Oman

Oman is the antidote to the Middle East’s more theatrical travel offerings. There are no artificial ski slopes or record-breaking skyscrapers here: just 309,500 square kilometers of geological drama, a 3,000-year-old culture of seafaring and trade, and a hospitality tradition so genuine it can stop you mid-sentence.

Oman has quietly developed one of the region’s most compelling accommodation ecosystems. Permanent luxury tented camps in Wahiba Sands position you at the edge of a 10,000 square kilometer dune desert, beneath some of the darkest skies in Arabia. Boutique mountain lodges on Jebel Akhdar, perched at 2,000 meters above sea level, overlook terraced rose gardens that have been cultivated since the 10th century. Traditional mudbrick tower houses (falaj-irrigated oasis settlements) are being converted into intimate guesthouses.

The Sharqiyah Sands (Wahiba Sands) are an accessible and spectacular dune system, a sea of orange and red sand that stretches to the horizon. Camel trekking, sandboarding, and overnight desert camps beneath the Milky Way define the experience.

Oman’s wadis, seasonal riverbeds that fill with astonishingly turquoise water, are among the country’s greatest natural treasures. Wadi Shab requires a short boat crossing before a hike to pools and a hidden cave you swim into; it’s one of the most magical short adventures in all of travel.

Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams offer cool escapes from the heat with dramatic canyon views and traditional villages. The Musandam Peninsula, technically an exclave separated from the rest of Oman by the UAE, contains fjord-like inlets that reward dhow boat explorations.