We travelled in to Qatar in April 2019, and we were only there for a total of 5 days. This was our first time to the Middle East, let alone Qatar. The main reason, we travelled there is due to our flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Doha, Qatar (which is currently the world’s longest commercial flight). In true traveller style we decided to make the most of our time here and see as much as we could.

We were very lucky to have a family friend living in Qatar, who provided us with accommodation and transport so I will not go into those in this page.

At the time of writing this, Qatar has diplomatic issues with various countries in the region, which prevents direct travel into these countries.

The information in this blog is from our experiences as we travelled in Qatar, which we hope you find useful.

Attractions

Al Zubara Fort

Free Entry

This Fort (also known as Al Zubarah Archaeological Site Visitor Center) is part of an Archaeological site that dates back around 200 years ago. The town of Al Zubara used to be a trading and pearl diving town. The site has a few ruins and a well-maintained fort. The fort has information in English, but is limited in size. It will take a maximum of 1 hour to spend at the Visitor Centre and the Archaeological Site.

Getting to the fort was easy, along the north bound freeway which allowed us to travel the 104km in less than 1.5 hours.

Al Ruwais

Is a northern town in Qatar, easily assessable from Al Zubara Fort. I would only add this on if you had time and were already going to the Fort. The Abu Dhalouf Beach is a unique experience during low tide, as the beach front goes on for ages into the Persian / Arabian Gulf. This is due to the land being so flat.

Museum of Islamic Art

Entry 50 QAR (~$20 AUD)

This beautifully designed building houses several levels of artefacts and art from across the Islamic World. When we were there, a free orchestral concert was going on in the foyer. The surrounding park is also a nice area to spend some time to relax.

Parking is available on site. Driving or Taxi is the best way to get to the Museum.

More information at mia.org.qa

East/West Mound Skyline View Points

Easily some of the best view points of the Cities Skyline, especially at night time. A few shops and sitting areas are available around the viewpoints.

The viewpoints are easily walked to from the Museum of Islamic Art.

Souq Waqif Market

The Souq Waqif Market is a must do in Doha. The beautiful market, has pretty much everything for sale. There is also plenty of food options in the area. There is so much life at the market that you can easily spend a few hours just people watching as you sip some tea.

Parking can be a little difficult, but there are plenty of car parks in the area. One of the easiest is the Underground parking across the road under the Souq Waqif Park.

National Museum of Qatar

Entry 50 QAR (~$20 AUD)

The National Museum of Qatar, was newly opened when we arrived in Qatar. The Museum in my opinion is one of the best museum’s I have ever seen, in the way the exhibits are made, with multiple projectors bringing the rooms to life.

The exhibits range from prehistoric times through to the current oil boom.

The Pearl

The Pearl is basically an added on city that is home to the wealthy in Doha. You will find a harbour and some nice looking buildings. There are also some cafes, but when we visited there was only a handful of people, which didn’t give me a great atmosphere. I would skip this if I was to visit again.

The Torch Doha/Khalifa International Stadium

In this sporting complex that was renovated for the 2006 Asian Games, the stadium and The Torch, which is now a high end hotel (click here to book 🙂 ) are nice to have a look at. We managed to enter The Torch, but we found out the cafe has a no shorts policy so we headed back down.

Villaggio Mall

Adjoining the Torch and Khalifa International Stadium, this shopping centre is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen. Mainly due to the fact that the centre is designed around the city of Venice from the buildings to the small river with gonadal service. The ceiling also adds to the effect.

Inland Sea

The Inland Sea boards both Qatar and Saudi Arabia to the South of the country. The only way to get there is by 4×4, as the roads are through sand dunes. Expect to see lots of traffic on the weekend, but the area is massive so you can easily get lost (on purpose of course) and head in your own direction. Surrounding the sea is the Inland Sea Beach. which is a nice area to relax in.

There is no entrance fees into the desert, but be prepared with plenty of water and everything else you need to survive, as there is no telephone reception to call for help. Highly recommend downloading offline Google Maps or Maps.Me Apps onto your phone.

Visa

Visa on arrival is available for Australia and New Zealand passport holders. There is no cost. For other countries information please visit https://www.qatarairways.com/en/visa-free-arrival.html

Money

The currency is Qatari Rial or Riyal. The code is QAR.

Communication

Since we were only here for 5 days, we didn’t bother with a SIM Card. We just relied on Wi-Fi at our accommodation.

Must have Mobile Apps

With only Wi-Fi, we used Google Maps with offline maps downloaded to your phone or Maps.ME. We use both.

Also the XE Currency App is useful for quick conversions of QAR to your currency of choice.

Note; the calling features on Whatsapp and Viber are blocked in Qatar.

Language

The main language is Arabic throughout Qatar, however we found English was fluent everywhere we went.

Food

A must try dish is Shawarma, which is thinly cut meat, eaten in a wrap.

Water

The water is meant to be safe, but our family friend only drank bottled water, which is what we did too.

Electricity

All power points we saw have type G plug adapters. The voltage is 240V and the frequency is 50Hz.

We use universal travel adapter, that we purchased from one of the stores in The Mall Bangkapi, located in Bangkok, Thailand. The model we use is the ibattz World Travel Adapter, which as far as I can tell will work everywhere except Australia and New Zealand (which isn’t an issue for us). Please note, the box actually states the unit will work in Australia, which is untrue. It comes with four USB ports and according to the box it can handle multiple voltages (V) and frequencies (Hz).

Other

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