Royal Wadi and tombs

Beyond the urban landscapes, white-sand beaches, and fishing villages along the coastline, Oman’s formidable interior presents exceptional opportunities for those equipped with hiking boots.

Say the word ‘desert’ and chances are that rolling sand dunes and expansive horizontal space spring to mind. In Oman, however, the desert landscape includes a vertical dimension in the form of soaring limestone cliffs incised with canyons. Drive or hike along one of these narrow, arid defiles, and you enter a troglodyte world of ancient cave-dwellings, prehistoric petroglyphs, and old villages that appear to be exuding from the rockface.