Etiquette
What to Wear on the Mountain
Oman's tourism ministry asks visitors to cover shoulders and knees, and at 2,000 m the mountain is cold enough that you will want to.
Check dates and availability ↗Dress and conduct: what is guidance, and what is law
| Situation | What is expected | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Villages, cultural sites, nature reserves | Clothing covering knees and shoulders, men and women | Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, April 2025 |
| General public conduct | Dressing conservatively is appreciated | Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Photographing people | Ask permission first | Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Ramadan, daylight hours | No eating, drinking or smoking in public | Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Alcohol | Licensed venues only; legal age 21 | Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Drones | Flying without a valid licence is against the law | Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
The rule, in one sentence
Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Tourism issued guidance in April 2025 that puts it about as plainly as a government can: clothes that cover the knees and shoulders are required for both men and women. The guidance was directed specifically at visitors to villages, nature reserves, off-road areas and cultural sites, which describes Jebel Akhdar exactly. Oman's foreign ministry adds that dressing conservatively is appreciated generally and matters most at religious sites. Most visitors never come near the line; knowing where it sits costs nothing.
Why the mountain is stricter than the hotel pool
Resort Oman and village Oman are different places. A hotel pool on the coast has its own conventions and nobody minds swimwear there. A working farming settlement 2,000 m up, where the families in the houses either side of the lane are the people whose terraces you are walking past, is a different social setting entirely — and the 2025 ministry guidance singled out exactly these places. The point is not that anyone is likely to confront you. It is that the visit works better when you are not the thing being looked at.
What it looks like in practice
For men: long trousers, or shorts to below the knee, and a T-shirt or shirt rather than a vest. For women: trousers or a skirt below the knee, and a top with sleeves that covers the shoulders, with loose preferable to tight. A headscarf is not required of non-Muslim visitors in the villages, though carrying a light scarf is useful for a mosque, for sun, and for the wind on the rim. Nobody expects national dress. The everyday walking clothes most people already pack for a day in the hills qualify without modification.
Layers and shoes
The dress guidance and the climate pull in the same direction, which makes this easy. You are going somewhere with an average January daily maximum of 12.0°C and an average low of 3.7°C, so covered arms and legs are what you want anyway, plus a warm mid-layer and, in winter, a real jacket. Footwear deserves more thought than most people give it. Village paths are uneven stacked stone, often narrow, sometimes running along a terrace wall with a drop on one side, and you walk beside open falaj channels. Closed shoes with grip — not sandals.
Cameras, doorways and farmland
Oman's foreign ministry asks visitors to seek permission before photographing people, and on Jebel Akhdar that is a practical instruction rather than an abstract courtesy, because you are photographing at close quarters in inhabited lanes. Photograph the landscape freely; ask before photographing individuals, and accept a refusal without negotiating. The same care applies to property: terraces are private, productive land, the fruit belongs to a household, and an open doorway is not an invitation. Flying a drone requires a valid licence in Oman.
If you visit during Ramadan
If your trip falls during Ramadan, Oman's foreign ministry states that eating, drinking and smoking in public during daylight hours are forbidden for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. That includes in a car with the window down and on a walking trail, and reporting on the penal code describes it as an offence rather than a matter of etiquette. Hotels serve their own guests normally, usually discreetly. In practice a day tour during Ramadan means eating before you leave and after sunset. Ask your operator how they handle it at booking, not on the day.