CHSDOC

I'm planning a short holiday in Feb 2013, out monday return the following monday, and I'm considering Oman for 4 nights, well, mainly because of the awesome award flights I'm finding on QR. Can anyone recommend it?

smith80678

Hard to say without knowing what interests you. There are some things to do there though: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...MISC-BR-1.html

rafi2k6

Go to TLV, you'll get the middle eastern flair and culture as well as an amazing beach.
Plus I believe that oman is a "dry" state, Israel most certainly is not.

Plus if you go to israel you can explore the ancient city of Jerusalem one day and go clubbing in Tel Aviv the next.

MrHalliday

Too hot in Oman now,
but it is OK, I had a car and driver,
some fun day trips out to various old fort-towns a few hours away..

You can buy alcohol at some "western" hotels
which have expensive pubs.
sometimes the "barman" at the pool can send someone
around with a few few black market bottles
if you find the right one.

Yes, Jerusalem is a place most should know at least once,
Eilat has good pub scene,
and Dubai is surprisingly worth the trouble, lots of pubs !!

But again, it is just too hot there now..

mecabq

Yes, Oman is dull, no doubt. But it's a great place to visit. The Muttrah souq and corniche area are a quaint and friendly slice of Gulf Arab culture, with a lot of historical multicultural influences (British, Indian) built it. The people are by far the friendliest in the Gulf region in my experience, and the place has an authenticity to it that the UAE and Qatar lack to an extent.

The country has a few true destination hotels (Chedi, Shangri-La), though the main five-star chains (InterContinental, Hyatt, though I am not sure about the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton Al-Bustan Palace) are a bit dated.

There are passable Arabic and Indian restaurants, and little nightlife as others have pointed out.

There are some nice geographical features outside Muscat, e.g., up the coast toward the UAE and down toward Salalah, which you could include in a four-day trip, and some forts and whatnot.

If you're only going to visit the Gulf once in your life, then I would recommend Dubai. But Oman is a nice secondary destination.

IAN-UK

Well, yes, if you are after night-life then Muscat is very tame, even dull. But in many other respects it blasts other middle-east destinations out of the water - variety of scenery, historic/cultural sites, and the very agreeable, friendly nature of most Omanis are top attractions.

CHSDOC

Well we always take a week off in February. And I've got the points to burn, and found some good C class flights on QR. I wanted something where I was flying for less than 24 hours since we only have a week. I hated Vegas so assumed that Dubai would be not be interesting to me for 5 days. We're not much on clubing or nightlife, but we do enjoy dinner and drinks.

Maybe I should look where else QR can take me!

dunk

I would say there is plenty to see around the MCT area to fill 4 days, although the pace of life is pretty relaxed. I would echo mecabq's and IAN-UK's posts which sum it up pretty well.

I'd add scuba diving and dolphin watching as possible activities.

If you don't like Vegas then you may not love Dubai, but the combination of DXB and MCT would make an interesting contrast. I like them both equally, but for different reasons.

Feb is a great time to visit the Gulf as the weather will be very pleasant. And Oman is by no means 'dry'

Thinking of other QR destinations, I'd put AUH and DOH much further down the list. How about BEY ?

hth

CHSDOC

BEY? Really?

Never even considered DOH for anything but a connection. Actually I was planning NBO, but the flight there eats into the week off, and the $$$ really pile up for a 3 day safari!

IAN-UK

Beirut is fun! And if you are considering the Levant it avoids the awkwardness of Israel. Cyprus would be the easy option, but a very comfortable one with lots of options open beyond Ayia Napa .

Though Oman still fits your requirements quite well. As for the booze question, I've had enormous fun at busy alcohol-free restaurants (YMMV, of course!), and drinks are certainly served at restaurants and bars attached to the larger hotels.

It's not a a single-destination place: Nizwa is most certainly worth an overnight trip; Salalah is an hour's flight south, but fascinating; and the separated bit of Oman that is Musandam on the straights of Hormuz is breathtaking.

CHSDOC

Could I easily combine Dubai and Oman in one trip?

hyderago

Absolutely. In case you are not able to get an award ticket from DXB to MCT, you can buy a cheap ticket on flydubai or even take a bus.

IAN-UK

Sure you can.

Air Arabia flies quite cheaply from Sharjah, otherwise Abu Dhabi seems to have cheaper flights to MCT than Dubai. Look out for fifth-freedom "tag flights" from European carriers e.g. BA (AUH) and Swiss (DXB), can be very attractively priced (although they get in to MCT late).

Otherwise you can drive: a more expensive choice, but it gives you much more freedom and can be part of the holiday. You need to watch out for the insurance fees covering you for Oman. Driving means you get to see Al Ain, the sort of spiritual homeland of the Abu Dhabi emirate, and you can then route yourself through the mountains and Nizwa to get to Muscat.

Julian

Yes, I did this in May. It was something like a 40 min flight on a DXB-MCT EK777. Ironically LHR-DXB-MCT-DXB-LHR was cheaper than LHR-DXB-LHR. Go figure. Oman is not going to be in the Premier League of places to go, but it is friendly, interesting and worth a few days. But hotter than hell right now, I would imagine. Chedi was a very agreeable place to stay and the forts eg Jabrin are worth a look. Muscat souk was relaxed but quite small and not worth going out of your way. The grand mosque is worth a look, not far from Chedi, but not in the same league as Abu Dhabi's. Oman hasn't got the bling factor of DXB or AUH so is a welcome contrast.

CHSDOC

Thanks. It's a question of opportunity costs. Given the length of flight and costs of time off, would you stack Oman against any other place one could visit for the same costs?