Tours in Oman

Start in Muttrah Souq, in the lanes where the smell of frankincense reaches you before you see the stall. Shopkeepers sit in doorways and let you look. Silver daggers, dates, cloth, little burners for the incense. The roof is low, the alleys twist, and it is easy to lose your bearings in a good way. Step out and the Corniche is right there, a long curve of water with fishing boats on one side and a walk where people come out as the heat drops.

Muscat is not a city of towers. It is spread between mountains and sea, and the mountains are never far from view. Old Muscat is the quiet end, a small harbour with forts on the rocks above it and the ceremonial front of Al Alam Palace facing the water. You look at it from outside, and that is plenty. Then there is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which is calm and large and rewards a slow walk. Dress modestly, and check visitor rules before you go.

This is why a morning with an Omani guide suits the capital so well. Someone who lives here can tell you how to greet a shopkeeper, what the coffee and dates mean when they are offered, and why locals do things the way they do. The three places sit close enough to see in one go, with room to ask questions.

Beyond Muscat, Oman opens out. There are the mountains of the interior, the forts and old towns of places like Nizwa, the wadis you can swim in, the dunes of the Sharqiya sands, and the southern green of Salalah when the rains come. We do not have tours for all of it yet. If one of these is on your list, ask, and a local guide can take the request.