Oman and the Empty Quarter

Discover the Omani capital of Muscat, one of the most exciting and attractive cities in the Arabian Peninsula. The privately guided tour starts with a photo stop at the Royal Opera House. Next, visit the exquisite Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, then continue to Muttrah where you will wander through the busy fish market, explore the atmospheric souq, and climb up to Muttrah fort for a view over the harbour. Your sightseeing continues in Old Muscat, where you will see the twin Portuguese forts of Jalali and Merani (outside) and the Al Alam Palace (outside). The afternoon is at leisure.

Drive through the Hajar Mountains into the interior of Oman and visit the 17th-century fortress of Jabrin – one of the finest in the Sultanate. Continue to Al Hamra, one of Oman’s best-preserved old towns, then drive to the nearby ‘living’ village of Misfat Al Abryeen. On arrival, discover Misfat’s beautiful old houses, the maze of shaded passageways, rushing falaj’s and verdant terraces of date palms on a two-hour walking tour with a local villager. Arrive in Nizwa late this afternoon.

Explore Nizwa’s colourful souq and visit the town’s magnificent 17th-century castle this morning, then see Bronze Age Beehive Tombs at Zukeit and the date-palm oasis of Birkat Al Mawz before taking the serpentine road up into the Jabal Akhdar (Green Mountain) and enjoying the spectacular views from your mountain eyrie of a hotel.

Admire the spectacular mountain views from Diana’s Point this morning, and then set off on foot with a local guide along the Three Villages trail (easy – 90 minutes) and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Jabal Akhdar with its craggy peaks, gorges, ancient villages, picturesque terraced hillsides, and orchards. Next, drive across the undulating Sayq Plateau (2,000m) with its forests of gnarled Juniper trees to view the ancient stone-built hamlet of Sawghera that clings to an impossibly steep cliff above a beautifully irrigated wadi before returning to your hotel and spending the remainder of the day at leisure.

Drive through the strongly defended Sumail Gap to Muscat where you will check in for a flight to Salalah in sub-tropical southern Oman. On arrival, you’ll be met and transferred to your beachfront resort.

Explore Salalah – Dhofar’s capital this morning. Start your sightseeing at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, then continue to the city’s frankincense-infused Al Haffa Souq. Then, visit the Museum of Frankincense Land and the adjacent UNESCO World Heritage-listed ruins of the 12th-century incense port of Zafar at Al Baleed before driving onto scenic Wadi Darbat, where you will see Oman’s largest permanent lake. The day’s sightseeing concludes at Sumhuram, an ancient frankincense port that dates back to the 3rd century BC.

Strike inland through the Jabal Qara to reach Wadi Dawkah, a stony semi-desert where frankincense trees grow in the wild. Then, continue driving north to the ruins of Shisr, which some scholars have identified as Ubar: the ‘Atlantis of the Sands’. Arrive in the Empty Quarter late this afternoon and check in at your desert camp amongst the stunning towering dunes of the Ramlat Hashmann.

Enjoy the magical sight of sunrise over the desert, then take a pre-breakfast stroll across the sands and sample the absolute tranquillity of the Empty Quarter. Today’s thrilling off-road 4WD adventure will reveal the immense wilderness of the Ramlat Hashmann region. Along the way, you will be presented with striking, ever-changing, varied vistas of massive star-shaped dunes and crescent sand formations interspaced with great dark gravel plains and shallow valleys. Oman’s Empty Quarter is one of the last outposts remaining for those who yearn for adventure, discovery and the wild!

Leave the sands of the Empty Quarter behind you this morning and taste fresh camel’s milk on a desert farm before driving west via the Yemeni border town of Mazyounna to the oasis of Mudayy – once an important point on the South Arabian incense route. After viewing the ruins, travel through the dramatic Moon Mountains (Jabal Qamar) to Dhofar’s cliff-lined coast and beautiful Mugsayl beach with flamingos and blowholes. Arrive in Salalah late this afternoon and check in at your luxury hotel.

Today will be at leisure to relax, swim, and enjoy the facilities at the Anantara Al Baleed.

Private transfer to Salalah International Airport to check in for your onward flight.