Muscat

Oman skipped the skyscraper race its Gulf neighbours ran, and the payoff is a country still built around forts, date-palm oases and frankincense souqs.

Base in Muscat for the Grand Mosque and the Mutrah waterfront, then drive out: Wadi Shab's swimmable canyon, the dunes of Wahiba and Nizwa's Friday livestock market are all day-trips.

Fly into:

• Muscat International MCT

A rented 4x4 is the key to Oman, the best wadis and dunes sit down graded tracks the tour buses skip. Shared baisa buses and taxis link the main towns, and Muscat itself runs on metered taxis and ride-hailing apps.

Friday mornings the Nizwa livestock souq fills with traders haggling over goats at dawn, worth the early start. Omani days run on kahwa and dates pressed on you by near-strangers, and the wadis empty out by late afternoon once the day-trippers leave.

Best in Fall

Fall: warm to hot days around 25 to 35C, cooler clear evenings, ideal for the wadis and desert.

• sturdy water shoes for wadi scrambles
• light breathable layers for the heat
• a light scarf for sun and blowing sand
• reef-safe sunscreen
• a power bank for long desert days