How To Spend 3 Days in Doha, Qatar

This is a much awaited blog post from many of you readers and followers that ask me very often what more to do in Doha in addition to my tips I wrote about here and here if you visit Doha for a short visit. Now you also want a travel guide for what to see and do in Doha for several days. Your wish is my law 🙂

Therefore, I was thinking of writing what I usually do in Doha for 3 days, just in time to see Doha properly, especially if you are in Doha for the first time. To be honest, Doha is not a city you return to, if you have been here once it is good enough, but that is my opinion. Instead, I would recommend going to Dubai several times 🙂

This is how I would spend 3 days in Doha, Qatar

Day 1 in Doha, Qatar

No matter when you land in Doha, whether it’s in the middle of the night, early in the morning or maybe mid day depending on which flight you take, I would take it easy this day. Check in at your hotel, change to something comfortable and go to Doha Souq called Souq Wakif. It is a decent touristy excursion destination the first day in Doha.

Souq Wakif is like a market and here you will find spices, clothes, hardware stores, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and lots of other things. Wander around among all the little alleys, settle down for a coffee and walk around feeling the atmosphere. Here you can also see falcons and other animals but the falcons are special and something that is fascinating to see so I think you should do it when you are here. In the square, they usually do some performances that can be fun to watch. Just behind the souk you will also find camels if you want to see them, something I think is a fascinating animal 🙂 However, they are not for sale 😉

Here you can choose to either have lunch, have a coffee or dine at one of the local restaurants and try food from the Middle East. Do you want to buy gold, Doha’s gold market is just opposite Souq Wakif with walking distance between each other and is called Gold Souq. You cross the street that is closest to the water towards the small spiral tower you see and follow the spiral tower, which is a small mosque. Behind the mosque is the gold market and here you can find genuine gold jewelry at great prices.

Day 2 in Doha, Qatar

Morning in Doha

Start your day with a coffee down at all the skyscrapers at the Corniche. In front of all the skyscrapers in the middle of town there is a cafe where you can buy a coffee or breakfast with you and then go the longest way to the other side of the corniche towards the souq. It’s a good walk and nice to walk on when you get to see Doha from a different point of view. You get very close to all the skyscrapers, which is a great feeling while being close to the water. Along the walk there are benches to rest on, palm trees, cafes and good photo points for anyone who wants to photograph Doha.

After walking the 7 kilometer walk along the water, you arrive at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and their newly opened museum, the Museum of Modern Art, which is a huge architectural building. Spend a moment at one of these museums and if nothing else, go through the MIA museum for an amazingly fine view of the Doha skyline. Here you have a good photo opportunity and it doesn’t cost anything to enter! 🙂

Lunch in Doha

To the right side of the MIA museum there is a large park area that you will see, follow the walkway, it will take you through the park so you arrive just to the water and here is a cafe where you can have lunch or just settle down for a drink break. Here is also a good photo point for those who want nice pictures with Doha skyline in the background!

If you want to have lunch at a restaurant, I recommend taking a taxi from the MIA Museum and going to the City Center shoppingmall which is in the middle of the city. It takes about 5 minutes by taxi and is super cheap. Have lunch at the Italian restaurant Biella or the luxury restaurant PAULS which has fantastic good food!

My favorite lunch is consumed at W hotel and their restaurant called Market and here they offer a 3 course lunch for about 200 SEK (20 Euro) and are among the best I’ve ever tasted! The W hotel is just behind the City Center shopping mall. I come here at least once every time I visit Doha, just because it is so damn good and decent dishes. Here, otherwise, a main course costs at least 200 SEK (20 Euro) so lunch is really affordable if you take this offer!

Afternoon in Doha

Either stay in the City Center shopping mall and walk around for a while or take a taxi to Pearl Island and stroll around there. Just as you come across the bridge to Pearl Island, ask the driver to turn right and stop at the nearest entrance and walk from there. You will find clothing stores, car dealers, restaurants and cafes. Pearl Island is shaped like a horseshoe and in the circle it is a large marina with a lot of luxury boats to have a look at. Walk through the marina and take the time it takes, it’s actually nice to walk around here, especially when the sun starts to get down and it gets a little cooler.

Evening in Doha

Go home to your hotel and change for the evening. Then take a taxi to Hilton Hotel and their Trader Vics restaurant. This is my absolute favorite restaurant in the evenings and really reasonably priced dinner! Start with a drink in the outdoor bar at Trader Vics, they have happy hour every day if I remember right (not quite sure) and enjoy the warm weather outdoors. Then you go into the restaurant section for dinner. During the evening, live music is played which is really good! The decor here is really nice and different, it feels like you are out at sea and the atmosphere is super throughout the evening.

Round off the evening with their special drink called Tikka Tikka, Pukka Pukka, it is really good and you just have to try this one before you leave! 🙂

Day 3 in Doha, Qatar

Morning in Doha

If you stay in one of the hotels I recommend in this blog post, I would relax by the pool or lie on the beach and read a book this morning.

Lunch in Doha

Take a taxi and head to either Villagio shopping mall, Mall of Qatar which is Doha’s latest and largest shopping mall or to Landmark shopping mall and have lunch at any of the restaurants located in their food court. Here you can also take the opportunity to spend a few hours on shopping or just take a walk around to see what the shopping center looks like. I promise, it will take a few hours here. Mall of Qatar is Doha’s latest and most spectacular shopping center and most worth going to, I think.

Dinner in Doha

This evening I would either have dinner in the Villagio tower which is the large tower that characterizes Doha. At the top there is a spinning restaurant which is a bit more fine dining with views of the whole of Doha. Here you go for a really “date night” as it is a little nicer restaurant. Located right at the Villagio shopping mall.

Restaurant Tips in Doha, Qatar

Four Seasons hotel in Doha

Otherwise, Nobu may have recently opened a restaurant at Four Season hotels in the city. Personally, I think this restaurant is too expensive for the food you get. I don’t think it’s worth going here, but the restaurant itself is really stylishly decorated and incredibly cool environment to stay in. If you like Asian fusion food you should definitely eat here!

Radisson Blue hotel in Doha

I have my favorite Italian restaurant at Radisson Blue hotel called The Italian Job. Inside the hotel’s gold building on the entrance floor you will find Doha’s tastiest and most family friendly Italian restaurant. Here it is really cozy atmosphere and good prices for the food and is a place I would like to return to because the food and service are so good!

Marriott Hotel in Doha City

Go to Marriott Hotel in City center and dine at any of the restaurants you found here. Among all there is an American sports bar called Champions that serves dinner as hamburgers while you watch one of all big screens with sports on and here you don’t have to be so neatly dressed. Or you ride the elevator up some floors to get to the Brazilian meat restaurant Ipanema which I love! This one can really recommend for those who love meat! Also a recurring restaurant for me, it’s really good!

Oryx Rotana hotel in Doha

If you are looking for tapas, you should go to Oryx Rotana Hotel which has a really nice little tapas restaurant called The Cellar which I also return to every time I am in Doha because it is so cozy here. When you enter the entrance of the Oryx Rotana hotel turn right and you will reach The Cellar. After dinner here, I recommend going to their jazz club which is incredibly nice! Here is a live band singing and playing jazz music. Different and incredibly nice place! 🙂

Rooftop bars in Doha

If you don’t want to go home after dinner, here are some tips on rooftop bars I recommend going to as I love in Doha!

• La Cigale hotel has a rooftop bar called Skyview which has both indoor and outdoor bar. A must!
• St Regis hotel has a rooftop bar called Rooftop and is a really delicious rooftop bar!

• W Hotel has a bar called Waham which is popular. Here you can also go to their pool area and sit outdoors or in a cabana that has sofas.
• At the newly opened Kempinski Marsa Malaz out on Pearl Island you will find Toro Toro, a really nice wine bar to go to!
• Kempinski in Doha City has a really nice lounge which is Doha’s highest bar and is called Z Lounge. If nothing else, they also have a really nice and quite expensive bar on the entrance floor behind glass doors that blend well into the wall so you don’t know that there is a bar behind because you can’t notice it. Awesome place!

Other

Tips on excursions in Doha 

As I said, this is just a proposal for a plan to do in Doha if you want to spend several days here. In addition to this, there are plenty of other things to discover, but you may have to rent a car then.

Sealine desert

An example of this is going out into the desert and going up and down among dunes, riding camel or driving quad bikes among the sand dunes in the desert called Sealine. Check with your hotel otherwise, they can certainly arrange this as a day trip and help with transportation, etc.

Doha Mosque

Doha also has a large mosque you can visit which is pretty central but I have never been in there, just outside but it is possible to enter here. Remember that women have their own entrance and men a separate entrance. Men and women are not allowed to stay together inside the mosque.

Katara

Go to Katara which is just 5 minutes by taxi from Doha city. Katara is a relatively newly opened area with lots of restaurants and an amphitheater that has shows some days. Here you can also swim on the beach or just stroll around this area for the sake of convenience. Nothing I would put on my “to do list” to do in Doha but if you have time left I can recommend going here but don’t expect anything exceptionally.

Restaurants tips in Doha

St Regis hotel Doha

More tips on dinner restaurants in Doha is also Hakkassan, located in St Regis hotel, a restaurant I haven’t tried but want to do next time I visit Doha. Likewise, the hotel also has a restaurant called Gordon Ramsey that serves more European food than Hakkassan, which is Asian fusion food.

Intercontinental hotel Doha

The Intercontinental hotel is well beyond Doha City but has both Belgian cafe which is an Irish pub and they have a Greek restaurant for those who are craving for Greek food.

Cheesecake Factory in Doha

Recently, the Cheesecake Factory has also opened in the Mall of Qatar. It is my absolute favorite restaurant and has been for years since I was a kid. That’s why I was really happy when they opened in Doha! A perfect lunch or dinner for anyone who loves pasta as much as I do 🙂

Pearl Island Doha

Out on Pearl Island, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from for both lunch and dinner. My favorite place for dinner on Pearl Island is called Carluccios and is an Italian restaurant that I can highly recommend! Here you can choose to sit indoors or outdoors if the weather permits and it is not too hot. Here are “normal” prices of the food.

I hope this guide can help you when you visit Doha in Qatar and if you want to know more about Doha, please write a comment down below or an email to me 🙂

Happy Travels!
// Charlotte

If you want to read more guides I have written about Doha, you can find them here:

• Doha, Qatar