Top 10 Places to Visit in Oman in 2026

The top places to visit in Oman are the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Nizwa Fort, Bahla Fort, Jebel Shams, the Sharqiya (Wahiba) Sands, the Land of Frankincense sites in Dhofar, the Ras al-Jinz Turtle Reserve, the Musandam fjords, the Jebel Akhdar/Saiq Plateau, and the port town of Sur. Oman welcomed around 3.8 million visitors in 2024, more than two-thirds of them overnight, per Oman’s National Centre for Statistics and Information.

1. Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat — Built from December 1994 and inaugurated on May 4, 2001, after six years and seven months of construction, the mosque’s prayer hall holds a single hand-woven carpet weighing 21 tonnes that took four years to make, alongside a 14-meter chandelier with 600,000 crystals; both held world records for size until Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque surpassed them in 2018.
2. Nizwa Fort — Built in the 1650s atop foundations dating to the 12th century, the fort’s 30-meter-high, 36-meter-diameter tower was defended with secret shafts, false doors, and murder holes for pouring boiling liquid onto attackers.
3. Bahla Fort — Believed to have been built between the 12th and 15th centuries by the Banu Nebhan tribe from mud and straw brick, Bahla Fort became Oman’s first UNESCO-listed fort in 1987 and reopened in 2012 after a lengthy restoration.
4. Jebel Shams — Rising to 3,018 meters, Jebel Shams is Oman’s highest mountain and hosts Al Nakhur Canyon, nicknamed the “Grand Canyon of Arabia”; its publicly accessible South Summit, reached via the Ministry of Tourism’s W4 Trail, stands at 2,997 meters.
5. Sharqiya (Wahiba) Sands — A desert spanning roughly 12,500 square kilometers in Oman’s Eastern Region, its northern dunes reach up to 100 meters high; Bedouin tribes, predominantly the Al Wahiba, occupy the area and congregate at the Al-Huyawah oasis each June through September to gather dates.
6. Land of Frankincense, Dhofar — Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 under the name “Frankincense Trail” and renamed in 2005, the property spans four locations — the archaeological sites of Shisr, Al-Baleed, and Khor Rori, and the Boswellia sacra groves of Wadi Dawkah — tied to the historic incense trade.
7. Ras al-Jinz Turtle Reserve — Ras al-Jinz, the easternmost point of the Arabian Peninsula, sits beside Ras al Hadd, a nesting beach for green turtles; an estimated 20,000 turtles migrate to the area’s beaches each year to nest.
8. Musandam Fjords, Khasab — Separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates, Musandam’s fjord-like khors were shaped not by glaciers but by the Arabian Plate sinking beneath the Eurasian Plate; the governorate’s population reached 49,062 in the 2020 census, up from 28,378 in 2003.
9. Jebel Akhdar (Saiq Plateau) — Sitting around 2,000 meters above sea level within the wider Jebel Akhdar Mountains, the Saiq Plateau’s cooler, wetter climate supports terraced orchards of pomegranates, apricots, and roses, and was designated a nature reserve in 2011.
10. Sur — A former dhow-building hub whose sambuk and ghanjah ships once sailed as far as China, Zanzibar, and India, Sur is home to roughly 122,533 people (2023) and sits about 126 miles (203 km) southeast of Muscat on the Gulf of Oman coast.

Planning note

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque sits in Muscat itself, with Nizwa Fort, Bahla Fort, Jebel Shams, and the Jebel Akhdar/Saiq Plateau clustering in the interior for a single mountain-and-fort loop. The Sharqiya Sands lie further southeast, on the way toward Sur and the Ras al-Jinz Turtle Reserve, making a natural coastal-and-desert combination. The Land of Frankincense sites in Dhofar are a separate southern leg, best reached by air given the distance from Muscat. Musandam is geographically cut off from the rest of Oman by the UAE and is typically visited on its own via Khasab.

Sources

• Oman Observer — Oman’s tourism sector contributes over RO2 billion in 2024
• Wikipedia — Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
• Wikipedia — Nizwa Fort
• Wikipedia — Bahla Fort
• Wikipedia — Jebel Shams
• Wikipedia — Wahiba Sands
• Wikipedia — Land of Frankincense
• Wikipedia — Ras al-Jinz
• Wikipedia — Musandam Governorate
• Wikipedia — Jebel Akhdar (Oman)
• Wikipedia — Sur, Oman

Explore more of FarSerene’s destination guides, including the Top 10 Countries to Visit in 2026 roundup, for more 2026 trip inspiration.