How much does a trip to Oman cost? Daily budget and prices

These are per person per day, assuming two people share a room and, at mid-range and comfort, a hire car. International flights and the visa are not included. Figures are 2026 estimates.

The pattern across all three tiers is the same: food and fuel are cheap, beds are not. If you want to cut a day's cost, change where you sleep rather than what you eat.

A local café meal is the best value in the country: shuwarma, biryani or a plate of rice and curry for OMR 0.5–2, with karak tea at OMR 0.1–0.3. A sit-down restaurant meal in Muscat costs several times that, and alcohol is only served in licensed hotel bars and restaurants, where a beer runs OMR 3–5.

Petrol is cheap by international standards, at roughly OMR 0.23 a litre for M91 (check the current pump price). That makes a self-drive loop of the interior far more affordable than most visitors expect. Entry fees are modest: Nizwa Fort is OMR 5, and many wadis, beaches and viewpoints are free.

Desert camps are the one line that swings widely, from about OMR 30 to OMR 120 per room on half board, depending on the camp and the season.

Accommodation is the largest single line in every tier, and it is where Oman differs most from its neighbours: there is plenty of cheap food, but relatively little cheap lodging outside a handful of budget hotels and guesthouses in Muscat and the larger towns. Camping is the main way to cut this, and it is legal in many areas with a few local rules to follow.

Transport is the second line. Buses between major towns are cheap but sparse, so most travellers hire a car. A standard car split between two people lands in the OMR 10–20 a day range per person; a 4x4 for Jebel Akhdar, Jebel Shams or the sands adds OMR 20–35 a day to the vehicle cost. Fuel is a small part of that.

Sights and extras stay low unless you add a guided desert trip, a dhow cruise in Musandam or a diving day, each of which can cost more than a night's accommodation.

Salalah during the khareef, the monsoon season that greens Dhofar, is the clearest spike: rates there roughly double, and rooms book out well ahead. The rest of the country is busiest from December to January, when European winter sun seekers arrive and Muscat hotel rates climb.

Summer heat from roughly May to September keeps prices lower in Muscat and the interior, but it also limits what you can do outdoors in the middle of the day. Ramadan changes opening hours and the availability of daytime food rather than prices themselves.

The rial is pegged to the US dollar at about 2.6 dollars per rial, and one rial divides into 1,000 baisa. That peg makes budgeting in dollars straightforward.

Cards are accepted in hotels, malls and larger restaurants, but souq stalls, small cafés and many taxis want cash. Carry OMR 20 or so in small notes. ATMs are found in malls, banks and larger fuel stations, and they get thin in the interior, so withdraw before you head for the mountains or the sands.

Eat where locals eat: café shuwarma, biryani and karak tea cost a fraction of hotel restaurant prices. Camp or take budget guesthouses for part of the trip and save the resort nights for Muscat or a desert camp. Share a hire car, since the cost per person drops sharply with two or more travellers.

Travel outside December–January and outside the Salalah khareef. If Salalah is the point of the trip, book early and accept the seasonal rate rather than trying to work around it.