I was in Oman between the 12th and the 20th of December 2022 (8 days). The currency in Oman is the Omani Rial and prices are moderate.
Things like food can be quite cheap, especially in Indian and Pakistani restaurants, but finding cheap accommodation is difficult.
Transport is relatively cheap, but it’s almost non-existent outside of Muscat. You need between 25 and 100 euros per day for a backpacker’s budget for Oman.
If you’re looking for things to do, check out this Oman road trip itinerary.
Accommodation
There are no hostels in Oman. A local actually told me that shared accommodation is illegal, but I’m not sure if that’s true.
I managed to find a hostel-style Airbnb in Muscat for 12 euro/day and the most I paid was 24 euro for a single room in a basic hotel in Nizwa.
I also spent 2 nights couchsurfing in Salalah and 1 night on an overnight bus, so these bring the cost down.
Total accommodation cost came to around 74 euro making the average 9.25 euro per night in total or 14.8 euro if you only count the nights I actually paid for.
Food
Food in Oman can be cheap in Indian restaurants (due to the huge Indian and Pakistani diaspora).
There aren’t as many shawarmas sold on the street as elsewhere in the Middle East, but still one would cost between 1.5 and 3 euros.
Food in a pricier restaurant would cost you between 7 and 15 euros for a meal.
In total, I spent 71.5 euro making the average 8.94 euro per day.
Transport
For transport, I used some of the public buses in Muscat and got a two-way ticket for the bus to Salalah.
The last two days I hitchhiked a lot and found out it’s actually quite easy, so I could’ve even gotten to Salalah hitchhiking. Maybe next time.
I also had to pay 35 euro for a plane ticket from Abu Dhabi to Muscat. It’s actually cheaper than a bus where you’ll also have to pay a UAE overland exit fee.
In total, I paid 81 euro for transport. The average daily cost came out to 10.13 euro.
Insurance
For travel insurance, I use a company called Safety Wings, which provides a subscription model insurance, best suited for young people (as the price is understandably lower).
It costs 42 dollars for 4 weeks, so 8 days are ~12 euro or 1.5 euro per day.
Culture and Activities
There are few museums in Oman, mostly the forts.
The National Museum in Muscat costs 13 euro, but I was counted as a student and saved this exorbitant cost.
Bahla Fort is the biggest in the country and a UNESCO heritage site: it costs 1.2 euro and is totally worth it. The other forts in the region – Nizwa Fort and Jabryn Fort have become private entities and cost 13 and 8 euros respectively, so I skipped them.
If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all and to be honest it’s pretty true for forts.
The Land of Frankincense museum in Salalah costs 8 euro per car (apparently that means 8 euros regardless if you’re 1 or 5 people and it doesn’t even matter if you come on foot, go figure), but it was closed when I got there.
Total cost: 1.2 euro. The average cost per day came to 0.15 euro.
Many rent cars when in Oman as it makes exploring much easier. The cheapest car you can rent costs around 20 euro/day with mileage limited to 200 km/day. To get to the mountains you need a 4×4 which costs upwards of 40 euro/day. Fuel prices are quite low at ~ 0.6 euro/liter of petrol 95.
A Backpacker’s Budget for Oman
| Accommodation | 74 euro |
| Food | 71.5 euro |
| Transport | 81 euro |
| Travel Insurance | 12 euro |
| Culture | 1.2 euro |
| Other | 0 |
| TOTAL | 239.7 euro |
In total, I spent 239.7 euro for 8 days, which makes the average 29.96 euro per day.