Jabal Shams

Eight days: dolphins and old Muscat, the Grand Mosque, two nights on Jabal Akhdar, Nizwa, Bahla and Jabreen, Jabal Shams, the Wahiba Sands and the coast road.

A gentle two-hour bike ride through Al Hamra: a viewpoint, the old mud-brick town, terraced fields and the new town.

Four days by 4x4: Nakhal Fort and Wadi Bani Awf, a night on Jabal Shams, Jabreen, Bahla and Nizwa, then Wadi Bani Khalid, the Wahiba Sands and the coast road back to Muscat.

A demanding high-level hike beside the Grand Canyon to the summit ridge of Jabal Shams, at close to 3,000 metres.

A full-day ridge walk at Sharfat Al Alamayn above Wadi Bani Awf, past an old water store and shepherds’ flocks to the viewpoint of Ras Al Haraq.

Cross a rope bridge 20 metres up across the mouth of a cave, with ladders and cables high above the canyon. Guide and all safety gear included.

Three hours among the terraced farms of Misfat Al Abriyeen, learning how the falaj shares out water and how the villagers farm.

A five-hour guided trek from Misfat Al Abriyeen up old donkey paths to shepherds’ huts and a canyon viewpoint, with Omani coffee on the way.

A demanding full-day trek on the W9 trail, climbing over 1,000 metres from Misfat Al Abriyeen to the plateau of Sharfat Al Alamayn at about 2,000 m.

Two days on the W9 trail with donkeys carrying the camp: from Misfat Al Abriyeen to a night on the Sharaf plateau at 2,000 m, then a ridge walk above Wadi Sahtan.