Things to do in Qatar

How the country is laid out

Qatar is a peninsula of 11,571 square kilometres. Its only land border is with Saudi Arabia, and the high point reaches 103 metres. Almost everyone lives in Doha, so every tour here starts there.

• Doha and the bay. The corniche, the museums and the old souq, with the West Bay towers standing across the water.
• The north. Al Zubarah, a walled pearling town abandoned in the nineteenth century and a World Heritage Site since 2013, and the mangrove channels at Al Khor.
• The west. Dukhan and the Zekreet peninsula, where wind has cut the limestone into mushroom shapes and the oil fields begin.
• The south. Khor Al Adaid, the inland sea, where the Gulf reaches the dunes about sixty kilometres from the city.

Crossing between them

Nothing here is far. The furthest corner is under two hours from Doha by road. The country is toured in day trips rather than travelled through.

• Metro. Three lines since 2019, cheap and cold, covering the city and the airport but nothing beyond them.
• Taxis and apps. Metered, inexpensive, and the usual way between city sights.
• Four-wheel drive. The only way into the dunes. Tyres are let down at the edge of the sand, and driving yourself there is not sensible.

What the country puts on sale

Two things dominate. The city fills half a day, the desert the other half, and fishing goes out by dhow or speedboat. What Qatar sells that its neighbours do not is the stopover — tours cut to a connection at Hamad, and cruise excursions.

Practical

• Season. November to March. From June to September afternoons pass forty degrees with heavy humidity, and outdoor sightseeing stops making sense.
• Friday. The week's main prayer falls at midday, and shops and some sights open afterwards.
• Money. The riyal is pegged to the dollar at 3.64, so prices do not move with the season. Cards work everywhere.
• Alcohol. Licensed hotels only, and not sold in shops to visitors.
• Khor Al Adaid. A national nature reserve since 2007 rather than a World Heritage Site, and reached only with an operator — which is why it appears here as a tour and not as a drive.