6 Best Shopping in Oman

Tucked away in a suburb, this shop is the best place in Muscat to buy beautiful boxes, tagines, crystal dishes, and carved wooden bowls for the Omani halwa. The shop makes 10 different types of halwa—a mixture of sugar, ghee, and cornstarch—with flavors ranging from rose to saffron, but the true star is delicious, walnut-studded "special halwa." You can also get fantastic, tahini-based Turkish-style halwa, date cookies, and chocolate-covered halwa. The presentation of the confections, in gorgeously painted gift boxes and embellished briefcases, make them the best possible gift to bring to local hosts or to bring back home.

On the outskirts of Bidiyah—in the desert just after the paved road ends—Bedouin women sit in a large tent each day making handwoven baskets, cushions, and key chains made with their traditional textiles. They will invite you to sit with them and enjoy a cup of light, cardamom-infused Omani kahwa (coffee) and dates before you peruse their offerings. These inexpensive wares represent an ancient desert tradition of handicraft and are their main source of income. The offerings make great souvenirs and gifts.

This shimmering corridor of the ancient Mutrah souq offers shop after shop of fabulous gold jewelry, each piece a different, unique design. However, everything is sold by weight, not by style, so when local women bring in their jewelry to trade for new items, shopkeepers are happy to give full market value for the weight of whatever they bring. In the evenings you will find groups of Omani women and couples perusing the selections. The rings are a particularly good value as they are light weight and feature intricate designs. There is a lone silver shop in the sparkling stretch that offers the same traditional designs in the more traditional, but currently less popular, silver for a fraction of the price. Though the price of gold is fixed and regulated, the shopkeepers will often offer a slight discount, rounding down your price, especially if you buy more than one item.

Every Wednesday from 8 to noon, the typically quiet desert town of Ibra is overrun with vendors and shoppers from all around Sharqiyah for the massive ladies' market, a display of the best perfumes, silks and other textiles, makeup, and jewelry in the region. Though traditionally access was restricted exclusively to women, this policy has eased over the years so the odd brave or curious man can be seen walking through the crowded byways through the hoards of women immersed in the heat of barter and negotiation. The energy of the market is exhilarating, and the women are extremely friendly with foreign visitors and quick to try to explain their handicrafts and products. Other customers will jump in to help translate. It is the most lively market in Oman, and well worth a visit if you can plan to be in the area on a Wednesday morning on your way to or from Bidiyah, which is about 30 minutes to the south.

Grittier than the historic old Mutrah Souq, this is where local Omani residents from the surrounding suburbs come to shop for spices, fresh vegetables, meat and fish, clothing, and furniture. Thus, it's a wonderful place to get a taste of the local culture. All manner of dried spices are available along with good dried dates and date syrup. If you have room in your luggage, you can take home a jar of oily shuwa spices, the signature marinade for their pit-roasted celebration dish. There is a nice Omani halwa shop behind the souq, where you can sample the popular dessert, and just in front, there are grillers serving skewers of spicy squid, beef, and lamb called mishkak. The beautiful beachfront location makes it a great place to wander before taking a stroll along the water. In the early mornings you can visit and see the shopkeepers setting up and playfully heckling each other, but the evenings are the best time to people-watch, as this is when most locals come to do their daily shopping.