QATAR · ARABIAN GULF
Glass towers one day, the dunes the next.
Desert safaris out to the Inland Sea, camel treks and dune drives, Souq Waqif and the Corniche, and the day trips that fit a Gulf stopover.
Start here
The three days a Qatar trip is built on.
A desert with a sea hidden inside it, a capital you can cross in an evening, and the dune drive everyone books. Get these three in and the rest of the trip falls into place around them.
The far south
The Inland Sea
An hour past the last petrol station the dunes pile up, and then the Gulf appears between them. Khor Al Adaid is a tidal sea with no road in, reached only by 4WD over the sand. Almost nowhere else does the open ocean push this far into a desert.
- 1 Doha: Safari, ATV, Camels, Sandboarding and Inland Sea Tour
- 2 Qatar Gold Dune Safari, Dune Bashing,Camel Ride,Sand Boarding,Inland Sea Desert
- 3 Doha: Safari, Camel Ride, Sandboarding and Inland Sea Tour
In the city
Souq Waqif & the Corniche
Doha rebuilt its old market beam by beam, and the evenings are the payoff: lanes of oud and spice, the falcon souq, qahwa and shisha under the lamps. The Corniche and the Museum of Islamic Art sit a short walk along the bay.
- 1 Doha: Guided City Tour with Airport and Hotel Pickup
- 2 Doha City Tour | Souq Waqif | Courniche | The Pearl | Katara etc
- 3 Doha City Tour And Dhow Boat Cruise (Private/Sharing)
On the dunes
Dune Bashing at Sealine
The sand south of Mesaieed climbs into some of the tallest dunes in the Gulf. A 4WD lets its tyres down and drops over the crests, the sandboards come out, and a camel is usually waiting at the top. The half-day everyone remembers.
- 1 Doha: ATV, Quad/Buggy Dune Bashing, Camel Ride, Sandboarding
- 2 Desert safari, Dune bashing, sandboarding, camel, ATV Option
- 3 Doha :Half Day Desert Safari | Camel Riding | ATV | Sand Surfing
The layover
Most people meet Qatar between flights.
Hamad is one of the busiest stopover airports on earth, so plenty of Qatar trips are measured in hours, not days. Here’s how far you can get with what you’ve got.
The one everyone books
If you only do one thing, do the desert.
More travellers book this than anything else in the country. Dunes, a camel, the run out to the Inland Sea, and back to Doha by dark.
The classics
Qatar's Most Popular Tours
Dune bashing, the Inland Sea, camel treks and the Doha city loop. The days most visitors come for.
By region
The whole country fits in a long weekend.
Doha for the skyline and the souq. Mesaieed for the dunes and the beach. Al Wakrah for the old harbour. The north for the forts and the mangroves. Zekreet for the desert rock out west.
By experience
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
A 4WD over the dunes if you want the adrenaline. A camel if you want it slow. Sandboards, the Inland Sea, a Doha city tour, a dhow at sunset, and the rest.
After the heat
When the desert cools off.
The dunes are better in the last hour of light. Sunset over the sand, dinner at a camp, and a sky with no city in it. Three we’d book for the evening.
Out on the Gulf
See Doha from the water.
A wooden dhow, the West Bay towers lit up behind you, the Corniche curving past. If you only get on the water once, make it one of these three.
The older Qatar
Forts, pearls and the north.
Before the towers there was Al Zubarah, the pearl banks and the watchtowers up the coast. Three trips into the Qatar that came first.
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