Doha

Doha has bet heavily on culture, and its museums are genuinely world-class. The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), designed by I. M. Pei (of the Louvre pyramid) and set on its own landscaped island at the end of the Corniche, holds one of the most comprehensive collections of Islamic art anywhere — manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and jewellery spanning fourteen centuries and three continents — in a building whose geometric, light-filled atrium is a masterpiece, with a celebrated café and a park behind it. Across the bay, the National Museum of Qatar, designed by Jean Nouvel as a cluster of vast interlocking discs evoking the crystalline 'desert rose', wraps an immersive walk through Qatar's geology, Bedouin life, pearling history and modern transformation around the restored historic palace of Sheikh Abdullah. Together they make Doha one of the Gulf's leading cultural destinations, joined by the Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art and the public artworks scattered across the city.

The soul of old Doha is Souq Waqif, a sprawling, sympathetically restored market on the site of the original Bedouin trading post. By day its lanes sell spices, textiles, perfumes, handicrafts and household goods; the Falcon Souq, where prized hunting birds change hands and a falcon hospital operates, is a fascinating glimpse of a living tradition. By evening the souq is Doha's social heart — shisha cafés spill onto the alleys, and Qatari, Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian and Moroccan restaurants serve grilled meats, mezze and machboos (the national spiced-rice dish) late into the night. Nearby, the golden-domed gold souq, the Msheireb Museums in restored heritage houses, and the Corniche promenade — perfect for an evening stroll or a traditional dhow cruise across the bay toward the glittering West Bay skyline — complete a half-day in the old centre.

Doha's modern districts showcase Qatar's ambition. The Cultural Village of Katara gathers an amphitheatre, art galleries, two striking mosques (one tiled in gold and purple), a pigeon-tower plaza and a public beach into a purpose-built cultural quarter on the bay. Next to it, The Pearl-Qatar is a reclaimed island of Venetian-style canals, marinas of superyachts, designer boutiques and waterfront dining at Porto Arabia. The restored-heritage Msheireb Downtown Doha rebuilt the old commercial core as a low-rise, walkable, sustainable district. And to the north, Lusail — the new city built largely for the 2022 FIFA World Cup — adds the spectacular Lusail Stadium (the final venue), a marina, boulevards and the Place Vendôme mall, reached by the clean, driverless Doha Metro. The World Cup's legacy of stadiums, transport and hotels has made the whole city markedly easier and more rewarding to visit.

Qatar is a desert peninsula, and the landscape beyond Doha is part of the appeal. The headline trip is to Khor Al Adaid, the Inland Sea — a UNESCO-recognised natural reserve in the country's south-east where a shifting arm of the Gulf penetrates deep into towering sand dunes, one of the few places on earth where the sea meets large dunes. It's reached only by 4x4 across the sand, on a half- or full-day 'dune-bashing' safari that typically includes sandboarding, a camel encounter and tea in a desert camp, with overnight options under the stars. Closer to the city, the Singing Sand Dunes, the camel-racing tracks of Al Shahaniya, the historic Al Zubarah fort (a UNESCO site) and the mangroves of Al Thakira for kayaking give the active traveller more reasons to head out of town. Desert safaris should be booked with established operators, and the cooler months make them far more comfortable.