From Muscat International into the city
A modern airport 30 minutes from Muscat, and a country where renting a car is the normal decision.
The airport
- Muscat International (MCT) is modern, calm and about 25 km from the old city at Muttrah - 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic.
- Visas on arrival are issued here if you need one and did not apply online.
- Salalah (SLL) is the other international airport, in Dhofar in the far south, and is a three-hour flight or a very long drive from Muscat.
Getting into town
- Airport taxis are metered or fixed-price from the official rank. Agree it before setting off if there is no meter.
- Otaxi and Marhaba are the local ride-hailing apps. Uber does not operate in Oman.
- The Mwasalat airport bus runs into the city cheaply and is perfectly usable with light luggage.
- Hotels will send a car and it is often not much more than a taxi.
The real decision: rent a car
- Oman is a driving country. The road network is excellent, fuel is cheap, distances are large, and the places worth going - Nizwa, Jebel Shams, Wadi Shab, the Wahiba Sands, Sur - are awkward without a car.
- Rent at the airport. It is the cheapest and simplest place to do it.
- Two-wheel drive is fine for the main roads and the main sights. Four-wheel drive is genuinely required for the mountain tracks and the dunes, and rental agreements say so.
- The FCDO notes accident rates well above the UK. Speed cameras are everywhere and enforcement is strict: seatbelts mandatory, car seats for under-threes, no phone use.
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