The short answer: what fits in 3, 7, 10, 14, 20 and 30 days
All our routes start and end in Muscat, and the minimum rental is 3 days. The distances come from our itineraries and include the short sand tracks to the desert camps.
- 3 to 4 days, one region: dunes and wadis in 4 days (about 700 km: Wadi Shab, the Wahiba Sands, Wadi Bani Khalid), or the mountain loop in 3 days (about 620 km: Jebel Akhdar, Nizwa, Jebel Shams).
- 4 to 5 days, the coast: the south coast in 5 days (about 1,150 km: Sur, the turtles of Ras al Jinz and the white Sugar Dunes).
- 7 days: Oman in 7 days covers the coast, a night in the desert and the mountains in about 1,200 km. Five of the seven days have about 170 to 275 km of driving.
- 10 days: the 10-day grand loop visits the same places at an easier pace, about 1,330 km, with three two-night stops.
- 14 days: two weeks in Oman is the whole north at an easy pace, about 1,600 km.
- 20 days: 20 days from Muscat to Salalah, down the coast and back through the desert and the mountains, about 3,500 km.
- 30 days: a month in Oman is the same loop slowly, adding Wadi Tiwi, the tombs of Bat and the forts of Ibri and Rustaq, about 4,450 km.
10 days or two weeks?
Both cover the north: the coast to Ras al Jinz, the Wahiba Sands, Jebel Akhdar, Nizwa and Jebel Shams. The difference is the pace and the west. The 10-day loop has three two-night stops, and most driving days are under about 275 km. The 14-day loop has four two-night stops and no day over about 230 km. It adds two nights by the sea for Wadi Shab and Wadi Tiwi, a night in Nizwa, Ibri, the stone tombs of Bat and Al Ayn from the 3rd millennium BC, and the mountain road over to Rustaq and Nakhal.
We count rental days as the nights between pick-up and return, so 10 days are 9 rental days and two weeks are 13. A Jeep Wrangler costs OMR 55 a day, with 5% VAT and the Basic damage package included, so the car comes to OMR 495 for 10 days and OMR 715 for two weeks.
Ten days fit easily in a 14-day stay without a visa (see below). The two-week loop is right at the limit: a hotel night before or after it can take you past 14 days. Then shorten the loop by a day or apply for a visa.
Our advice: from 10 days on, the trip stops feeling like a race. With 11 to 13 days, take the 10-day loop and add rest days where you like it most.
How far to drive in a day
Winter days are short. In Muscat the sun sets at about 17:20 from mid-November to mid-December, at about 17:40 in mid-January and at about 18:00 in mid-February. Less than half an hour later it is dark.
Plan to be at camp before sunset. Outside greater Muscat, the German Foreign Office warns of a higher accident risk after dark, partly because of camels on the road, and Austria's foreign ministry advises against driving at night. Our terms allow existing gravel, rocky and sand tracks, open dunes and beaches only in daylight.
Our routes keep most days well inside the daylight: on the 10-day loop most driving days are under about 275 km, which leaves time for a wadi walk or a fort. The long days are in the south, where Salalah to Haima on the N3 is about 500 km on our 20-day loop. There, fuel stations can be 130 km or more apart; between Dhahar and Haitam via Ras Madrakah there is none for about 150 km, and a remote station can be closed: fill up whenever the tank is half empty.
Nights in the tent, at a desert camp or in a hotel
Whatever the length, book your first night in a Muscat hotel. After a long flight you will not want to learn the tent in the dark, and the conditions of the 14-day visa rule include a confirmed hotel reservation. We deliver the car to your hotel at no extra cost between 08:00 and 20:00, so you can set off the next morning.
After that you can camp wherever wild camping is allowed. Near the capital the rules are stricter: in Muscat Governorate you may camp only at sites the municipality allows, and more than 48 hours at one site needs a permit. Our guide explains where you may camp in the rest of the country.
On long trips, a hotel now and then is worth it for a shower and laundry; the desert camps in the Wahiba Sands have showers too. Our itineraries plan the nights like this:
- 7 days: 6 nights, all in the rooftop tent or at a desert camp.
- 10 days: 8 nights in the rooftop tent and the last night in a Muscat hotel.
- 14 days: about 9 nights in the tent, hotel nights in Nizwa and Muscat, and Ibri and Rustaq in the tent or a hotel.
- 20 days: 13 nights in the tent and 6 in hotels (Duqm, three in Salalah, Nizwa and Muscat).
- 30 days: about 17 nights in the tent and 9 in hotels, about one a week.
More than 14 days: plan the visa
Oman's foreign ministry lists Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium among the countries whose citizens are exempt from an entry visa for up to 14 days, with these conditions: a passport valid for at least six months, a return ticket, a confirmed hotel reservation, health insurance and enough money for the stay. Germany's Foreign Office adds that the Royal Oman Police website asks visitors, in principle, to apply for an e-visa before entry, so check the eVisa page before you fly and, if in doubt, apply there. The 14 days cannot be extended once you are in Oman.
Count the whole stay, from the day you land to the day you fly home, including hotel nights before and after the road trip. For more than 14 days you need a visa: apply online before you travel, on the Royal Oman Police eVisa portal. The Dutch, Belgian and Austrian government pages and the ANWB all point to it.
Our 20-day and 30-day loops are longer than 14 days, so they always need a visa. Other nationalities: check your own government's advice. Visa rules change, so check the official pages under Sources before you book flights.
Salalah: part of the loop or a separate trip?
Salalah and the mountains of Dhofar are in the far south, about 1,000 km from Muscat on the inland road: about 11 hours of driving without stops. The coast road from Duqm via Hasik to Salalah is paved all the way, about 640 km, and more varied than the inland road, but towns and fuel stations are far apart.
Pick-up and return are in Muscat, so the car comes back north with you. On our 20-day loop, the coast road south and the N3 back to Nizwa take six days. Plan at least two to three weeks for a loop with Salalah. With one or two weeks, stay in the north: the coast, the desert, the wadis and the mountains are all within a few hours of Muscat.
The season matters too. The khareef, the monsoon, brings mist, drizzle and green hills to Dhofar from June to September, outside our rental season. From October to April Salalah is dry and warm, with average highs of about 27 to 32 °C.
A day with a rooftop tent: water, fuel, shopping, showers
Life on the road soon has a rhythm. Our advice: pack up after breakfast, drive in the morning, stop for a wadi, a fort or a walk, shop and refuel in the afternoon, and reach your camp spot an hour or more before sunset. What each day needs:
- Water: there is none at wild camp spots. Carry at least 5 litres of drinking water per person per day, plus a reserve in the car.
- Food and power: every car has an electric fridge with a separate freezer compartment, a gas stove, a kitchen kit and a power station for phones and cameras. There are large supermarkets in Muscat, Sur, Nizwa, Ibri and Salalah, and only small shops on the long roads south.
- Fuel: in October 2026 petrol cost 229 baisa a litre (M91) and 239 baisa (M95). Fill up before every sand track and mountain road.
- Showers and toilets: there are hardly any campsites with showers and toilets. Every DuneTribe4x4 car carries a portable shower (21 L) that you fill with water. Ask a desert camp in the Wahiba Sands if you may sleep in your own tent and pay for dinner and a shower; supermarkets in larger shopping centres have clean toilets.
- Camp: open the tent on level ground before dark, and use the car as a windbreak when you cook.
Cost and season by trip length
The car is the biggest cost, and it grows with the length of the trip. Our daily prices are in Omani rials, with 5% VAT and the Basic damage package included. Fuel, food and entry fees come on top: our 7- and 14-day budgets put a week for two at about OMR 520–580 in total and two weeks at about OMR 1,090–1,250.
The season is the same for every length: October to April. At Muscat airport the average high is about 25–30 °C from November to March and about 35 °C in October and April. Within the season each region has its own rhythm, from cold nights on Jebel Shams to the turtles at Ras al Jinz: see the best months for each region.
The car alone, by trip length: Wrangler with a tent for two (OMR 55 a day) / Wrangler with the Family tent for 2 adults and 2 children or 3 adults (OMR 65, from 15 December 2026) / Land Cruiser Prado with the Family tent (OMR 75, from January 2027):
- 7 days, 6 rental days: OMR 330 / 390 / 450
- 10 days, 9 rental days: OMR 495 / 585 / 675
- 14 days, 13 rental days: OMR 715 / 845 / 975
- 20 days, 19 rental days: OMR 1,045 / 1,235 / 1,425
- 30 days, 29 rental days: OMR 1,595 / 1,885 / 2,175