Along a seven-kilometre crescent of waterfront, Qatar's capital has placed a museum of fourteen centuries of Islamic art, a restored souq where Bedouin once traded and a national museum shaped like a desert crystal. Two days in Doha.
In this story · 5 sections
Doha, the capital of Qatar, wraps around a crescent-shaped bay, and its waterfront, the Corniche, ties the city together: a seven-kilometre promenade and dual carriageway from the towers of West Bay in the north to the oldest districts in the south. Along it the state has placed its most ambitious buildings. This two-day plan begins at the Museum of Islamic Art and ends at the souq and the National Museum, with an evening on the Corniche in between.
01Day one: the Museum of Islamic Art
Start at the Museum of Islamic Art, built to I. M. Pei's specifications on an artificial island off a peninsula near the traditional dhow harbour, linked to the shore by two bridges. Influenced by traditional Islamic architecture yet thoroughly modern in its geometry, it was the first museum in the Gulf to present more than fourteen centuries of Islamic art. Its western and northern facades face the harbour, a nod to Qatar's seafaring past, and in 2022 it became the first certified carbon-neutral museum in the Middle East.
Stay for lunch at IDAM, the museum's restaurant led by Alain Ducasse, inspired by French Mediterranean cooking, and then walk through MIA Park, the waterfront open space around the building. It has cafes, a children's play area and 7, a vertical steel sculpture by Richard Serra, and since April 2025 a new work by Nairy Baghramian; a bazaar is held in the park.
02The Corniche at dusk
In the late afternoon, walk a stretch of the Corniche. Built on land reclaimed from the late 1960s onwards, it is the city's stage for the National Day parade and National Sports Day, and its gardens and promenade look across the water to the skyline of West Bay. The government zone along the bay is home to the Amiri Diwan. Seven stations of the Doha Metro are near the Corniche, and underpasses lead down to the waterfront.
03Day two: Souq Waqif
At the southern end of the Corniche lies Souq Waqif, in the centre of Doha. Founded at least a century ago beside the dry riverbed of Wadi Musheireb, it was once right on the shore, so that boats could reach it from the bay; reclamation for the Corniche pushed the coastline away. Its name recalls the traders who stood at the gates to show their wares, and it was a meeting place where Bedouin and townspeople traded, mostly in livestock goods.
Prosperity in the 1990s brought decline, and in 2003 much of the souq burned. A government restoration from 2006, funded in its first phase by the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, demolished post-1950s buildings, refurbished the older ones and was completed in 2008. Today it sells traditional garments, spices, handicrafts and souvenirs, with restaurants and shisha lounges, and during the 2022 World Cup it became the fans' great gathering place. Come in the evening, when it is at its liveliest.
04The National Museum of Qatar
Finish at the National Museum of Qatar, which opened on 28 March 2019 in a building by Jean Nouvel inspired by the desert rose, a crystal formation found in Qatar. The site includes the palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, the heart of Qatari national identity. Eleven permanent galleries take visitors in a loop from the natural history of the desert and the Gulf through Bedouin culture and the founding of the state to the discovery of oil, drawing on some 8,000 objects and including specially commissioned films by Abderrahmane Sissako and Mira Nair.
05Planning
Visit from autumn to spring; the souq's spring festival is held around April. Dress modestly in the souq and museums. For more, see our destinations, the Metro Mode camera and our list of hotels worth a single night.