Doha, the capital city of Qatar, has become a major tourist magnet in recent years. The newest luxury hotels were built, the historical heritage got showcased in museums and architectural projects, and the hospitality sector boomed.
Although the main idea is to promote Doha just as a few-days destination because the Hamad international airport is a large hub for transiting visitors, there is lots to see for a few days or even weeks! See my second part of the guide to Doha with more things to do if you choose to stay there for longer as we did!
16. OliOli museum
OliOli museum located by the Lafayette gallery at the Katara village is a must visit for curious and active kids! OliOli means Joy in Hawaiian – you’ve probably already heard this word because Dubai has a famous children’s museum under the same name, and in 2021 OliOli opened in Doha too.
Here you can learn some simple scientific principles, play with bubbles, build a car, compose music with water – and of course, play and have lots of fun! You can choose different entrance packages for 2 or 3 hours and decide whether you want to visit permanent galleries only or the temporary ones too. The staff there is very friendly, showing your kids around and teaching them how to use various stations. Ideal age to visit is 2 to 11 years.
A large toys sop is located nearby too.
17. Gewan island
Gewan island is a super fresh modern space in an artificial island close to the Pearl. The majority of infrastructure is still under construction: it’s going to have residential houses, villas, hotels and numerous cafes and restaurants.
At the moment, you can enjoy a stroll along a 450-metre long Crystal walk: it’s an innovative air conditioned open air street all decorated with crystals! The pavements are decorated with 180 glass floor boxes with animals and landscapes all made out of crystals.
The themes of the compositions are transport and Qatar heritage; sea and animal life; tropics and forests; snow and winter-related activities; and the desert. We literally spent an hour admiring them.
18. Al Hazm shopping mall
Can you imagine that this is a shopping mall, not a museum? Al Hazm is a shopping mall that gives you the vibes of Milan: the marble brought from Italy, chandeliers and mosaics create a unique luxury experience.
There are some high end shops as well as restaurants and very good looking cafes. If you’re looking for some quiet but lavish spot, that’s a place for you. For instance, we opted for L’Aprem cafe and had some delicious saffron cake and saffron and cardamom ice cream.
This mall is also a home to McLaren cafe – for the car enthusiasts!
19. Fire station Art gallery
The Fire Station gallery is a real former fire station: it closed in 2012 and now it was transformed into the artist residences. You can learn about residents here.
There are a few galleries – however, unfortunately, there were no exhibitions during the time of our visit. However the building is an absolute icon, you can see it in many videos about Qatar! There is also a very nice creative looking courtyard with graffiti and a fountain, a shop for artists, a cinema, Café #999 and some other facilities – so actually it’s a good place to visit anyway.
Café #999 serves a good selection of drinks including mocktails and some food like sandwiches, salads and desserts.
20. Al Bidda park
Parks such as Al Bidda always make me speechless: I can’t even imagine how much effort and money should go into keeping it green and blooming in such a climate! There are not only pretty tidy lawns, there are some flower beds, playgrounds, and many clusters and monuments to admire while you pass them by.
Moreover, there’s a view over the West bay, there are some sports facilities and there’s Wadi Al Sail Historical Site which gets covered in plants from time to time. And to add a bit to the list, there are even in-built barbecue stations.
21. 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum
3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum opened in 2022 is a fantastic modern museum where you can learn everything about sport! It has a lovely immersive introduction to the traditional sports of different countries like horse racing, rowing, karate, kemari (Japanese one), dragon boats racing etc.
Of course, a large bit of the exhibition is dedicated to Ancient Greece, historical Olympic Games and the history of modern Olympic Games.
There’s a large collection of torches from different Olympic Games, medals, personal objects of the winners, mascots and lots of stories about the winners! You can also learn about the history of sport activities in the Middle East and of course in Qatar too.
It’s fun for everyone, and there are lots of immersive activities within the museum: you can try digital horse racing, or a boat ride along the Nile, or traditional climbing. Temporary exhibition during our visit was dedicated to racing. The Aspire tower and the Villagio mall are located close.
22. Mall of Qatar
The Middle Eastern shopping malls are just on another level – just look at this Mall of Qatar, this is the largest mall of the country! It might not be that impressive as Vendôme or Al Hazma, but still looks not bad.
It was established in 2016, and has shops of all sorts: Valentino, Tory Burch, Sephora, Zara, H&M, Oysho as well as local brands such as Riva. There is also a cinema, many family friendly activities such as play zones and of course a food court!
Restaurants and cafes here are also in abundance: we actually came here to have lunch at the Lemon garden purely for its interiors but the food there was good too.
23. Education City
The Education City is an interesting site with a unique architectural style established in 1997 and opened in 2003. As one can deduce from the title, it’s all about education: there are 8 universities and 13 schools!
There are campuses of universities, Qatar national library, a few parks and an unusually shaped Education City Mosque – one of the most amazing building of the country, all connected by a quick walk or a tram ride.
One of the most unusual things about it is the Oxygen park, a large sport field with unusual lampposts, running tracks and a fountain!
24. Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art
Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, might not be on the top of your list of sightseeing in Qatar, but it is definitely worth a visit if you spend some time in the country.
It was established in 2010 and has a beautiful building close to the Education city. And it has the largest collection of modern Arab art in the world!
We came to see an amazing exhibition of the pieces from Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), a French painter famous for his depictions of the ‘oriental’ world. You can also glimpse versions of more modern orientalism here too.
25. Gold souq
Gold souk is located close to the Souq Waqif – you might want to see them together. Lots of small shops selling glittering gold pieces are clustered into a few streets – see there the most dramatic precious pieces there!
26. Msheireb museums
There are four museums here in Msheireb, each telling a different storie about Qatar: Bin Jelmood House, Company House, Radwani House, and Mohammed Bin Jassim House. This is the oldest part of the city however the houses are fully restored. Read more about these museums in my blog about Qatari museums.
What a contrast the Msheireb Downtown makes to the older days I must say! However there are still vibes of the traditional Qatari architecture present.
27. DADU garden and museum
DADU garden and museum is an educational and fun area for kids with “DADU” meaning play. There are different play stations with all sorts of activities from drawing to making giant cars. They have a little zoo with farm animals and a small garden with vegetables where you can water plants yourself.
However, the garden is open only a few days a week for a half day in the afternoon which is not very convenient (it gets chilly and dark in the evening in January). As far as I understand, this facility is planned to be enlarged in the future and now it’s more like a soft opening. Alright it’s pretty good already, it must get even better! Don’t forget to check their timings (for instance, on their Instagram page).
28. Printemps Doha
The Printemps is a luxury shopping mall in the Downtown Doha and adjacent to the Banyan Tree Hotel. Obviously, it takes after a famous Parisian department store. It’s not very big but has all sorts of the international high end brands (fashion, skincare, home decor etc).
And there are quite a few restaurants too: for one of our evenings in Doha we went for Georgian cuisine at the Mosavali inside the Printemps shopping mall, and it was an amazing experience.
29. Hamad international airport
Hamad international airport is one of the most impressive airports in the world – and in 2024 won a title of the best airport in the world. It has numerous modern art sculptures, a cool Oryx hotel, famous yellow T|ebby bear under a lamppost, luxury shops and cafes and many more.
And we had a flight with Qatar Airways last time – not my first time flying first class but Qatar airways makes it special! Especially from their domestic lounge and airport.
There is another signature area of HIA which connects it with iconinc Singapore airport – and this is the Orchard. The orchard is a futuristic indoor tropical garden in the very heart of the Hamad international airport, and it looks fantastic both by day and by night.
And I found a cafe with a perfect view over the Orchard: that’s Fendi cafe. Saffron iced latte is highly recommended.
30. Hotel hopping
As I’ve already mentioned, Doha has a huge selection of luxury brand new hotels all built for the occasion of FIFA world cup 2022. It’s also important to mention that the prices tend to be lower than for similar hotels in other places! So don’t restrict yourself and choose a hotel or two (or five) to experience various sides of Qatar: the beach culture, the Downtown area, the futuristic Lusail or a shopping mall life.
Our hotels of choice were Mandarin Oriental and Banyan tree in the Downtown, The St Regis in West Bay, Katara Hills villa and The Raffles in the iconic Katara towers. Besides that, we also stayed in the Oryx, the airport hotel of Hamad international airport! Stay tuned to read my full reviews of each one.
You can also check my guides about:
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Jordan
Oman
Qatar
Kuwait
Bahrain
Hope you liked my blog,
Yours,
Anna xxx
