Things to do in Muscat

Landmark · Muttrah

The old port waterfront and the covered souq behind it — frankincense, silver, textiles and ship chandlery, still trading rather than curated for visitors.

Local tip: Go at dusk when the fishing boats come in and the corniche fills up with families. The souq's alleys behind the main tourist run are where the Omani silver and the frankincense grades are actually sold; ask for hojari if you want the good resin and expect to be shown three qualities.

Culture · Ghubra / Bausher

A vast, quietly restrained mosque with one of the world's largest hand-woven single-piece carpets and a Swarovski chandelier under the main dome.

Local tip: Open to non-Muslim visitors on weekday mornings only, with strict dress requirements — long sleeves, long trousers or skirt, and a headscarf for women, which you should bring rather than expect to borrow. Arrive at opening; the light through the main prayer hall in the first hour is the reason to come.

Culture · Shatti Al Qurum

The Gulf's first opera house, opened in 2011 — a serious international programme in a building of Omani stone rather than a glass statement.

Local tip: Tickets are far cheaper than an equivalent night in Europe and the acoustics are genuinely good. There is a dress code and it is enforced. Daytime building tours run when there is no rehearsal, and they are worth it even if opera is not your thing.

Landmark · Old Muscat

The ceremonial palace flanked by two 16th-century Portuguese forts, in a walled bay that was the entire city until the 20th century.

Local tip: The forts are not generally open, but the walk between them along the harbour wall is, and it takes twenty minutes. Come early morning: the bay faces east, the cliffs go gold, and by ten the light is flat and the heat is up.

Nature · Qurum

Muscat's main city beach, several kilometres of sand backed by a mangrove creek and one of the few large public parks in the capital.

Local tip: The mangrove lagoon behind the beach is a serious birding spot on the East African–West Asian flyway and almost nobody goes. Walk the beach at sunrise when the fishermen are hauling; swim modestly — this is a public beach in Oman, not a resort one.

Nature · Coast east and west of Muscat

A drowned network of fjord-like inlets east of the city, and a protected island archipelago offshore with the best diving and snorkelling in the Gulf of Oman.

Local tip: Bandar Khayran is twenty minutes by boat from Marina Bandar Al Rowdha and is essentially empty on a weekday — a kayak and a snorkel is a better day than most things you can pay for. The Daymaniyat Islands are a nature reserve with a seasonal closure to protect nesting turtles and birds; check the current dates and permit rules before booking anything.