This ‘Norway of Arabia’ has steep cliffs rising from the water that evoke the northern fjords. While here, delight in discovering historical treasures like the Khasab Fort, built by the Portuguese in the 17th century and today home to an excellent ethnographic museum, the 16th-century Bukha Fort and the impressive Kmazera Castle. Looking out across the Strait of Hormuz, take in a vista of fishing boats, wooden dhows and the occasional bottlenose dolphin frolicking in the pristine water.