Road tripping Oman is the best way to see the many highlights of this incredible country. Once you leave Muscat behind the roads are generally quiet and there’s adventure to be had around every corner - whether you want to stick to the tarmac, or take on the epic mountain dirt roads.
Renting a car allows you to have complete control of your itinerary, so you can pack more in and beat the crowds at popular sites such as Wadi Shab and Wadi Bani Khalid.
If you don’t need a 4WD then hiring a car is pretty cheap, the one we used for the majority of our trip was just 13.5 Omani Rials a day ($35 USD). If you do want to go off road then the prices escalate fast and whether that’s worth it or not depends on where you want to go and whether you can utilise alternative options (such as short 4WD transfers).
Here are our top tips for driving in Oman and things to look out for when selecting your rental.
Things to know about driving in Oman as a tourist
1. Oman driving is insanely fast
The first thing to note about driving in Oman is the insane speeds on almost every road, and you’ll be introduced to this as soon as you leave the airport, as it’s not long before you reach a busy six lane highway that cuts through the middle of Muscat! This road isn’t a rarity, there are incredibly fast highways everywhere, even in the middle of cities.
This won’t be a surprise if you’ve driven in places such as Dubai or Los Angeles, as multi-lane highways with people flying at 120kph are pretty common there, however, if you haven’t, it takes some getting used to.
2. The drivers in Muscat are ruthless….
The biggest difficulty with driving in Oman are the drivers in Muscat, who are some of the most ruthless you’ll find anywhere in the world. Think never allowing anyone to change lane, tailgating and getting irritated at anyone who doesn’t drive fast enough (usually above the already high speed limit), as well as pulling some wild overtaking manoeuvres.
You can see that even the Omani government has a low opinion of the drivers in Muscat as there are cameras at every traffic light to enforce traffic laws.
Our advice for driving in Muscat is be assertive and confident, otherwise you’ll find yourself continuously going round in circles because no one allowed you to take the exit you needed. It takes some getting used to, but eventually you realise that being assertive, ie going native, is the only way to get around in Muscat.
3. But the drivers outside of Muscat are normal!
The good news is that the drivers outside of Muscat calm down a lot. It could be because the roads are significantly quieter, but driving outside the capital city feels like you’re driving in another country. Whatever the reason, we found driving in rural Oman to be incredibly easy and generally a pleasure with the quiet roads and pretty scenery.
4. The roads are in great condition on the whole
On the whole, the roads in Oman are in superb condition. You will rarely see a pothole or rough section of road like we are used to in places like the UK! Most of the major tourist destinations have sealed roads and the proliferation of highways means that the majority of journeys are quick and smooth. The road conditions in Oman are some of the best we’ve seen anywhere in the world. Dirt roads are a mixed bag which we’ll come to later in the post.
However, something to watch for is the road markings, which can at points just disappear. Oman doesn’t have many catseyes or street lights outside the main cities, so driving at night or in poor weather requires extra care.
We often found that the previous markings for roadworks are left on the road, making it confusing to know whether your lane is veering left or right!
5. There are cameras everywhere
As we alluded to earlier, the Omani government doesn’t do half measures when it comes to road surveillance. You’ll see thousands of speed cameras across every corner of the country (usually marked by the zebra coloured posts on the highway).
You’ll also see cameras at most traffic light junctions across the country as well.
All this means that you really don’t want to speed in Oman as you could rack up dozens of fines on every journey - and we saw plenty of cameras flash drivers going over the speed limit.
The majority of highways have a speed limit of 120kph, but keep an eye out as some will randomly drop to 100 or 80kph, and are still monitored by speed cameras.
6. Petrol is incredibly cheap
If you’re visiting from Europe, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by just how much cheaper petrol is in Oman. Petrol prices seem to be standardised across Oman as we paid 229 baisa (0.229 rials) per litre (about 0.60c) everywhere, which meant we rarely paid more than $16 to fill up the tank of our 2WD car.
Americans reading this will be less impressed at the $2.27 per gallon equivalent, but it’s still significantly cheaper than the vast majority of the world.
7. We haven’t found a place where you pay for parking yet
Oman has a culture of plentiful free parking, even in Muscat. We were really surprised to see that even the multinational hotel chains - institutions that commonly charge exorbitant parking fees across the world - also included free parking.
Generally, there’s virtually no restrictions in terms of time limits on street parking either, making getting around by car easy.
8. Watch out for speed bumps on 100kph roads
Just like Jordan, Oman loves to put a speed bump in the most unexpected places. It seems like only multi-lane highways were immune from this, as we found speeds bumps on 100kph roads with little to no warning.
Luckily, Oman tends to mark these speed bumps more clearly than Jordan, but they can still come as a bit of shock and will definitely keep you on your toes.
9. Knowing where the exact turn is on Google Maps isn’t easy
Navigating around Oman isn’t hard, however Google Maps struggles with the turn instructions for many roads.
Often you’ll find the road is written in Arabic (which doesn’t help unless you can read Arabic), but most of the time it will just say “turn right” when there are multiple roads to pick from, especially on highways when there can be several slip roads within 200m of each other.
Sometimes it’s easier to go by the signposts rather than Google Maps, so it’s worth trying to learn cities and suburbs in the direction you want to head to get around the Google Maps difficulty.
Do you need a 4WD car when visiting Oman?
Where you can and can’t go with a 2WD
We read a lot of articles online that recommended hiring a 4WD for the entirety of your visit to Oman - even to the extent that they implied that you couldn’t easily get around without one. Whether this is true for you really depends on the places you want to visit. Many of the top tourist destinations can be visited with a 2WD, which is a fraction of the cost of a 4WD. Other places require a 4WD but only for short durations, so taking a transfer is often more economical than hiring a 4WD for your whole trip.
Oman does have many epic off road adventures and wild camping is allowed (so many people choose to hire a car with a roof top tent) and for this of course you want a 4WD. It will really come down to the kind of trip you want to have as to what car you need, but a 4WD is certainly not required for everyone and can be a big cost that you simply didn’t need to make.
When it comes to cost, a 4WD is often three times - and sometimes more - expensive than a 2WD. We were on a long trip in the country so we hired a 2WD for four weeks and a 4WD for one week (though I appreciate most people are on a much shorter trip and would not want the hassle of changing cars).
Below are some ideas of different places you might want to visit and what kind of car you’ll need.
You can comfortably visit the following places in a 2WD:
Misfat Al Abriyeen (palm oasis)
Nizwa (forts and old city)
The following places require a 4WD, but you can hire a driver for a short transfer for less than renting a 4WD and driving yourself. These are the places we took a transfer - and you won’t need a car once you get there - all prices are for the car, not per person:
Wadi Tiwi (10 OMR/approx USD $26) return from Tiwi town
Wahiba Sands (20 OMR/approx USD $52) return from Bidiyah
Balat Sayt (25 OMR/approx USD $65) each way return from Al Hamra
Wakan (15 OMR/approx USD $39) each way from the bottom of the 4WD road
Finally, these are the places we visited that are better to have your own 4WD as hiring a driver is not usually economical, or you want to be able to drive around when you get there.
Jebel Shams (though in dry times with a confident driver a 2WD is ok)
Jabal Akhdar
Our experience with costs for a 2WD vs 4WD
We hired a 2WD for the majority of our trip to keep the cost down, only hiring a 4WD for our final week. When we visited, hiring a 2WD was 13.5 rials per day ($35 USD), compared to the 4WD rate of 48 rials per day ($125 USD). This meant that we saved $90 USD for every day we hired a 2WD instead of a 4WD. When we hired a 4WD driver, we still saved when compared to having our own 4WD.
However, if you are only visiting for a week and time is of the essence, then we understand that coming back to Muscat to change cars - or missing out on places such as Jabal Akhdar or Jebel Shams - isn’t an option, then hiring a 4WD for the duration will make more sense.
Some places should only be driven by confident off-roaders
Whilst there are a lot of very good roads in Oman, there are some dirt roads which are precarious and should only be attempted by confident off-roaders with the right car. Not all 4WD’s are created equal and there are some roads in Oman you wouldn’t want to attempt with your mid-size SUV that claims to have 4WD capabilities.
It pays to do your research as we saw some people really struggle, especially on the Al Hamra to Balad Sayt road (which goes via Snake Canyon). This particular road is narrow, incredibly steep in sections and has sheer drops that will be unnerving for some drivers.
If you aren’t sure, ask local Omani people about the roads you’re planning on driving, as they will know what’s involved and the car you need.
Remember to carry a spare tyre and jack, pack a lot of water, extra food and have a full tank of petrol before you go.
We met a couple who thought the Rustaq to Nizwa road wouldn’t need more than 1/3 of a tank as it was only 30km long, only to find they had a petrol light on before the huge climb up to Nizwa, and had to hope that locals in a remote village could spare them some fuel.
We also saw two different cars with drivers that panicked on the Al Hamra to Balad Sayt road. One forced our car backwards down a steep mountain road when they had space to pull over and allow us to pass and the other was counting down the minutes until they were off the road! That’s not to put you off or scare you, as many more people love this road and driving it is a highlight of their trip, it’s more about knowing which one you will be before attempting it!
Some places are unpaved but perfectly doable for inexperienced off-roaders
The majority of places we visited were relatively straightforward to drive to. Cat did a lot of research and was able to deduce the places we were capable of driving to based on our experience of off-road driving (which isn’t much).
While you need a 4WD to get to Jabel Akhdar, the road to it is the easiest 4WD road we used in Oman. It’s paved and in great condition the whole way, and the only reason it is a mandatory 4WD road is because of the steepness of the road - however, we’ve driven on many roads as steep around the world which didn’t have such a requirement.
Wadi Al Arbeieen is a touch trickier, but only because it’s unpaved and narrower. It is steep in places, but was easy for our 4WD which wasn’t a particularly gutsy one. Most people will be happy driving this road.
Driving difficulty is also weather dependent, as steep unsealed roads in Oman can become dangerous during, or after periods of heavy rain. Wadi Al Arbeieen is also susceptible to flash flooding, so make sure you have checked the recent weather conditions before visiting.
Things to look out for when hiring a car
We visited Oman for 35 days and chose to hire a 2WD (a Toyota Yaris) for the majority of our trip and hired a 4WD (Toyota RAV4) for the last week we visited.
We use RentalCars.com for our car rentals as they list reputable companies and outline all the essential information you need to know in the search results, making it easy to compare deals.
You can see things like free cancellation, mileage policy, the transmission of the car and insurance information.
Here’s the things to look out for when you hire a car from Oman.
1. Mileage
Most cars in Oman have a fixed mileage for the duration of the rental and then charge quite a lot for every extra kilometre you do.
We were able to get 200km per day which seemed to be the average, but we’ve seen some companies offer more and some offer less. Ideally you’d hire one with unlimited mileage, but they were harder to come by in Oman.
2. Check which insurance policies are included
As with all car rentals around the world, you’ll want to check the boring stuff - the insurance. You’ll want Third Party Insurance to be included (which seemed to be standard) and then to check the excess for the Collision Damage Waiver.
We don’t recommend taking a rental car company’s excess insurance that reduces your liability to $0 as it is virtually always far more expensive than having your own policy. Always check, but we’d recommend comparing it to RentalCarCover.com, or other insurance policies that will cover you for the damage to your car.
3. Check the location
Muscat is a surprisingly big place and the airport is a long way away from suburbs such as Ruwi and Matrah. Ideally you’ll want to pick up the car at the airport, as the taxi fare into the city can be about the same (or probably more) than a day’s car rental.
4. The car cleaning charge
Handing the car back clean is part of the culture when renting a car in Oman. The good news is that car washes are very cheap, the one we used at Oman Oil’s petrol station was 2 OMR ($6.50 USD).
If you don’t get it cleaned, you don’t need to worry too much as the cleaning charge is often pretty small, but it’s worth checking in advance just incase.
5. Pick the right 4WD for you
If you plan on hiring a 4WD, make sure you get the right one for you. If you plan on doing serious off-roading, then you will want the most powerful 4WD you can get, such as a Land Cruiser. However, for the kind of off-roading we did, having something like a RAV4 will be fine.
You can always get more advice for the kind of car you might need by talking to the rental car company.
Get a quote below
As we said above, we use rentalcars.com when we book car hire abroad as it shows prices from all the major car hire companies (and a few we’d never heard of) and makes it quick to know exactly what you’re getting.
Simply type into the box below to get a quote.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
