birkat Al Mouz, about 30–40 minutes from Nizwa. Until this month only 4x4s were let through. On 13 October Visit Oman said electric cars are now allowed too, but gave no start date, so hire a 4x4 to be safe. Ordinary petrol cars are still turned back.

Jebel Shams, Oman’s highest mountain, is about an hour and three-quarters from Nizwa. From the village of Al Khitaym, at about 1,900 metres, the Balcony Walk (W6) follows the rim of Wadi Nakhr for about four kilometres to As Sab, a village abandoned in the early 1970s. Most of the path has no railing and the drops are sheer. Allow three hours or more for the return walk, and bring a warm layer: Jebel Shams has recorded below-freezing nights in winter. On the way back, stop at Misfat al Abriyeen, a mud-brick village at about 900 metres. Its falaj, a stone irrigation channel more than 2,000 years old, still waters the terraces of mango, pomegranate and fig below the houses.

Two videos for the road, one for the mountains and one for the table:

23:50

49:45

Nizwa, not Muscat

The obvious plan is to base yourself in the capital and do day trips. Don’t. On this loop most of the nights are inland, and from Nizwa you can reach Jebel Akhdar, Misfat, Bahla Fort and Jebel Shams in under two hours. You also need to be in town by seven for the Friday market. Muscat is under two hours away for the first and last nights.

The night not to miss is Misfat Old House. The Al Abri family run it inside the old village: simple traditional rooms, mostly with shared bathrooms, and dinner on a terrace above the fields. It’s the cheapest bed on the route and the most memorable. For a splurge, Alila Jabal Akhdar sits at 2,000 metres on the Saiq Plateau, right on the edge of a gorge. Jebel Shams Resort is the closest bed to the Balcony Walk trailhead. Back on the coast, The Chedi Muscat, on the beach at Al Khuwair, is a calm place to start or finish.

Practical notes

Muscat International Airport is in Seeb, 32 km from old Muscat. You will need a hire car, and most companies ask for an International Driving Permit. There are no motorway tolls. From Muscat to Nizwa is about two hours on Route 15, and some fuel stations in the countryside take cash only. The currency is the Omani rial, divided into 1,000 baisa. Alcohol is served only in licensed hotels and restaurants. Away from the beach and the pool, cover your shoulders and knees, and ask before you photograph anyone.

Five weeks until the National Day holiday fills every mountain room in the Hajar. The Wadi Shab walk, the Ras Al Jinz turtle sessions, a Wahiba camp, Misfat’s family guesthouse and Bait Al Luban’s shuwa are all in our Oman collection. Save it, book the 4x4, and be at the Nizwa goat market before the bidding starts at seven.

This guide was curated using Epic Itineraries — save links from anywhere on the web, organise them into collections, and turn research into itineraries.