Longweekend in Doha

It was a while since I headed for an exploring trip so when I had a day off Monday this week I decided to go for one. I have been curious about traveling to Doha in Qatar for a long time and I am more than happy that I finally went. The place was well worth a visit I must say. Not a place to stay for a week but for a long weekend – definitely.

Before I met the cute? ugly? sad? I don’t know – Doha Hamad airport bear I checked out what to do in Doha and what is a better source than a guide from someone who lived there? Readyfortakeoff. My trip started with a smooth Qatar airways dreamliner flight on Friday night and arrived Saturday morning. The immigration went smooth so in 15 minutes after disembarking the  plane I was in a cab direction Hilton in the Diplomatic area. The hotel was an excellent choice of accommodation.

Hotels in Doha are definitely not cheap but of good quality. I treated myself with a chilling Saturday spending the day by the pool and private beach reading an interesting book and doing nothing. In the evening I walked around a bit in the area, to a nearby shopping mall and a park close by the hotels. Doha is not a city made for walking and taxis are extremely cheap but I prefer walking around myself so since I am my own boss when I travel with myself I took a walk. Some people might think that I would be afraid walking around in a muslim country where walking is not really the thing but honestly didn’t felt unsafe at all, just hot since it was 40+ degrees outside.

The second day I felt for exploring the city and in the morning I headed to Souk Wilfley which was well worth a visit. I loved the local feeling, the architecture and the atmosphere so I walked around there for a while watching everything they sold although I didn’t brought anything back with me except memories. It felt like a real authentic place – no touristy stuff although a main tourist sight in Doha.

You probably heard that you must visit the Museum of Islamic Art while being in Doha so although I don’t enjoy art museums I went there preparing for a cultural chock and guess what – it was closed due to Ramadan. Bad luck. The building was very arty though so I made both one and two pictures of it.

Then I headed for a favorite of mine. An evening stroll in the sunset nearby the water. Doha Corniche was a 10 point destination and if I would have been dressed in running gear it would have been an ultimate running route. Flat, spacious, scenic and inclusive people watching.

Three days in Doha was just perfect. I got to see the sights I wanted to and had a relaxing time. Unfortunately I didn’t visited any rooftop bars since alcohol is not served during Ramadan but it was not the end of the world. I know that if you book a flight with Qatar airways you can do a free stopover in the city and they also offer sightseeing tours for if you have a long transit – an opportunity you cannot miss out. After this trip I got more inspiration to visit other countries in the Middle East. Oman and Bahrain are the next ones on my list. And South Arabia but that can be a bit tricky…

/ Pernilla in the Middle East