Oman is a fascinating destination, historic and elegant, in a rather understated manner.
Oman is a fascinating, highly traditional country, with just a handful of international hotels. Wonderful culture and history, with varied sightseeing opportunities both on land and sea.
Flying time is 8 hours. Our main featured hotels (Al Bustan, Chedi and Shangri -La) are grouped around the capital of Muscat with a mountain retreat (Alila) just 2 hours inland. We also arrange the Six Senses Resort in Oman’s Musandam Peninsula which is usually accessed via Dubai.
We can also arrange holidays to Salalah in the south of Oman. Flying time from Muscat one hour. This area is more barren. Home to the “empty quarter”, a vast expanse of desert dunes. Super beaches and just a couple of international hotels including the newly opened Al Baleed Resort by Anantara.
Visa in advance of Arrival
Approximate £40 pp for stays of 28 nights. Details of contact for arranging visa in advance of arrival will be sent with holiday confirmation. Passport should have a minimum of 6 months validity
Air Travel
There are daily flights on both BA and twice daily on Oman Air whose schedule is non stop. Oman Air, in particular, has excellent flight timings and a highly recommended well-priced business class (flatbed) service.
Ramadan
The Islamic fasting month when alcohol is usually prohibited ( minibar service still operates ) and some restaurants screened from view. No live entertainment during this month. The period varies year to year and is flexible by a few days but expect approx. It can be an interesting time to visit if culture is a high priority, much less so if lively entertainment is on your agenda but then you should not be looking at Oman anyway if this is important.
Similar limitations may also apply for shorter Islamic religious periods throughout the year.
Weatherwise
As you would expect, limited rainfall year-round. Most days are hot and sunny with increased humidity during the mid-summer months when the temperatures soar. December and January can see occasional cold snaps for a day or two when high winds come in from the desert, particularly noticeable at night, but then normal high temperatures return.
Salalah has a green season (June to September) when it has increased drizzle and plants and shrubs suddenly emerge. It is one of the few places in the world to charge a supplement for the wet months, such is the regional demand to experience showers and to escape the searing heat & humidity elsewhere.
Note – The beaches in Oman tend to be available to tourist and locals alike. Some hotels are able to rope off a section for their guests.
Why Oman?
The hospitality and the sense of really being in Arabia. Oman might share the same weather and religion as neighbouring Dubai, but very little else. The delights here are more simple and natural. Elegant, but in an understated manner and you actually get the opportunity to meet Omanis. The country has a vision that is considered and planned, so things move at a deliberately slower pace, which actually forms part of the charm.
Take time to travel to the interior to visit towns that have hardly changed in the last 200 years, or spend a night or two either under canvass in the desert or in high up in the mountains. Several more international are planned, but that has been a discussion point for years!
If We Were To Be Critical…
Shopping would not be high on the agenda unless you are keen on frankincense, neither is night-life high on the priorities. Restaurant options are limited away from the hotels, but to many, that is all part of the charm and makes it so different from the more openly hedonistic Dubai.
Salalah is particularly with charter groups from Northern Europe whose focus seems to be totally beach-based. Most of our clients select it as a short stay combination with one of our hotels in the Muscat area.
>> Hotels & Resorts in Oman <<
"There's no such thing as the best hotel, just the right one..."
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All price guides are Per Person Sharing Double Room (Entry level), based on travel between May and/or June when prices are generally at their lowest and include promotional offers. Supplements will probably apply at other times, particularly mid-summer in the Med, and for rooms and/or transfers arranged for single travellers.
For example, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean prices for winter can be approximately double the May - June level and about 50% more in Asia. For the Mediterranean & Canary Islands, Caribbean, Arabia and the Indian Ocean (except Sri Lanka) price guides generally include airfare and transfers.
*For Sri Lanka and Far East we show a per-person, per-night hotel guide, excluding air fare, as arrangements tend to be individually tailored multi-centre itineraries.
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