What It’s Like to Visit Qatar
More Than A World Cup Spot
Qatar’s big news in 2022 is that it’s the host country for the World Cup, but visitors to this small Persian Gulf country during any time will find plenty to explore. Doha is a cosmopolitan city with world class entertainment, luxury hotels, international shopping malls, and restaurants serving cuisine from every corner of the globe.
Doha is a growing cruise port and destination in its own right. Visitors here can stay inside the city, where the majority of Qatar’s population lives, or they can venture out onto the Persian Gulf or into the desert for a safari among the sand dunes or a ride on a camel.
Check out Qatar Tourism to learn more about visiting Qatar.
Fanar
Also called the Spiral Mosque, the official name is the Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Centre. Non-Muslim visitors can attend Friday prayers in English, and learn about Islamic and Qatari heritage, including traditional Qatari society and culture while sipping a cup of traditional coffee. Fanar is conveniently located near the Museum of Islamic Art and Souq Waqif.
Souq Waqif
Souq Waqif is a popular attraction in Qatar’s corniche. An open-air market in the traditional Arabic style, the vendors sell everything from Qatar souvenirs to nuts, fruit, spices, and other household goods for local residents doing their weekly shopping. There’s also a falcon souq where visitors can learn about falconry (a popular pastime in the region) and even pose for a photo with a falcon.
Souq Wares
Souq Waqif is a prime spot for perusing dry goods from across the Middle East and around the world (we noticed almonds imported from California). Several of the spice vendors, in addition to selling well-priced vials of single spices, will also specialize in their own blends for certain dishes. These vendors are a good place to pick up blends of spices for shwarma or other Arabian favorites that might make for prime storytelling over dinners back home.
The National Museum of Qatar
The National Museum of Qatar is a distinctive building in a nation of distinctive buildings. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning archtitect Jean Nouvel, the museum is built around the original palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al-Thani, and the buildings showcase the natural and human history of Qatar.
Guests can learn about the natural flora and fauna of the desert (and the building shape itself takes inspiration from crystalline formations known as the desert rose), including both extinct and extant species such as the oryx, the longhorned ungulate that is a symbol of the country. Visitors will also explore the history of Qatar’s people, from nomadic desert existence to shoreside pearl diving communites, and the development of oil extraction in the mid 20th Century.
World Class Shopping
The newly-opened Place Vendome Mall in the Lusail neighborhod of Doha is a enormous shopping experience, with nearly 600 stories spread across the four floors, with more opening each day. In the central courtyard, the dancing fountains run a choreographed show every hour, joined at night by laser shows.
The mall is connected to two luxury hotels, and more are being built in the nearby area. Place Vendome is easily reached by Qatar’s public transit system.
The St. Regis Marsa Arabia Island
Newly opened in October 2022, The St. Regis Marsa Arabia Island, The Pearl Qatar, is a residential-style luxury hotel in the middle of The Pearl Qatar, a luxury district. The hotel will have ten food and beverage outlets and spectacular architecture including a multi-story chandelier that catches eyes as guest enter the lobby.
Greek, Mediterranean, Turkish, Japanese, and global cuisine restaurants mark the spate of offerings at the St. Regis, where guests can enjoy drinks in the well-appointed lobby bar or out on the terrace.
Katara Cultural Village
The Katara Cultural Village, taken from an older name derivation of Qatar, is located next to The Pearl. Home to spectacular mosques (including one designed by a woman), a waterfront amphitheater, beach area, and shopping, this central area of Doha should be a stop on every traveler’s itinerary.
Snan Food Hall
Snan Food Hall, adjacent Katara Cultural Village, is in the same building as the Galeries Lafayette department store. The wrought-iron and glass dome caps a luxury food hall and grocery store, which stocks regular essentials but also rare items like $1,000 bottles of balsamic vinegar. There’s also a coffee shop and food vendors serving up turkish snacks, salads, and wraps. Duiring the milder months, there’s outdoor seating.
Camel Rides
Camel rides are a popular activity in Qatar, particularly out in the desert, where desert safari tours stop to let air out of their 4×4 vehicles’ tires before proceeding across the sand dunes. While camel rides can command a fee, photos of the camels are free.
Desert Safari
Several outfitters offer desert safaris, gliding across the sand dunes in 4×4 vehicles, roving up and down the dunes in the late afternoon. At sunset, there are several stops for photo opportunities so visitors can watch as the dunes change color and cast shadows across the landscape. Just over the inland sea, the hills just over the border in neighboring Saudi Arabia are visible.
Khor Al Adaid Beach
Many of the desert safari tours end at Khor Al Adaid Beach after a long trek across the sand dunes in the south of the country. One of the only parts of the world where desert directly meets the ocean, it’s a great place to take in a sunset to celebrate the end of another exciting day in this fascinating country.