Know before you go : Oman Edition

In this article, I’ll make an overview of everything that’s useful to know before going to Oman, including some travel tips.

You’ll find :

Oman is a country located in the south east corner of the Arabian Peninsula, between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Sultanate of Oman is the third largest country on the Arabian Peninsula.

Muscat, the capital, is a charming city, with grand mosques, lively souks, and a beautiful seaside promenade.

It has a total area of 309,500 square kilometres (approximately 120,000 square miles).

Oman’s population is around 4,9 million, with about 40% non-Omani expatriates. Around half the population is aged under 30.

More than 80% of the population live in urban areas, with 50% of the population living in and around Muscat.

The best time to visit Oman is between October and April, with an average temperature of 25°C .

January and February can have a bit of rainfall, and from May to August the temperatures are just too high to do anything (+35°C during the day and +29°C at night, with the sea temperature at 29°C)..

We went in December and had a perfect weather, from 22°C to 28°C, sunny every day, no clouds or rain !

However, if you want to see the turtles, it’s best in September.

The currency is the Omani Rial (OMR) and the current exchange rate (February 2025) is 1 OMR equals 2,51€ or 2,60$.

I suggest withdrawing a fair amount when arriving in Muscat (Bank of Muscat had no fees if I remember well).

The prices for restaurant are really cheap : for example, you can get a chicken masala or tikka with rice for less that 3€ almost everywhere.

I think for 4 people we never went above a bill of 8-10 OMR.

Fresh juices are around 0,5 OMR, which is 1,2€.

For Hotels and Airbnb we never went above 100-110€ per night for 4 people (so 25€ per night per person for great accommodations).

The gas was also really inexpensive : 0,5€ per liter ! We paid less than 20€ for a full tank.

Clothing : I would suggest packing first a hat or a cap as well as sunglasses and sunscreen because the sun is really strong whenever you come to Oman.

I also recommend bringing pants that cover your knees (women AND men) and shirts covering your shoulders. But choose light ones to handle the heat. If there’s only one of my Oman travel tips to remember that would be this one !

If you plan on spending a night in the desert or going to jebel shams, bring a sweater because the temperature can drop there.

You can bring a pair of sandals but don’t forget a good pair of sneakers for hiking, because it can be quite slippery with the sand and rocks.

Also, you can bring a pair of legging and tee shirt for swimming, we only had a one piece bathing suit and we couldn’t swim with that in some places that required to be covered.

For women, you can bring a headscarf in case you want to visit the mosque.

Adapter : In a more practical sense, bring a universal power adapter as the power outlet are different (type G). A power bank is also handy for keeping your devices charged during a long day of exploration !

There’s so much to bring back from Oman !

Traditional items : When exploring the Nizwa souq, you’ll come across really cute pottery (pots for your plants, flowers and decoration). In Mutrah souq, you can find a lot of cashmere scarfs, wood or mother-of-pearl little boxes, beautiful chess boards, incense, perfumes, lamps and a lot of jewels (gold necklaces, silver bracelets, rings with gemstones). There’s also beautiful ceramic tableware, I personally brought back a lot of ceramic trivets.

Food : You can find all the spices you want in the souks : curry, cardamon, cinnamon, saffron… you name it !

The official language is the standard arab, however you’ll see when you arrive a lot of the people can speak english.

But here are a few words you can use :

Hello : [Salaam Malekoum]

Thank you : [Shoukran]

You’re welcome : [Hefwen]

I understand / I don’t understand : [Afham / Lâ afham]

Sorry : [asef]

My name is… : [ismi…]

Yes / No : [Ayoua / Lâ]

Regarding the Visa, there’s two options :

• If your stay is less than 14 days : you don’t need a Visa only a passport valid at least 6 months after the date of exit from the country.
• If your stay is more than 14 days : you will have to apply for a VISA on the official website. It costs 20 OMR (48€) for 30 days and 40 OMR (120€) for the multi-entry Visa. The eVisa document is valid for 1 month from the date of issue, so the application must be made in the month before departure.

Now, as soon as you arrive at the airport, I suggest to buy a SIM card if you don’t have an international data plan.

We went with Renna because the Vodafone one’s didn’t work. It costed us 5.5 OMR (13.5€) for 5GB and 3+ hours of calls (very useful when we wanted to call the hotels/Airbnb/restaurants).

After that, we went to pick-up our rental car. We booked through rentalscars.com to a local rental company called Dollar. For a total of 8 days, we paid 484€. This was absolutely not the cheapest option for a car, but it was for a 4WD, which is recommended in Oman because there’s a bit of off road driving.

If you want hotels/Airbnb suggestions, I recommend that you reach out to me to plan a personalised trip.

There’s a lot of things to see in Oman, it such a diverse country ! You can spend a day in a wadi (oasis), book a night in a desert camp, do a boat excursion in the islands, do a hike in the canyon, swim in the wadi (oasis), admire the mountains, wander in the old traditional villages, walk in the palm groves, visit the castles and forts… You won’t be bored a second !

Here’s a list of the best things to do in Oman :

That’s it for my Oman travel tips !

To have a lot more information and pictures about these places, you can read my ultimate Oman itinerary.

I have also made a detailed post about the excursion to the Daymaniyat islands (where you will 100% swim with turtles), one about the Wahiba Sands Desert, and another one listing the best hikes to do in Oman.