Jebel Akhdar and Nizwa 4x4 Day Tour from Muscat

Nizwa Souq: the oldest market town of inner Oman

Nizwa sits at the foot of the Hajar Mountains about 160 kilometres from Muscat and was once the capital of Oman, a centre of trade, faith and learning for more than a thousand years. Its souq, rebuilt in traditional style around the old fort, is divided into sections for dates, fruit and vegetables, spices, pottery, copper and silver, including the curved khanjar dagger that appears on Oman's national emblem.

Your guide walks you through the lanes and explains how Omani halwa is cooked for hours in great copper pots with sugar, ghee, rose water and saffron, and you can taste it with a cup of cardamom coffee. Early on Friday mornings the souq hosts its famous livestock market. You spend about an hour here, and if you decide to skip the fort, you have extra free time to shop for frankincense, dates and handmade crafts.

Nizwa Fort: Oman's most visited monument

Nizwa Fort was completed in the 1650s and took around twelve years to build. Its massive round tower, the largest in Oman, was filled with earth and stone at the base to resist cannon fire, and the upper levels hide clever defences: narrow staircases with false doors, wooden trap doors and openings above the entrance through which boiling water or date syrup could be poured on attackers. From the top you look over the palm groves, the blue-domed mosque and the mountains.

Inside, a museum displays weapons, jewellery, household objects and rooms arranged as they were in the past. The visit takes about an hour and is optional: Nizwa Fort tickets are not included and can be paid in cash at the gate or added when you book. As for Nizwa Fort opening hours, the fort opens daily from the morning, with a short break around Friday prayers, so our morning arrival suits it perfectly.

Jebel Akhdar: the Green Mountain of Oman

Jebel Akhdar, the Green Mountain, is part of the Hajar range, and its Saiq Plateau lies at about 2,000 metres above sea level, where temperatures are often 10 to 15 degrees cooler than in Muscat. Villages such as Al Ain, Al Aqr and Wadi Bani Habib cling to the canyon edges, with stone terraces watered by aflaj that grow pomegranates, apricots, peaches, walnuts and the famous Damask roses used for Omani rose water.

How to get to Jebel Akhdar? The steep, winding road from Birkat Al Mouz is open only to 4x4 vehicles, and a police checkpoint at the base turns other cars back, which is why this Jebel Akhdar day trip from Muscat uses a 4x4. Is Jebel Akhdar worth visiting? The canyon viewpoints are spectacular, and the best time to visit Jebel Akhdar is late March to April for the roses or late summer for the pomegranate harvest.

Birkat Al Mouz and the Falaj Al Khatmeen

Birkat Al Mouz, whose name means the pool of bananas, lies at the foot of Jebel Akhdar among date palms and banana groves. Its lifeline is the Falaj Al Khatmeen, one of the five aflaj inscribed by UNESCO as the Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman. These channels, some of them many centuries old, carry spring water by gravity through the village and share it among the farms according to a precise timetable kept by the community.

On the edge of the oasis stands the abandoned old quarter, a maze of crumbling mud-brick houses climbing the hillside, and the restored fortified house of Bait Al Redaidah. You spend about 20 minutes here with your guide, walking along the falaj, looking into the old lanes and learning how families lived in these villages before modern roads reached the interior. It is a quiet, photogenic stop and a perfect contrast to the mountain views.

Omani hospitality: halal lunch and karak tea

Lunch is included on the default option and is served in Nizwa, with fresh local ingredients and a choice of vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes. As everywhere in Oman, a Muslim-majority country, the food is halal. Throughout the day you have unlimited bottled water in the vehicle, which matters in the dry mountain air.

On the drive back to Muscat the group stops at a local cafe for a short break with karak tea, the sweet spiced milk tea loved across Oman, or coffee. It is a relaxed moment to ask your guide about Omani customs, the Arabic language or the places you have seen. Because your guide is from Oman and speaks English, Arabic and Urdu, the commentary all day feels personal, and conversation flows easily in the language you prefer.