Oman
Oman
| General | Travel
| Visas | Locations | Maps,
books | Geology | Snapshots
Bandar Khayran | Jabal
Akhdar | Masirah | Mountains
| Musandam | Salalah | Seifa
| Wadi Mistal | Wahibah
Hotels
Weather and today's temperature
Online travel and adventure tour operators
Hotels
Oman has opted for a policy of up-market tourism and has almost
reached its target of providing enough hotel rooms at 4-star and 5-star
standard, mostly in Muscat and Salalah.
Oman Yellow Pages appears to list all hotels. These range from the four and five star ones to apartment suites for longer stays or people who prefer to self-cater. The cheapest hotels in the Muscat area are on Matrah Corniche - basic, but comfortable. Look at the categories on the right hand side of the home page and choose Hotels. Although few hotels display an e-mail address, this site will enable you to send a fax to the hotel to book accommodation.
You can book rooms in several mid-high price
hotels online at TotalStay.com.
This site also quotes prices for accommodation. See also Oman
Access for contact details for hotels
and car
hire.
The Directorate-General of Tourism in the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry has endorsed Destination
Oman as a tourism portal for the Sultanate. You will find very
full information on this site with lists of hotels, tour operators, car
rental companies, but no online reservation system as yet.
You may find it worthwhile contacting some of the tour
companies listed below, which can arrange hotel packages for you.
According to the Royal
Automobile Association in UK, if you
want to hire and drive a car in Oman, you are supposed to obtain an international
driver's permit issued under the 1949 convention, which must be endorsed
in-country by the Oman Automobile Association when it will be valid for
just 3 months. But, to be honest, I found it possible to drive
on a UK driver's licence while on holiday.
Weather Click on the image below for
Yahoo!'s Middle East weather satellite photo.
Plans are afoot to attract more foreign
visitors to the Dhofar region during the khareef season,
when the summer monsoon brings cooler winds onshore and creates a green
paradise in the hills behind Salalah.
Day temperatures there from mid-June to September register in the lower
30s Centigrade. Oman Air offers packages, mostly aimed at the regional
tourist from other AGCC states. Check the Oman
Airport Management Company site for links to airlines.
Online
travel companies This is only a limited selection.
Adventure
tour operators Go to Oman Today
> Oman
essentials and scroll down to get a listing of tour operators and
travel agents. Also use Oman
Yellow Pages or Oman
Access.
For some ideas of what's in store, try this
list of environmental
feature articles from the Oman Observer.
Visas
Winter temperatures are balmy (November-March); summer
(April-October) is excessively hot in northern Oman and the Interior.
Frankly, temperatures you may see online underestimate the truth.
It hits 45 Centigrade plus during the day in Muscat in June and doesn't
go down at night. But there is air-conditioning! See below
for links to forecasts for Muscat and Salalah on Yahoo!
Muscat
weather today from Yahoo!
Salalah
weather today from Yahoo!
Exploreoman.com
Introductory info on climate, dress, visas, money and etiquette
An Omani's guide to a
visitor. Very detailed and helpful info and advice from Rashid Abdullah
al-Yahyai. Information rather than travel booking
Destination
Oman from Lonely Planet, but look at Oman-based sites for travel tips
Holiday-in-Oman
for the personal touch, specializing in diving. English/German
Oman Adventure
for trekking and diving
Shaw Travel for exclusive holidays
in Oman travelling from UK
Expedia is pretty good at identifying cheapest fares
Oman - the Essence of Arabia
official government tourism site
Many tour operators in Oman can arrange trips outside
Muscat to historic sites and into the countryside of the mountains and
Interior. For those with adventure in mind, or who want specialized
field trips to see the geology and wildlife using local guides with lots
of local knowledge, a little research is necessary
Tourist visas can now be obtained on arrival for citizens of 68 countries
at a cost of RO6 (approximately US$15.50). See visas.
On
the road with my trusty Rocky
Back to Off-road in Oman
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