Things to do
7-
Bahla Fort
Mud brick walls run for several kilometres around the oasis below this fort, a UNESCO listing since 1987 and the subject of a restoration that kept it closed for decades. Towers, a mosque and a falaj sit inside the enclosure. Opening is limited to mornings, and the adobe makes summer visits punishing; the pottery souq nearby stays active.
-
Jabreen Castle
Raised in the 1670s as a seat of learning and a residence, this castle keeps painted ceilings, Quranic inscriptions and a falaj channel running through the interior. Rooms include a schoolroom, a sun room and a stair built for horses. It stays quieter than the forts at Nizwa and Bahla, and an hour covers the three floors comfortably.
-
Jebel Akhdar
Terraced villages on the Saiq plateau grow roses, pomegranates and apricots at around 2000m, cool enough for a damask rose harvest in April and for frost in winter. A checkpoint at the base of the ascent turns back vehicles without four-wheel drive. Short walks link Al Ayn, Seeq and Ash Shirayjah along the old falaj channels.
-
Jebel Shams
Oman's highest mountain carries a rim walk above Wadi Ghul, a gorge falling close to a kilometre below the viewpoint. The W6 balcony path runs level along the cliff to an abandoned village and back in about four hours. Nights at the rim are cold year round, camping is common, and the final stretch of road is rough.
-
Misfat al Abriyyin
Stone houses stack above a falaj-fed terrace of date palms and bananas on the flank of Jebel Shams, reached by a road that ends at a car park outside the walls. Lanes are narrow, roofed in places, and residents ask visitors to keep to marked paths. A guesthouse or two allows an overnight, which is when the village empties of day traffic.
-
Nizwa Fort
Built in the seventeenth century over an older structure, the fort is dominated by a drum tower roughly 30m across, raised on rubble fill so it could absorb cannon fire. A spiral stair with murder holes and honey traps climbs to a roof looking over the date plantations and the souq. Allow an hour, and climb early before the stone heats.
-
Nizwa Souq
Restored arcades beside the fort sell dates, halwa, frankincense, silver and copper, with a separate fish and meat hall behind. The livestock market runs on Friday morning, when sellers walk goats and cattle in a circle before the bidders in a ring that fills by seven. Trading is over by mid-morning, so an early arrival is the whole trick.