As seen on
Fatima Norat Bespoke Oman Tour
Oman
This trip supports
- Overview
- Itinerary
- Essential info
- Reviews
- Packing list
Grade:
Entry Level
Type:
Cultural
Transfers
Duration:
9 Nights
3 - 3
Group size
Leaders
Highlights
- Explore tranquil and lush wadis
- Explore the stunning Jebel Al Akhdhar (Green Mountains)
- Swim in beautiful beaches
- Desert camp in Wahiba Sands
We have created a beautiful bespoke tour of Oman for the Norat family.
Please click on the 'Itinerary' tab above to see the full programme.
Day 1- Arrive Muscat and transfer to hotel, city tour
Transfer
Overnight: W Hotel Muscat
The tour begins with a visit to the magical Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, a splendor of unique Islamic architecture. From here you will drive through the Ministries and stop for photo or souvenir shop in Shatti District, the most prestigious district in Muscat. Continue and pass by the brand new Royal Opera house (outside only), this building reflects contemporary Omani architecture, and has a capacity to accommodate maximum of 1,100 people. Sultan Qaboos Bin Said has always been a fan of classical music and arts.
Pass by Qurum Corniche where Omanis from Muscat like to take a walk at night with their families. Stop at the traditional Mutrah Souk for some souvenir shopping and a glance at Oman’s culture, tradition. You then stroll along for a view of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos’s Palace, the Al Alam Palace, guarded by the two forts, Fort Jalali and Fort Mirani.
Please kindly note that women have to be fully covered from head to ankles and men should wear long trousers in order to be allowed inside the Grand Mosque.
Day 2- Muscat-Nizwa- Jebel Al Akhdhar
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Overnight: Anantara Hotel
Depart at 8:30 AM and head towards Nizwa, which was once the capital of Oman, go through the traditional and craft Souk where you can buy some souvenirs before visiting the Fort of Nizwa with its large circular tower and imagine life inside the Fort in the 17th century. The breathtaking view from the tower will show you how big the plantation is.
Continue your journey to Jebel Akhdar or “Green Mountain” it use to be accessible only by donkey, at present only 4×4 can go there. This mountain offers discovery and adventure. Experience a sense of awe as you witness nature’s primordial beauty as seen in the soaring peeks and plunging canyons. The rise of terraces on extremely steep mountain slopes is particularly impressive. There is a trek that goes from one village to another through the terraces and along the falaj system.
Day 3- Jebel Al Akhdhar
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Overnight: Anantara Hotel
Jebel Akhdar in Arabic means “Green Mountain” but it is also known as the Sayq Plateau. Your guide will take you for an incredible journey. Make your way to the pretty village of Birkat Al Mauz, located at the foot of Jebel Akhdar. Wonder in the old streets of abandoned houses made of mud and straw.
Your guide will take you to the top of Jebel Akhdar, also famous for its rose, fruit and nut plantations, there are many small villages which farm some of the best in Oman. Depending on the season you can visit the rose water factory, rose water from Jebel Akhdar is very famous in Oman. From a view point, see the villages on the other side that cling vertiginously to the rock walls, as well as the terraced rose plantations.
If you wish you can do the trek W18b from Al Aqur village, your guide will meet you at the next village. Explore the hanging gardens before heading to your last stop, Wadi Bani Habib. A charming little abandoned village perched on a wadi, there is a trek to reach the village but you can also see it from the road
This tour is a delightful way to escape the heat because of the cooler mountain air.
Day 4- Jebel Al Akhdhar- Nizwa-Bahla-Jabreen
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Overnight: The View Hotel
After a nice breakfast, head to Nizwa and continue your journey to Bahla, a charming little town surrounded by an old 12 km long wall; visit the place where they make pottery and also the old Fort of Bahla, one of the oldest in Oman at present under renovation. Continue to Jabrin, for a visit of the Fort which was once the home of the Imam and was built to be a Palace at first, before being used for military purposes. The tomb of the Imam is still located in the Fort. The Jabrin Fort is also believed to be one of the first schools in Oman.
Day 5- Nizwa-Bahla-Jabreen with tour of Nizwa-Ibri-Al Ayn Tombs
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Overnight: The View Hotel
After a nice breakfast,head to Ibri and drive to Al Ayn Tombs, Al-Ayn encompass the most unique ensemble of 4000-5000 year-old burial monuments, towers, and remains of settlement in the Arabian Peninsula, representing an extraordinary example of the unique response of the ancient people of Oman to the pressures of an increasing population and to the input from contacts with other civilizations.
The actions of time, erosion and weathering processes, has slightly damaged some structures, but in general, the sites at al-Ayn are very well preserved and they continue to express their exceptional cultural value and incredible monumentality. Lunch in Ibri and back to Hotel.
Day 6-The View Hotel to Wahiba Sands
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Overnight: Arabian Oryx Camp (Special Room)
After breakfast head to Wahiba sands, with its golden sand dunes. Meet a Bedouin family, do some dune bashing which consists in going up and down the dunes like a roller coaster with your 4x4. Enjoy the tranquility of the desert at the desert camp before going back up the dune to watch the sunset over the dunes. The night in the desert will be a memorable one.
Day 7-Wahiba, Wadi Bani Khalid, Ras Al Hadd
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Overnight: Turtle Beach Resort
After a nice breakfast, leave the golden sand dunes and head to Wadi Bani Khalid, one of the most picturesque wadis in Oman where water flows all year round. You can cool down in the green pools or walk up the wadi and see more pools with waterfalls. Continue to Jalan Bani Bu Ali to visit the old Mosque (Al Hamooda Mosque), built in 11th Century, it has 52 domes supported by pillars and a main entrance with carved wooden doors.
Continue to Ras al Hadd in the afternoon where you can relax before dinner and after go for turtle watching. The turtles come to lay their eggs at night and this experience is a memorable one.
Day 8-Ras Al Hadd -Sur-Wadi Shab-Bimmah Sinkhole- Muscat
Boat/Ferry
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Overnight: Al Bustan Palace Hotel
After breakfast start the tour by going to Sur, a town famous for it’s trading and still now famous for its Dhow Building Yard. The sheltered lagoon is a perfect picture with all the white houses of Sur in the background and old Dhows floating …or not…in the lagoon.
Continue to Wadi Shab, which means a “wadi between the cliffs”, enjoy a walk through the wadi, walking shoes are strongly recommended. Going up the wadi you will soon see pools appearing before you and you may also enjoy a refreshing swim in those pools. If you feel brave enough there is a cave that you can reach by swimming underwater or through a very narrow gorge where your head can nearly fit into. Your next stop will be Bimah sinkhole, a spectacular limestone crater with inviting blue-green water.
Day 9-Relax on the Beach (free day)
Transfer
Breakfast
Dinner
Overnight: Al Bustan Palace Hotel
Day 10-Departure
Transfer
The price includes:
- Airport transfers
- Hotel accommodation (W hotel in Muscat, and hotels mentioned in the program)
-Entrance fees included - (Nizwa fort, Bahla Fort, Jabreen Castle, Turtle Reserve, and Dhow Factory)
- Meals mentioned in the program
- Transportation in 4x4 car with English speaking tour guide
- Water on tour
Not included:
-PCR test fees not included in price
- Personal expenses
Adventure Optional Extras
Single room supplement
Single rooms are available on a first come, first served basis, however, due to the small size of the hotels and guesthouses we are using on this adventure, there are several nights where single rooms are not possible, so the supplement price reflects this. We will charge on a pro-rata basis if a single room is not available to book for part of the trip where it would have been possible.
Plant an additional 15 trees for your adventure
Carbon Compensation is not the perfect solution, and it is important to first reduce our carbon emissions as much as we can, yet trees remain an excellent natural technology to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow global warming.
For every client and guide who attends a YellowWood Adventure, we donate £30 to our partner charity WeForest to plant 15 trees to (over) compensate for the carbon footprint of the tour.
We also invite our clients to match this with an optional additional £30 for another 15 trees to be planted to help compensate for the carbon footprint of their international flights.
WeForest run many tree planting and tree maintenance projects such as this seedling nursery in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and many other projects in other countries including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania & India.
Click Here to find out more about their amazing projects around the world.
Not included
- Flights & airport taxes
- Insurance (compulsory)
- Visas
- Drinks & Snacks
- Tipping (allow around $100)
Contents
Accommodation
We fully believe in, and practice Responsible Tourism, using hotels run by locals. We put time and effort into building our relationship with them to ensure you have a a great trip.
We choose hotels based on cleanliness, comfort, safety, proximity to our route (to avoid unnecessary extra travel), and a warm client welcome, as well as reliability in their service to us. Some hotels will be basic, and in modern buildings and or in towns. Wherever we can, we will choose smaller more characterful, individual hotels, but in areas where tourism is still developing, this may not be available. An aspect of our adventures is to escape the ‘trappings’ of modern Western lifestyles and to experience new things which is exciting and memorable, and reflects the countries we are visiting. This is adventure travel and on occasion the advertised services at a hotel (eg wifi, or hot showers!) may not be functional on our arrival. This tends to occur in the smaller, more remote hotels. Very rarely a hotel lets us down and we are required to find alternative suitable accommodation that might not be our first choice.
This trip involves hotel and guesthouse accommodation. The list below gives information on our first choice of accommodation for this adventure. Where hotels and refuges are fully booked or unavailable, we will use an alternative of a similar standard, and equally well situated. We will provide you with an accurate list of accommodation, with contact information to leave with relatives, prior to departure on your adventure.
Muscat (Day 1, 7 & 8): Levatio Hotel (https://levatiohotels.com, PO Box 1009, PC: 133, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Phone: +968 24239000 (Wifi & Roof top Pool)
Ras Al Jins Resort (Day 2): details to be confirmed
Sama Al Wasil Desert Camp (Day3): Eco friendly lodge with individual ensuite huts. Air conditioning, restaurant, Desert location! http://samaresorts.com/sama-al-wasil-desert-camp/ +96891126369
Nizwa (Day 4): details to be confirmed
Jebel Shams (Day 5): Jebel Shams Resort: Rooms with private bathroom and patios. Restaurant, Wifi in some places on resort. https://jebelshamsresort.com +969 99382639
Misfat Guesthouse (Day 6): Details to be confirmed
Facilities
Unless you have booked a single room (where they are available) and paid the single room supplement for those nights, you will be sharing a twin room with another client (of the same gender).
Guiding & Your Group
Supporting you on your holiday will be an experienced and knowledgeable local, English speaking, Omani guide. This ensures you access to information on the country and culture of Oman, as well as directly supporting local trade and tourism.
Your Group
Your group will be any number from our minimum group size of 4, up to a maximum of 12 clients. This number works really well with the ratio of guides, and ensures the optimum level of service to you during your adventure.
We get clients booking alone, as couples and in small groups of friends. If you have a group of friends or family who are interested in having their own customised trip, then please let us know and we can cost it for you.
Am I fit enough?
This itinerary is a Grade 3; an Entry Level adventure.
Some days involve short walks of up to 3 hours, but the distances are optional. Depending on which departure you are on, it could involve walking in the heat, over some uneven terrain but at a leisurely pace / the natural pace of the group. However, to get the most of out of this adventure, you need to be a regular walker and in good physical health.
Travel & Arrival
Your YellowWood adventure starts at the airport in Muscat. We understand that arriving into an unfamiliar airport can be very daunting, so we aim to give you as much information her as possible to help you prepare.
Finding flights
Flights are not included in the cost of your holiday, and whilst we are happy to help advise you, responsibility for booking the correct flights rests with you. We recommend that you use a comparison tool such as www.momondo.co.uk or www.skyscanner.net when searching for flights.
Foreign Travel Advice
For the latest travel advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office including security and local laws, plus passport and visa information, check www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
Airport & Arrival Info
Muscat International Airport (its slogan is “Gateway to Beauty & Opportunity”) is the main international airport in Oman, 32km from the city, and is modern and fully functioning.
Hotel Arrival
On arrival at the hotel, you should head to reception where they can show you to your room.
The group will be arriving at different times. You will be meeting together for a welcome briefing and heading to a local restaurant for lunch before your City Tour begins.
Insurance
Holiday insurance is essential for all Yellow Wood Adventures. Unfortunately anyone without insurance is not able to take part in the holiday, so please make sure you arrange cover. We recommend sorting your insurance when you book so that if you have problems during the run up to your holiday, and need to cancel, you are covered, particularly in the light of effects that the pandemic has had on travel.
Prior to the holiday, we will ask you to send us details of your insurer, policy number, 24 hr emergency assistance contact details and the name, address, and telephone numbers of your NOK or persons to be notified in the event of an emergency.
Your insurance needs to cover you for the following fairly standard inclusions:
- Medical Expenses
- Coronavirus linked expenses (these may be country specific, so please ensure you know what the requirements are relating to the country you are visiting)
- Repatriation
- Helicopter rescue & Air ambulance
We would also recommend that you have cover for the following optional items:
- Cancellation
- Loss or damage to property
General information on Oman
For information on Oman, such as climate, weather, language, social norms, food & drink etc, please have a read of our Country specificinformation.
Reviews
YellowWood Adventures
This is a new itinerary for YellowWood and as such, we do not yet have any reviews. We would love you to be the first to review the adventure!
Compulsory
- US$ or £GB to exchange for local currency
- Passport & insurance documents
- Credit / Debit card for ATM use
- Prescription medication
- First aid kit: paracetamol, anti-diarrhoea tables, rehydration sachets, antihistamine cream, ibuprofen cream, thermometer & blister kit (eg plasters & zinc oxide tape).
- Insect repellent
- Hand sanitiser (70% alcohol) & min of 2 reusable & 10 disposable face coverings
- Washbag & usual contents - small travel bottles please! Biodegradable multi purpose soap can be used for washing clothes & self.
- Flannel & Towel (ideally quick drying travel towel)
- 'On the go' Toilet kit: toilet roll, wet wipes & ziplock bags for carrying paper out. Biodegradable wet wipe brands: Canny Mum, Close Pop & Travel Buddy
Items for Walking / Sightseeing
- Small daypack (about 20L) for sightseeing
- Waterproof Jacket (ideally GoreTex)
- Walking shoes or boots (already broken in)
- Torch with spare batteries
- Sunglasses & high factor suncream
- Sun hat or baseball cap
- Waterproof stuff sacks to keep daypack contents dry
- Reusable filtration water bottle (approx 2 litres) eg Aqua Pure Traveller water bottle
Clothing
- Socks / underwear
- Suitable clothes / pjs for sleeping in at night
- Light clothes for day time - long & short sleeved tops.
- Trousers / shorts / skirts - NB dress modestly for religious buildings
- Sandals / trainers
- Warm jacket / fleece - it can be cooler at altitude and in the evenings
- Warm hat & gloves
Optional
- Buff or light scarf useful for sun protection and covering shoulders / neck for church visits
- Camera & charging cables / plug
- Phone & charging cables / plug
- 2 prong adaptor
- Money belt or grab bag for essentials
This trip supports
Need a little help?
All adventures can be tailored as private bespoke trips.
Please contact us for more information:
+44 207 846 0197
Related Adventures
Booking Process
Select dates & add any extras or 'Add on' adventures. Complete our Booking Form
Check out our Covid-19 friendly booking conditions & check the box to agree to our Terms & Conditions.
'Make Booking': You will be redirected to secure WorldPay to make your deposit (£300/$400/person) payment (receipted), if booking >56 days before your adventure or full payment if 56 or <56 days before your adventure. Your monies are held securely by the Travel Trust Association.
Your booking will show as 'pending' in your YellowWood online account.
Enter booking information for all guests in your party.
We will be in touch as soon as we are able, to confirm your booking or discuss any availability limitations. Do not book transport/flights until we have emailed you to confirm your booking (receipt of your booking form is not confirmation). We will change the status of your final invoice from 'Pending Approval' to 'Outstanding', when it becomes payable online.
This payment is due 56 days before departure date (we send reminders).
Contact us with any questions about your adventure or booking.
+44 207 846 0197
Grading
To help you choose the right adventure for you, we have given each itinerary a grading that relates to the level of Walking / Trekking you will experience during the trip. This grading can be found on the Yellow map on the adventure page of the website.
All of our trips involve a level of general activity so are designed for people who are in good health, enjoy the outdoors, and have a taste for adventure and some level of fitness. As will be clear from our destinations, the climate (and altitude) may be different to that which you are used to, so please take this into consideration when choosing the most suitable holiday.
Please read our Adventure Itinerary & Essential Information for more information and don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to chat through whether you have found a suitable adventure for you.
Grade 1-3: Entry Level
You need to be in good physical health to enjoy your active holiday, but you don’t need to be an experienced hiker. These itineraries offer a mix of sightseeing and easier walking for around 2-4hrs a day, with the emphasis on sights and cultural experiences.
Walks will be well marked or on defined pathways, and often around sites of interest. The expected amount of descent/ascent will depend on the landscapes of the destination, but will not exceed 400m/day, and will often be much less. Walks are at low altitude (below 3000m).
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack with water and essentials. Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have a pair of comfortable and worn in walking shoes/boots.
Grades 4-6: Intermediate
You need to have a good level of fitness and be a regular walker for these adventures, with ideally some trekking experience. You can expect to be walking for 3-6 hours per day, not including rest stops, normally on good trail paths but with some uneven surfaces at times.
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack. You may be walking in more challenging temperatures. You will generally be walking at low altitude (below 3000m) but may walk at altitudes up to 4000m. The amount of ascent could be up to 800m in a day but will frequently be less. You may walk on consecutive days.
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable clothing for this adventure.
Grades 7-9: Challenging
You need to have a good level of fitness with previous experience of trekking. Extra training before your trip will ensure that you get the most out of your adventure. Areas will be remote and terrain uneven.
Expect to walk for 5 – 8 hours a day, not including breaks, with some very steep ascents and descents. You will be walking at altitude (over 3000m but not higher than 5000m).
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable equipment/clothing for this adventure (see the packing list for your adventure).
Please check individual itineraries for details of what you will need to be carrying with you.
Enquiry Process
Get in touch via our Enquiry form to check our availability, discuss the adventure and check we can meet your needs.
Complete our Enquiry Form; contact details, additional requirements (eg diet or health requirements) & questions you may have. Include as much information as you are able to, so we can help you with the detail you are looking for
Click on 'Send Enquiry' (receipted).
We will be in touch as soon as we are able, to answer your questions and help you plan your adventure.
+44 207 846 0197