10 Spots To See In Qatar (apart From Doha And Lusail)

10 spots to see in Qatar (apart from Doha and Lusail)

By Anna Purpurpurpur

Qatar is a very promising young tourist destination, with many human-made attractions emerging after the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Usually Doha, the capital city, and Lusail, the brand new developing satellite city, steal all the attention however there are many spots and activities to see and to participate in around the country too!

And as Qatar is not a very big country, you can easily make any of them in a day-trip or half-day trip from the capital.

See my selection of 10 major experiences you can have!

1. Al Zubara fort

The Al Zubara fort is one of the main historical sights of Qatar: this is Qatar’s first and so far the only UNESCO World Heritage Site!

It was built in 1938 during the reign of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jassim Al Thani (the oil was discovered during his rule). However this area – Al Zubarah – had been a buzzing lively area founded by merchants from Kuwait much earlier.

In the 18th-19th century it was a centre of pearling trade with connections with the Indian Ocean, Arabia and Western Asia, but these villages were destroyed in 1811.

Inside the fort, there’s an abandoned well, traditional pigeon towers right inside the fort walls, and an exposition explaining the importance of the site and the main activities taking place here.

It took us about 1h 15 min to get from Doha to Al Zubara as it’s located on the other side of the country.

2. Desert Safari Camel ride point at Al Wakrah

The Desert Safari Camel ride point at Al Wakrah is a special tourist camp at the edge of the desert with camels residing there. I was positively impressed that all the camels are very well looked after.

I had there my first camel ride ever: actually the scariest moment is when a camel gets up or sits down, but otherwise these are very calm animals if they are treated well. You can choose between a short trial ride (like 5-7 min) or a longer ride up to the dunes.

You can also get introduced to falcons here: as you know, falconry is one of the oldest traditions in the Middle East, and a good bird can cost thousands!

3. Shadows travelling on the sea of the day

Shadows travelling on the sea of the day is a modern art installation created by Olafur Eliasson and established in 2022. It’s located right in the middle of the desert not far away from the Al Zubara fort.

There are 20 pavilions in total consisting of circles and semicircles with mirror roof reflecting the ground – and in overall, they create a geometric structure with a pentagram at the center. Important: to get there, you’ll have to walk for about 20 min by foot (one way) because the cars are not allowed inside the fenced off area.

4. Dunes by the Al Wakrah

Al Wakrah is a perfect place to explore dunes, tall wind-made sand hills with sharp edges on the top. This activity is really for those who love an adrenaline rush – be careful when choosing your driver!

We booked a dune ride with a professional driver, and little did we know of how enthusiastic he was about dunes! We literally had the best driver in the desert as we could tell by his maneuvers when he was cutting edges of a dune – but when we slided up and down 10 metres high dunes, I had the scariest moments of my life so far.

Ride parts like this were the most moderate ones (I didn’t manage to film others because it was all bumps and sand) – imagine riding a car on the thinnest edge of a sandy dune in a large Land Cruiser!

Usually in the middle of the dune ride you stop to take photos at this epic spot: you see the part of the Gulf infiltrating the desert. You can also watch locals racing sand buggies all over the place.

If you’d like to go further, in another 30 min of dune sliding you can reach the most distant point of Qatar: the Inland sea.

5. Inland sea

The Inland Sea, or Khor Al Adaid, is one of the most unique sights of the country.

This is an inlet of the Gulf surrounded by dunes from the Qatar side and by mountains from the Saudi Arabia side (the border lies on the other side of the Inland sea). This area is actually pretty wild with no people living here, so it has a unique flora and fauna too.

You can also spot the ‘sabkha’, commonly known as a stone desert: this is a flat hard area formed after the salty water evaporated.

We came there to watch the sunset, and our guide organised a small tea reception with a real fire right on the sand for us.

6. Al Samriya Riding School

Al Samriya Riding School / Equestrian Center is an educational centre and stables with an outdoor area. The most beautiful and elegant horses are kept here, and you can get the equestrian lessons of any level of difficulty.

Besides that, the horse owners can leave their horses here to be looked after. Al Samriya Riding School / Equestrian Center is located close to the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, and you can see them all in one go (see below).

Very close by, on the territory of the same estate, you can find enclosures with Oryx, the Qatar’s symbol which is currently an endangered species, and we also saw signs mentioning other animals such as gazelles, ostrich, peacocks and ducks.

7. Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, also named FBQ museum, has probably the most impressive collection in Qatar!

The collection there is so versatile: you need almost a month to see it all! There are exhibits of all sorts: carpets, ceramics, animals, arms, calligraphy, boats, cars, a Syrian house (right inside the museum), a plane…

All of them have been personally collected by Sheikh Faisal for a few decades or given to him as gifts. Now this collection occupies several buildings and preserves not only the Qatari heritage but rare pieces from all over the world! Besides that, there is a functioning well right inside the museum, can you imagine that?

We were also very lucky to be able to see the car collection there too because it’s not always open to the public. There are about three hundred cars, starting from the very first ones from the late 19th century up to the rarest and most expensive modern cars.

Have you ever seen a reclining mosque? Pisa vibes indeed! This most unusual mosque is located in front of the Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum and was opened in 2023. The inclination reaches 20 crazy degrees, with the minaret being 27 metres high. This is a great photo spot and a wow-insta point indeed!

8. Panda house

The Panda House is the first panda park in the Middle East opened in 2022 to commemorate the World Cup which makes Qatar the first country in the region to receive Chinese giant pandas!

Two pandas live here: Thuraya and Suhail, one female and one male,both named after stars/constellations. Each has its own custom made enclosure.

The space is very well made, and there is also a panda themed cafe (with a view over pandas!), a kids only creative space, a shop, and a garden around the house.

I’ve been to China (Chengdu panda reserve), Singapore and many other places which have pandas but I’ve never seen a panda so close!

Important: you should book your tickets in advance via Oun app! There are no tickets sold on the site!

9. Al Khor Park

Al Khor Park is a green space where you can also see some animals in the enclosures.

Some animals definitely feel good here like zebras, giraffes, ostriches, goats but the enclosures for monkeys and big cats look pretty sad: they are clean but very small, and animals have no place to hide or toys to play with.

There’s also a bird house but it seemed to be under maintenance during our visit. Overall, I’d not suggest you visit unless you really don’t know what to do during your trip. Al Khor Park is adjacent to the Panda house but it’s not one facility, you have to buy separate tickets for it (again only via Oun app!) and it has different opening times.

10. Al Shahaniya racetrack

Al Shahaniya racetrack is not a racetrack you might think of but a camel racetrack! Camel races are an important traditional activity of Qatar, with the main races taking place in spring but less important races taking place on Fridays during a cooler season.

The fastest camels can cost millions of dollars! Today the races are all modernized: instead of a real jockey there is a small robotic one, and a car with people watching the camels drives alongside the animals to encourage them. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to attend the camel races but we had a chance to see camels training! As you can see, there are dozens of animals here, all dressed up in different colours. These are she-camels with their kids.

Where to stay in Qatar: Banyan tree La Cigale Doha

The Banyan Tree Doha La Cigale is very unusual but still stylish, and just look at our room overlooking Doha!

Panoramic bathrooms are always the best, and the skincare products smell as if I was back to the flower market of Bangkok.

There are modern ‘pigeon towers’ located in the hotel garden, which look really impressive, right? What a modern take on the iconic Qatari architecture.

Sadly, their gorgeous indoor pool was only 16+, however this are looked very relaxing and stylish. They also have a spa however I didn’t have chance to experience it.