We spent three nights in Doha on our way from Zambia to Nepal, taking advantage of the Qatar Airways Stopover programme to turn our connection into a short trip of its own.
Three days gave us plenty of time to explore Doha’s main sights, wander around Souq Waqif, visit Katara Cultural Village and Mina District, take a dhow boat trip and eat some very good food along the way.
We visited in July, when temperatures reached almost 50°C, so our days looked a little different from how we’d probably plan them during the cooler months. We spent the hottest parts of the day indoors and headed outside later in the afternoon and evening.
Despite the heat, we really enjoyed Doha. People were incredibly friendly, getting around was easy and many of the places we visited were completely free.
Where We Stayed in Doha
We stayed at Shaza Doha, a five-star hotel in central Doha that we booked through the Qatar Airways Stopover programme.
The location worked particularly well for us because we could walk to Souq Waqif, which meant we could easily head over in the evening once the temperature started to drop.
The hotel itself was very comfortable, with a rooftop pool, good breakfast and spacious rooms.
If you’re also flying through Doha with Qatar Airways, we’ve written a separate guide explaining how the Qatar Airways Stopover programme works and our experience using it.
Things to Do in Doha
Explore Souq Waqif
We spent quite a bit of time around Souq Waqif, particularly in the evenings.
The souq is a maze of narrow streets filled with shops, restaurants, cafés and market stalls, and it’s a good area to simply wander without much of a plan.
One of our most memorable experiences happened completely by chance. A local man invited us to sit down and play Dama, a traditional board game played in Qatar and elsewhere in the region.
We had no idea how to play, so he taught us the rules and we stayed for a while playing with him. It was such a simple interaction, but exactly the kind of unexpected experience we love when travelling.
Visit the Museum of Islamic Art
The Museum of Islamic Art sits on the waterfront overlooking Doha’s skyline and is worth visiting for the building and location as much as the collection itself.
Inside, the museum covers more than 1,400 years of Islamic art, with pieces from across the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Don’t leave immediately after seeing the exhibitions. The building has some fantastic views across the water towards Doha’s modern skyline, particularly through its huge arches.
With temperatures approaching 50°C during our visit, the air conditioning was also very welcome.
Take a Sunset Dhow Boat Trip
One evening we took a trip on a traditional wooden dhow boat from the Corniche.
The boats cruise out onto Doha Bay, giving you a completely different view of the skyline from the water.
We timed ours for sunset, when the temperature was finally beginning to become slightly more manageable and the light over the city was beautiful.
If you’re only spending a few days in Doha, this is an easy activity to combine with the Corniche and Souq Waqif.
Wander Around Mina District
Mina District, at Old Doha Port, is one of the most colourful parts of the city.
The neighbourhood has rows of pastel-coloured buildings, cobbled streets and cafés and restaurants around the waterfront.
We visited in July and found that quite a few places were closed, so it was much quieter than we’d expected. The extreme summer heat probably didn’t help.
It was still worth coming over for a wander around the colourful streets, but we’d expect the area to feel much livelier during the cooler months.
Explore Katara Cultural Village
There’s quite a lot to see at Katara Cultural Village, and we were surprised by how much of it we could explore for free.
We visited the large amphitheatre, saw the distinctive pigeon towers and stopped at both the beautifully tiled Katara Mosque and the much smaller Gold Mosque.
We were also able to go inside the Katara mosque with a guide, who explained more about the building and Islam and Livia was able to borrow the traditional attire provided for visitors before going inside. There was no charge for the visit or the guide, and it was a really interesting experience.
Katara is spread across a fairly large area, so give yourself some time to wander rather than coming for one particular sight.
Escape the Heat at Place Vendôme Mall
Normally, visiting a shopping mall wouldn’t be particularly high on our sightseeing list. In Doha in July, however, air conditioning becomes an attraction in its own right. With temperatures outside pushing towards 50°C, we spent part of the hottest section of the day at Place Vendôme Mall.
It’s enormous, very polished and suitably extravagant, but mostly it gave us somewhere comfortable to walk around, have a coffee and food when being outside simply wasn’t realistic. If you’re visiting Doha during the cooler months, we’d prioritise spending that time outside instead.
Experience Outdoor Air Conditioning at Crystal Walk
One of the strangest experiences we had in Doha was sitting outside in the middle of summer and actually feeling comfortable.
Crystal Walk on Gewan Island uses outdoor cooling along its pedestrian promenade. Outside the temperature was approaching 50°C, while underneath the tree-like canopy it felt closer to sitting outside on a pleasant 25°C day.
After several days of planning everything around the heat, being able to sit comfortably outdoors felt almost surreal.
It’s probably less remarkable if you’re visiting Qatar in winter, but in the middle of July we thought it was brilliant.
Where to Eat in Doha
Parisa
Inside Souq Waqif, Parisa is almost impossible to describe as understated. The Persian restaurant is filled with colourful mosaics, paintings, chandeliers and mirrored walls and ceilings. It’s incredibly ornate and worth seeing even before the food arrives.
It’s more expensive than some of the other places we ate around the souq, but the setting is completely different. Come hungry, though, because the portions are huge.
Parisa is also very popular, so it’s worth booking a table ahead, particularly if you want to visit in the evening. We walked in earlier in the day and booked a table for the same evening, but July is low season.
Kabab Al Tayeb
For something much simpler, head to Kabab Al Tayeb in Souq Waqif. They serve kebabs, kofta and other grilled dishes, with bread being made fresh just outside the restaurant.
The food was excellent and prices were very reasonable, particularly considering the location right in the souq.
Watching the bread being prepared outside before eating it fresh with the meal made it even better.
Abo Shariha Restaurant
Another inexpensive option around Souq Waqif is Abo Shariha Restaurant.
This is a very simple, no-frills place serving dishes including falafel, hummus and foul.
We ordered several small dishes to share and paid very little for the amount of food we had. The people working there were also incredibly friendly.
If you want an affordable meal around Souq Waqif rather than one of the more polished tourist restaurants, it’s well worth stopping here.
Getting Around Doha
We found Doha relatively easy to get around.
Staying within walking distance of Souq Waqif meant we could explore that part of the city on foot, at least in the evenings.
For places further away, such as Katara, Place Vendôme and Gewan Island, we used uber rather than trying to walk long distances.
The biggest consideration for us wasn’t distance but temperature. In July, even relatively short walks could become uncomfortable very quickly during the day.
If you’re visiting during the cooler months, you’ll have much more flexibility to explore outside on foot.
Getting around with uber was super easy and not too expensive. We never had too wait long for a car to arrive.
Visiting Doha in Summer
There’s no getting around it: Doha in July is extremely hot.
During our stay, we saw temperatures reaching 48°C, and that completely changes how you explore the city.
We didn’t try to force a normal sightseeing schedule. Instead, we visited museums, malls and other indoor attractions during the hottest parts of the day and saved places like Souq Waqif and the dhow cruise for later and took Ubers to travels even shorter distances.
Mina District was also particularly quiet, with several businesses closed during our visit.
Would we choose July if we were planning a dedicated holiday to Qatar? Probably not.
But for a stopover, we still think it worked. We were already travelling through Doha, we had three nights to explore, and with a little planning around the heat we still managed to see a lot of the city.
Are 3 Days in Doha Enough?
For us, three nights felt about right. Doha isn’t particularly difficult to get around, and three days gave us enough time to see the main places we were interested in without rushing from attraction to attraction.
If you’re visiting as part of a Qatar Airways stopover, even one or two nights would give you time to explore Souq Waqif, see the skyline and visit a few of the city’s main sights.
With three nights, we had enough time to slow things down, spend our evenings around the souq and fit our sightseeing around the July heat.
Most importantly, Doha felt like a destination in its own right rather than simply somewhere we’d changed planes.
If you’re flying through Qatar, read our Qatar Airways Stopover guide for more about how we booked our three-night stay, what our hotel cost and how the programme works.
