Attractions of western Muscat

The first attraction located near the international airport is the modern mosque of Sultan Qaboos. Next door is a huge free car park with lots of trees casting much-needed shade.

The mosque is the only one that a non-Muslim can visit in Oman, but beware, for example, it is completely closed to non-Muslims on Fridays and the opening hours on other days are quite short.

However, the most beautiful view of the mosque is from the other side of the busy road

About 12 kilometers east of the Sultan Qaboos Mosque is another attraction of Muscat – the Royal Opera House. There is also free parking. The building itself looks a bit like a fortress or mausoleum.

If you don't wear sunglasses, then count on your eyes literally suffering here.

Just about two kilometers from the opera house lies the largest park in Muscat – Qurum Park. At the west entrance there is also an „Oman Children's Museum“ and a „City Amphiteater“, so other possible places to explore. From here it is a short walk to the large lake, which is the heart of the park.

Around the lake there is a number of gazebos where you can hide in the shade and relax. The park is occupied by an amusement park for children. But it only lives here for the evening. Surprisingly, there was not a foot during our visits in the afternoon

Probably the biggest attraction of the whole park is a large artificial waterfall.

From the viewpoint above the waterfall there is a wide view of the region – that is, the intersection of highways and mountains on the horizon

Directly north of Qurum Park is the largest beach in Muscat – Qurum Beach. It's not breathtaking, but thanks to the shallow depth, there is extremely warm water and an ideal place for swimming with children.

The car park and a few palm trees with shade can be found just a few hundred meters north of the opera house. In these places, the locals start meeting in the early afternoon for their favorite barbecue picnics

When you believe the map that you can reach the beautiful Ras Al Hamra Beach through the Qurum Hights, you will hang out in Muscat's Beverly Hills for long minutes. However, most of the roads, thanks to the new development, end the gates of individual residences, so it is definitely a blind road

Ras Al Hamra is a seaside district nestled among arid mountains. Modern apartment buildings are constantly being built here and are being added here

In addition, there is an interesting golf course. Our goal was the beautiful beach here, but unfortunately it is fascinated by the club-resort, so you can not get there even though all the Omani beaches are „public“