Public Transport Muscat

[KathyBC]

When my husband and I did a little traveling - we seldom did tours rather preferring to find our way to a sight by public transport. This was not a matter of cost but because we met local people who enhanced our experience so I would like to travel to the mosque by bus. 

Information I have is to take No 4 bus from near port gate to Ruwi bus station then change to No1 bus which passes the Mosque but I am confused about the bus schedule. It appears the on Saturdays the # 4 bus runs early in the morning and late at night but no buses in between those times. 
One site I visited informed that buses are rare so to avoid them. Is this true?

[little britain]

The mosque is a considerable distance from town - at least a 20 min drive IIRC.  It is off a busy dual carriageway.

I have been to Muscat about 4 times and TBH I cannot remember seeing a public bus.....

[cruiser man 60]

We got a taxi at the gates and it was 300 dirhams for a 3 hour tour and we went to the mosque, the sultans palace, the souk, the beach and various other sites. If you want to go somewhere different or for longer then just agree a price with them.

there is a free shuttle bus that drops you in town but we didn't see many public buses although our dinner guests got one back from sultans palace after walking the 2 or 3 mile s there!

[KathyBC]

10 hours ago, little britain said:

The mosque is a considerable distance from town - at least a 20 min drive IIRC.  It is off a busy dual carriageway.

I have been to Muscat about 4 times and TBH I cannot remember seeing a public bus.....

 

I have pretty much discounted using the bus because most of the information gleaned thus far is that they are unreliable if they do show up. Through another site I have been asking info from a local who has never been on a bus and does not know anyone who has. LOL!

[KathyBC]

7 hours ago, cruiser man 60 said:

We got a taxi at the gates and it was 300 dirhams for a 3 hour tour and we went to the mosque, the sultans palace, the souk, the beach and various other sites. If you want to go somewhere different or for longer then just agree a price with them.

there is a free shuttle bus that drops you in town but we didn't see many public buses although our dinner guests got one back from sultans palace after walking the 2 or 3 mile s there!

 

Just now, KathyBC said:

 

I have pretty much discounted using the bus because most of the information gleaned thus far is that they are unreliable if they do show up. Through another site I have been asking info from a local who has never been on a bus and does not know anyone who has. LOL!

 

7 hours ago, cruiser man 60 said:

We got a taxi at the gates and it was 300 dirhams for a 3 hour tour and we went to the mosque, the sultans palace, the souk, the beach and various other sites. If you want to go somewhere different or for longer then just agree a price with them.

there is a free shuttle bus that drops you in town but we didn't see many public buses although our dinner guests got one back from sultans palace after walking the 2 or 3 mile s there!

 

Thanks Cruiser Man 60. I really don't want a tour just to get to the mosque. I can pretty much see many of the places on your tour on my own --- I think Sigh!  I plan to do what your dinner guests did and yes it is a long walk but unless horribly hot - should be nice

[little britain]

5 hours ago, KathyBC said:

 

 

 

Thanks Cruiser Man 60. I really don't want a tour just to get to the mosque. I can pretty much see many of the places on your tour on my own --- I think Sigh!  I plan to do what your dinner guests did and yes it is a long walk but unless horribly hot - should be nice

The mosque is far more impressive than the exterior of the palace, which warrants no more than a 5 min photo stop.....imho.

Whilst I applaud your intentions to diy (we always do) there are some times/places when you have to admit defeat ......why not get a cab to the mosque? 

Cab could swing back past the Palace on the way back then drop you at the souk:  then you could stroll back along the very pleasant promenade back to the ship? 

[cruiser man 60]

We did the above, the mosque is in completely the wrong direction to palace/souk. The walk to the palace is flat around the coast so is doable but in January it wa 26c and it's now getting hotter.

[framboesa]

is it easy to get a cab to the mosque and then another one to just return to the city? We have been reading that there are cabs that will refuse to take you to the mosque unless you agree in one 2/3 hours tour.

14 hours ago, cruiser man 60 said:

We got a taxi at the gates and it was 300 dirhams for a 3 hour tour and we went to the mosque, the sultans palace, the souk, the beach and various other sites. If you want to go somewhere different or for longer then just agree a price with them.

there is a free shuttle bus that drops you in town but we didn't see many public buses although our dinner guests got one back from sultans palace after walking the 2 or 3 mile s there!

Will they accept dirhams in Muscat? Can we chose where to go? ( i have been marking all our favorite spots in google maps) Thank you

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

The mosque is far more impressive than the exterior of the palace, which warrants no more than a 5 min photo stop.....imho.....

 

 

We did not go to the mosque, but absolutely agree re the palace....it is nice enough, and a very pleasant 2 or 3 mile walk from the port but do bear in mind most people will be sweating profusely (as we were) so consider wearing clothing which would not highlight such!

[EssG]

15 hours ago, cruiser man 60 said:

We got a taxi at the gates and it was 300 dirhams for a 3 hour tour and we went to the mosque, the sultans palace, the souk, the beach and various other sites. If you want to go somewhere different or for longer then just agree a price with them.

there is a free shuttle bus that drops you in town but we didn't see many public buses although our dinner guests got one back from sultans palace after walking the 2 or 3 mile s there!

Was that AE Dirhams Cruiser Man 60 (just trying to work out the exchange rate for Aussie Dollars ) and was that  for a "pre set" route?

Thanks

[cruiser man 60]

Yes they take UAE dirhams ,euros or Omani rials. All the taxi drivers have a map showing main tourist points where they will take you e.g. mosque, palace, souk, beach, opera house etc.

however you can tailor the trip to where you want to go,it's an hourly rate set by Government so if you want 4/5 hours you pay accordingly.

we enjoyed the trip and you spend the amount of time you want at each stop, e.g. We went into opera house and spent 20/25 mins there but you don't have to go in if you don't want to.

[EssG]

14 minutes ago, cruiser man 60 said:

Yes they take UAE dirhams ,euros or Omani rials. All the taxi drivers have a map showing main tourist points where they will take you e.g. mosque, palace, souk, beach, opera house etc.

however you can tailor the trip to where you want to go,it's an hourly rate set by Government so if you want 4/5 hours you pay accordingly.

we enjoyed the trip and you spend the amount of time you want at each stop, e.g. We went into opera house and spent 20/25 mins there but you don't have to go in if you don't want to.

Thanks Cruise Man 60 ...good information

[framboesa]

16 minutes ago, cruiser man 60 said:

 

we enjoyed the trip and you spend the amount of time you want at each stop, e.g. We went into opera house and spent 20/25 mins there but you don't have to go in if you don't want to.

Thank you!!! We would love to enter the opera house but we are afraid we will have not enough time for the mosque and souks because of the closing times. Are we allowed to enter the opera house or do we have to take one of the tours provided by opera house? we saw the halls and are amazing :)

[little britain]

Mosque x2 vs Palace!

Edited January 29, 2019 by little britain

[cruiser man 60]

There is an entrance fee of about 30 UAE durhams to enter opera house so you can't just wander in. The mosque closes at 11.30 am so we just viewed from outside, if you wish to go you need to allow time and be dressed accordingly and for women this means full cover up.

you can get taxi to drop you at souk at end and walk back which would take about 20/25 minutes , however be prepared for lots of hassle if you touch or look at anything!!

[framboesa]

10 minutes ago, cruiser man 60 said:

There is an entrance fee of about 30 UAE durhams to enter opera house so you can't just wander in. The mosque closes at 11.30 am so we just viewed from outside, if you wish to go you need to allow time and be dressed accordingly and for women this means full cover up.

you can get taxi to drop you at souk at end and walk back which would take about 20/25 minutes , however be prepared for lots of hassle if you touch or look at anything!!

Thank you very much. I sent one email to opera house and was told that we could have one tour, but we are not interested in the tour, just to have a look.maybe we will pass. We want to visit the mosque inside because we saw stunning photos on the website, so the mosque will be our priority (will be dressed with long pants and long sleeves and bring a big pashmina -will bring it everywhere during this trip- or I will rent the traditional dress ). I read that the souks will close for lunch until 4 pm, maybe we have time to visit it before lunch. We are used to haggle, we have been in Morocco and other places like this, normally we show no interest for nothing! We like the souks more for the ambiance than for the shopping opportunities :D :D Thanks again for your inputs

Edited January 29, 2019 by framboesa

[cruiser man 60]

The opera house tour is included in entrance fee but we just wandered around on our own, all the signs are in English as well as local language. You are not allowed upstairs. 

The beach area is fairly near opera house and it's lovely for some nice photos.

[KathyBC]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 11:50 PM, little britain said:

The mosque is far more impressive than the exterior of the palace, which warrants no more than a 5 min photo stop.....imho.

Whilst I applaud your intentions to diy (we always do) there are some times/places when you have to admit defeat ......why not get a cab to the mosque? 

Cab could swing back past the Palace on the way back then drop you at the souk:  then you could stroll back along the very pleasant promenade back to the ship? 

 

The reason I started looking at the bus option was because on other travel info sites folks stated taxi drivers would not take you to the mosque unless you took a tour - which I don't want. I will hopefully get a taxi willing to just drive me there. Yup = defeated! LOL!

 

[KathyBC]

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:38 AM, hamrag said:

 

We did not go to the mosque, but absolutely agree re the palace....it is nice enough, and a very pleasant 2 or 3 mile walk from the port but do bear in mind most people will be sweating profusely (as we were) so consider wearing clothing which would not highlight such!

 

LOL! Thanks for the heads up but I expected to get a tad warm walking that distance

[framboesa]

2 hours ago, KathyBC said:

 

The reason I started looking at the bus option was because on other travel info sites folks stated taxi drivers would not take you to the mosque unless you took a tour - which I don't want. I will hopefully get a taxi willing to just drive me there. Yup = defeated! LOL!

 

I was reading the same thing; then I read that the "problem" is not that they will not take you to the mosque, the thing is that they charge 40 € only to take you to the mosque, and 65/70 € for the 3 hour tour...