[OMAN] Muscat 1 Day City Tour

10:37 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Muscat, the capital and largest city of Oman, is a pleasant city to visit. Apart from its natural landscape of rocky mountains and beautiful coast, Muscat also has a few architectural gems such as Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Royal Opera House Muscat and Riyam Memorial (a gigantic incense burner).


Getting around:
It is possible to visit the main attractions of Muscat in one day. However, I would recommend to hire a taxi or rent a car as the public transport is not very convenient.

The rate to hire a taxi for city tour is about OMR 45. There is no meter and you can haggle for the price. I started the tour around 9am. After I finished the tour at around 4pm, the taxi took me directly to the Muscat International Airport.



My first stop is the famous Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.





Non Muslims are allowed to visit the mosque every day, except for Friday, from 8.30am to 11am. Ladies will be required to dress modestly and need to cover their hair. Long sleeves and long pants or skirt is your best bet.







The construction of the mosque took 6 years and the mosque was opened in 2001 to celebrate 30 years of Sultan Qaboos's reign.







The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque has the capacity of 20,000 worshipers. The mosque occupies an area of 416,000m2.



Our driver was kind enough to offer to carry my son as we were visiting the mosque.



This spot is a favourite Instagram spot where you can see the arch and minaret in the background.



The main prayer room can accommodate up to 6,500 worshipers.



The single piece handmade Persian carpet in the main prayer hall is one of the world's largest. It took about 27 months to make and weighs 21 tonnes.



It is also hard to miss the big crystal chandelier hanging from the large dome in the center.





 After visiting main prayer hall, we continued to explore the remaining areas of the mosque.









What attracts me most is the unique exterior of the mosque with long corridors and arches surrounding the mosque.



In case you're wondering, entrance to the mosque is free. It is also possible to visit the mosque outside the official visiting hours provided you don't plan to go into the prayer halls.



Next, I visited the Royal Opera House Muscat. It is another architectural masterpiece in Muscat.



The opera house was officially opened in 2011.



Even if you don't buy any tickets to enter the opera house, it is still nice to see the building and walk around it.



You can also go shopping (or enjoy the air conditioning, haha) in the grand Opera Galleria shopping mall.





Since I have walked around Muttrah area on my own, the driver drove pass Muttrah area. On the way to Old Muscat area, I took some photos of the iconic giant incense pot of Al Riyam Park.







The driver also stopped briefly for a photo stop, overlooking Old Muscat.



Al Alam Palace is the ceremonial palace of Sultan Qaboos. It is one of the six royal residences of the ruling monarch.



The palace is not open to the public. But visitors can still take photos in front of the palace gate.



The palace from another angle.





Al Jalali Fort is a fort built by the Portugese in the 16th century at the harbour of Old Muscat.



Al Mirani Fort is another fort around the same time as Al Jalali Fort in the same area.





Next, I headed to have a look at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa to see the beautiful private Al Jissah Bay.



Took a photo with the Baj Oman sign.





With some time to spare before heading to the airport, I decided to drop by Oman Avenues Mall, largest shopping mall in Oman.



Nearby Oman Avenues Mall is another shopping mall called Muscat Grand Mall.

After this, I headed directly to the Muscat International Airport. And this marks the end of my trip in Oman.