Bait al-Baranda Museum is a compact city museum in Muttrah, set inside a restored merchant house close to the corniche. Its strength is not size but focus: the displays move from Muscat's geology and early settlement to the port trade that made the city look outward across the Indian Ocean.
Come here when you want context before wandering Muttrah Souq or the waterfront. The museum is modest beside Muscat's headline sights, but the old house, maps, photographs, and maritime material help explain why this stretch of harbour mattered long before the modern capital spread west along the coast.