Muscat, is one of the cleanest cities in the world with Attractive Landscape throughout the city. The roads are gonna tell this.

A visit to Muscat would be incomplete without a visit to the largest Masjid (mosque) of Oman – Sultan Qaboos Grand Masjid, due to its magnificent Islamic architecture. It is also one of the largest mosques in the world. The masjid, inaugurated in 2001, is named after the Sultan of Oman (His Majesty Sultan Qaboos).

There are separate prayer halls for men and women. Muslims can visit the Masjid in prayers time to offer Salah (Prayer is called Salah in Arabic). There are 5 daily prayers. However, Muslims can also visit in the visitors time (when people belonging to any religion can visit). The advantage of visiting in visitors time is that Muslim women can also see the male prayer hall, which is not allowed for women to visit at the time of prayer.

Non-Muslims visitors are also allowed to enter in the Masjid, daily from 8 am to 11 am except Friday, which is weekly holiday and men congregation would be huge in every mosque due to the after-noon prayer.There are two additional sermons in that prayer.

There are few things that non muslim visitors should know before going there.

• The entry for the visitors is from the Garden Gate only.

• Both men and women must be dressed fully. Women must take scarfs on their heads before going inside the Masjid. So take scarfs with you and dress fully. Full dress means the top with full sleeves and full length trousers covering the arms and the legs.

• Shoes are to be taken off while entering the prayer halls (allowed in the garden area). So wear shoes that are easy to remove while touring the Masjid. There are places to keep shoes in racks. Just remember the location of the rack, else you will spend time in finding the shoes on return.

• No bag is allowed to be taken inside the prayer halls.

• Special blue color mats are laid for the visitors to walk and are not allowed to go anywhere else other then the blue mat inside the prayer halls. It’s also not allowed to touch anything including walls.

• Children under 10 years are not permitted.

• It’s better to go with a guide, or a local taxi driver so that he can explain all places and things in details regarding prayers and praying area.

Women Prayer Hall:

The women prayer hall is quiet smaller to that of the men. Its because women don’t pray in congregation and they pray at home. But the purpose of women hall in mosques is that if they are outside and its prayer time, then they can come to the mosque with the male family member and pray inside women prayer hall. The size of the women prayer hall is 558 square meters.

On the way to male prayer hall:

Photogenic Archways in white color would be there on the way to male prayer hall. These courtyards, when occupied completely can hold 20,000 worshipers at one time.

Inside the Male Prayer Hall:

The male prayer hall, which has an area of 4,000 square meters, has one of the largest hand woven carpet in the world, made in Iran. The male prayer hall’s chandelier, made in Germany, is also one of the largest in the world. The other Chandeliers are also gold plated and attractive.

Beautiful Islamic calligraphy and attractive tile work is done on the wall which Imam (prayer leader) faces when leading the prayers. The direction of the Imam and the other worshipers is towards the Holy Kaba in the holy city of Makkah.

The blue mats laid over on the hand woven carpet for the visitors to walk.

The Gardens:

The Grand Mosque is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

This beautiful corniche is located in the Muttrah district of Muscat and besides famous Muttrah souk (مطرح سوق). The corniche has lovely parks, rides, fountains, walking track, shops, port view (Port Sultan Qaboos) and many other places to make your evening enjoyable and memorable.

We started our visit by going to Muttrah Souk and then moving to corniche before sunset. The great view of sun setting behind the mountains surrounded by green parks, port and fountains made our evening walk at the corniche a memorable one.

Riyam Park is big and beautiful and is also one of the places to visit in Muscat.

A walk at Muttrah Corniche in the evening is highly recommended but Not in hot summer days. Don’t forget to have a shopping experience in the traditional market (muttrah souk).

Muttrah Souk Photographs

The boating experience in blue sea water surrounded by mountains was a memorable experience and is one of the must things to do in Muscat. At the same time, it was a thrilling experience also as the tides in the sea were high and our boat was traditional ones, small in size, made of wood and have motorised manoeuvring system. No life jacket was provided and no safety gear was available. All those who don’t know swimming, don’t go through this adventure.

At Qantab beach, there are two routes available for boating.

1. 15 minutes boating from Qantab beach to Al Bustan Palace and back. It will cost approx omr 5 per boat.

2. 30 minutes boating from Qantab beach to Shangralia Resort and back. It will cost omr 6 to 10 per boat depending on how much you bargain. We opted for this one.

The portion of Al-Shati Street that I am referring here is its portion from InterContinental and Crowne Plaza Muscat. This is a nice drive and stopover point. There are viewing galleries for capturing stunning views of the beach on one side and the mountains on the other. Starbucks and other places are there to sit and enjoy the views. Open air sitting and indoors sitting, both options are available. This is roughly 1.5 to 2 kms street. Parking is available.

Al Shati Street is a very good walking place at sunset time and is one of the must things to do in Muscat.

Al-Qurm Park is also nearby and a great place to hangout with family and friends.

5. Visit Shatti Al Qurm (Al Qurm Beach) شاطئ قرم

This beautiful white sand beach starts from Marina Cafe and extends up til Grand Hayat Muscat. The beach area has lush green park and tree shed for those who want to experience this beautiful beach by sitting under a shed or on the grass.

 6. Shop in Muscat

Shopping is a must thing to do in Muscat. There are many shopping malls in Muscat, but following places are renowned for shopping.

a. Oman Avenues Mall

b. Muscat Grand Mall (MGM)

c. City Center Muscat

d. Other options are shopping from stores located on various streets

e. Muttrah Souk (already mentioned above)

a. Oman Avenues Mall:

The mall opened in Q2 of 2015 and is probably the biggest mall in Oman. When I visited in June 2015, the mall was partially open. This mall is on Sultan Qaboos Road and is besides the well known mall – Muscat Grand Mall. The mall has a huge Lulu Hypermart besides other branded stores. The food courts is on the top floor, but some coffee shops are in the other floors of the mall also, like Starbucks. Many stores were not inaugurated.

Other notable points on the mall are Funtazmo and The Arena Walk, both of which didn’t open when I was there.

This mall is located next to the newly opened Oman Avenues Mall. It’s a mall comprising of several floors and have many renowned brands and coffee shops. The parking of the mall is in basement.

The mall extention is under way.

c. City Center Muscat

This mall is located in Seeb district, and is closed to the current airport. The mall is big enough to fulfill all your shopping and entertainment needs. There are branded stores and a hypermarket (Carrefour). Magic planet is also there.

The Wave muscat is also known as Almouj muscat as Almouj is Arabic for the Wave. It is located near to the new under construction airport. This place has free hold properties, i.e. can be bought by any nationality. In the other places of Oman, the properties cannot be bought by the expats.

The Wave has a Marina, mall, coffee shops, restaurants, golf course, under construction 5 star hotel, thus visiting Al-Mouj is one of the must things to do in Muscat

Also The Wave Muscat has very beautiful villas and apartments for living. If you can afford, buy a property here🙂