Driving up to Jebel Akhdar

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wilder-beast migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling food market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall Score
The highest score of nature or culture, + fun factor, + avoid the crowds, + the highest score of world famous or unique. Then turned into a score out of 100. More details at the bottom of the page
65 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
continent
Middle East
country
Oman
Length of time
1 day or less
Rough cost
Obviously people have different tastes, so this will depend on those tastes, but this is a rough idea of price of the whole experience based on 2 people able to split the accommodation costs and excluding travel there and back
$ 130
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site
177th/372 This travel experience's ranking compared to all the other experiences on this site
Top 50% SUMMARY RATING: Great Experience

Summary

Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) is the second highest point in Oman and is famous for its otherworldly feel as you rise far above the main Omani valley floors up to the large Saiq plateau 2000m /6560ft above sea level. The experience itself is all about talking short walks through the small gorgeous mountain villages that are connected by the UNESCO World Heritage listed irrigation systems; looking down into the seriously impressive, yet also abundant, canyons; and generally gawping out the window as the stunning mountain scenery passes by.  Very much worth the day trip from Muscat

 

That being said, if you only have a day or two from Muscat to explore the Hajar Mountains, I would prioritise this just behind the very similar drive up to nearby Jebel Shams (see travel entry here – Walking Jebel Sham’s Wadi Ghul canyon).  Or, if looking for more of an adventure, the sensational 4WD drive to cross the Hajar mountains via Hatt (see travel entry here – )

 

Top tips:

#1 Do you need a 4WD – yes.  Whilst there is very little need for an actual 4WD, there is a police check point at the start of the drive up to the plateau that checks you have a 4WD.  The reason is not because of the road quality (we only drove on paved roads), but because of the long descent down from the plateau and the need to be able to manually change into a lower gear to avoid brakes overheating (yes, I get that you don’t need a 4WD for that, but I doubt you want to argue with the Omani Police)

#2 Be sure to walk part of the Village Trail Hike (W18b).  The 4km hike goes between the small mountain villages of Al Aqor and Seeq, but if you don’t want such a long walk (there and back), there is a short gorgeous walk that starts at the official start of the walk (look for “Terraced Fields Viewpoint” or “Dieter’s Point”) and lets you walk through the terraces to the small village of Al-Ain.  The walk has amazing views through the canyon, lets you see the irrigation channels and the ornate villages themselves.  If you find yourself thinking non of this is clear in the signposting . . .  you are not alone.  But once you get to the start point (a car park) it is very straightforward

#3 Have lunch at the fabulous Alila Jabal Akhdar – staying at this hotel with its insane views across the nearby canyon will set you back min US$500 / night.  Instead, go for lunch which is fairly reasonable (US$40 / head) which will also let you have a wander round

#4 How much time do you need?  Its a full day trip from Muscat, with total driving time around 5-6 hours and a total distance of 400km / 250miles.  With the walk to the mountain villages, stopping for photos and having lunch you’re looking at around 10 hours or so

highlights

#1 The views from the beautiful small mountain village of Al-Ain

#2 The drive itself - winding your way up to the plateau and having gob-smacking views across Oman's Hajar Maountains

#3 Having lunch at the fabulous Alila Jabal Akhdar Hotel, with its wonderful location perched impossibly above the nearby canyon

#4 Going just a little bit further along the road to see the old village of Wadi Bani Habib

#5 The views from "Diana's Viewpoint" views across the valley from the start of the Village Trail, named after the Princess of Wales' famous photo

#6 The walk through the irrigation channels that cnnect the mountain villages and seeing the luscious greenery of the terraces

#7 The various dramatic canyons that snake their way from the 2000m /6560ft Saiq plateau to the valleys below

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Score Detail

Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"?  That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others.  That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score

This overall experience score is calculated by:  take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10).  Then convert into a score out of 100

Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique".  Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides.  So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique".  But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience).  So, both of these scores are standalone