Things to do in Manama

Bahrain is a small island. Manama sits on its northern tip, and a good deal of the ground beneath it is reclaimed sea.

Bab Al Bahrain opened in 1949 as the gate to the souq, then at the waterline. It is now several streets inland. The market behind it runs on gold, spices and cloth.

Three World Heritage sites on one island

Bahrain holds three, which is a lot for a country this size. All sit within half an hour of Manama.

• Qal'at al-Bahrain. The capital of Dilmun, listed in 2005. Digging since 1954 has cut seven layers of occupation out of a twelve-metre mound.
• Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy. Listed in 2012: seventeen buildings in Muharraq, three offshore oyster beds, and the path between them.
• Dilmun Burial Mounds. Listed in 2019. Twenty-one fields of tombs raised between 2050 and 1750 BC.

The rest of the island in a day

You can cross the country in an hour. Tours are sold as a northern loop and a southern one.

• Al Fateh Grand Mosque. Built in 1987 under one of the largest fibreglass domes anywhere, and open to visitors with a guide.
• The Tree of Life. A mesquite reckoned at four centuries, alone in the southern desert with no water in sight.
• Sakhir. The oil museum marks where the Arab side of the Gulf first struck oil, in 1932. The Formula One circuit is next door.
• Muharraq. The old capital across the water, with merchant houses and wind towers along the pearling path.
• Riffa and A'ali. A fort on a ridge above a wadi, and a pottery village working among the burial mounds.

How the day is sold

The offer here is short and almost all private. A car with a guide, half a day or whole, is the usual shape. Kayaking in the mangroves is the odd one out.

Practical

• Season. November to March. Summer puts forty degrees together with sea humidity, and shade does not help much.
• Alcohol. Legal and openly sold, which is not true of every neighbour. It explains a good deal about the weekend traffic.
• The causeway. Twenty-five kilometres of bridge to Saudi Arabia, open since 1986. Thursday evening is the crush.
• Race weekend. Formula One has run at Sakhir since 2004 and empties the hotels for a week. Book far ahead or step around it.
• Getting about. No metro, and no need for one. Taxis and ride apps cover a country you can drive across before lunch.
• Dress. Relaxed in hotels and malls by Gulf standards. Shoulders and knees covered for the mosque and the souq.
• Money. The dinar is one of the strongest currencies going, so small numbers mean larger sums than they look.