Nizwa / Jebel Akhdar

The tour first takes you to Nizwa, the old capital of Oman. The Nizwa Souq is among the largest of its kind in the country. A wide variety of vendors offer their goods in the streets of the souk from 05:00 am to about 10:00 am each morning. Here you can find fish, meat, vegetables, pottery, jewellery, handicrafts and souvenirs which are sold in authentic old market halls that few places can boast. Especially interesting is the Friday cattle market when the locals from the nearby Villages come to sell their donkeys, goats, cattle, sheep and chickens in a circus style open marketplace.

Next to the Souq is Nizwa Fortress. The fort is a museum today and offers splendid views of this ancient town and the surrounding mountains. You can walk around in this impressive fortress and visit its many rooms, passages and towers. The fort is an architectural testimony to the economic and military achievements of the early Yaruba dynasty from the mid-17th century. It was a military stronghold designed to withstand even the strongest of attacks at the time. Even along the corridors, many traps were laid to deter any intruders that might have penetrated the defences.

Then we will bring you to Birkat Al Mauz, at the foot of Jebel Akhdar, with its old Village ruins and Banana and Date plantations. From there we drive up to Jebel Akhdar. This mountain is also known as the Green Mountain because of its many fruit plantations and the rose gardens (rose blooming season is may-sep). It offers some nice walks with fantastic valley views and some Wadis and abandoned romantic villages to visit. In the late afternoon, we bring you back to Muscat.