Oman itinerary + car hire advice

[hma11]

I’ve been a long term reader of HfP and have always valued the advice on these forums. Saying that, I’ve never felt brave enough to ask for help! Now that the kids are older, and having collected a good few points, we are now at the stage of redeeming them and finding the best possible value for them.

My husband and I will be travelling to Muscat next month. Very excited to travel on QR, keeping everything crossed that the Q-Suites plan doesn’t get scuppered by equipment swap. Also looking forward to trying the Al Safwa lounge in Doha as the regional flight is F.

We plan to hire a car, which company would people recommend and type of car? We have platinum cards, so is there anything we can make use of?

The itinerary is as follows:

– Sunday – arrive Muscat. Check in, relax. Explore Mutrah souk
– Monday – explore grand mosque, Al mirani fort, royal park
– Tuesday – Drive to Al Hamra old town, side trip to Jibreen Castle and Bahla fort. Explore Wadi Ghul. Drive to a Jabal al Akhdar mountain resort, stay 2 nights
– Thursday: Drive down to one of the desert camps near Bidiyah.
– Friday: Drive back to Muscat along the coast, exploring some of the wadis along the coastal route (e.g. Wadi Shab, Wadi Tiwi) and Bimmah Sinkhole. Stay in muscat
– Saturday: final day in muscat. Leave for the airport at 3 pm

Still finalising the hotels, so any advice there would be appreciated too.

[hma11]

Thank you to one of the readers a few days ago for providing inspiration for our itinerary

[Man of Kent]

We are heading to Oman with QR in November. We’re staying at Shangri-La Al Husn (3 nights), Alila Jabal Akhdar (3 nights) reviewed by HfP last year, Desert Nights Resort (1 night) and back to Shangr-La for a couple of nights.

We’re planning to hire a car and you will need a 4×4 if you are heading into the mountains and into the desert, there is a police check-point before you head up the mountain road to stop unsuitable vehicles. Some of the desert and the mountain regions hotels will collect you from the main roads where you can leave your vehicle but there will be a cost to this.

There are a couple of other Oman threads as it looking quite popular this winter for HfP readers!

[TJ]

We stayed at the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar pre-Covid which was impressive and definitely recommended. It’s arguably more ‘famous’ then Alila Jabal Akhdar having featured in Top Gear (which inspired us to visit), Amazing Hotels (with Giles Coren & Monica Galetti) and has a viewing platform where Princess Diana once stood. Whichever resort hotel you choose in Hajar Mountains you won’t be disappointed. Worth visiting the Nizwa Fort and Souq whilst you are in the area.

[TH]

Your itinerary looks great. The roads are fantastic in Oman, so the driving shouldn’t be too daunting. As Man of Kent says, a 4×4 is a must for the desert and Jabal Al Akhdar. Like you, we stayed in Muscat for a couple of days before heading off, so we arranged to have our car dropped off at our hotel on day 3. Europcar drop off at several Muscat hotels and I’m sure other companies do too. We then had it picked up on our return (we also spent our last night in Muscat).

We didn’t find that we needed a car in Muscat because our hotel (the Crowne Plaza) ran a shuttle bus into town in the morning to visit the Grand Mosque and a separate shuttle in the late afternoon to the souk and the Al Mirani fort(which are next to each other). But it depends how much freedom you want!

[hma11]

Thanks for the useful info. Oman does indeed look very popular for HfP readers! I’ve tweaked our itinerary and added Nizwa Fort as it does look interesting, but taken off Wadi Tiwi, wadi Ghul and Bahla fort so that we have some time to relax in the hotels too.

For the first 2 nights in Muscat, I’ve booked the Doubletree Hilton (hope to make use of the gold status with the plat) but still undecided on the Anantara incase the weathers not great and we can’t make use of the outdoor pools. For the final night in Muscat, I’ve booked the Radisson Hormuz Grand, again making use of the status so that we can have a late checkout and fingers crossed an upgrade. Thanks for the car hire advice too, I hadn’t considered a hotel drop off and pick up so will look into that.