If you’re an Instagram addict looking for things to do in Doha, you clicked on the proper article.
I recently returned from a 1 day trip to this amazing city feeling overwhelmingly sure that it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. I cannot wait to go back and experience it again!
Um…I only went to Doha because I found a good deal on a flight
It’s true. I’ll go anywhere to take advantage of a good deal, as long as I can get there in an way which allows me to create interesting blog and video content. I’m also a photography nut (photography phreak?), so this trip to Doha was satisfying on so many levels.
Once on the ground, the beauty of Doha was so overwhelming that I couldn’t resist capturing it in pictures. It was exactly the kind of trip I love so much. And it may have never happened if I didn’t find such a good deal on the flights!
All of this is especially good news for you. How? Well, if you’re looking for things to do in Doha in a short amount of time, I’m here to tell you that 24 is all you need to really see the place.
I love travel, and I love photography (I also love corn chips and salsa, but that’s not exactly relevant so I’ll save that for another post).
The point is that I love to photograph the places I travel to, and I’ve got very strict criteria for doing so. All you need to know is that these 5 Doha photo-spot ideas come straight from the brain of a photo-obsessed travel geek.
The best way to see Doha is to take a late afternoon walk down Omar Al Mukhtar St
One of the most interesting things about the city center of Doha is how sparkly and new everything is. The architecture is spectacular, and from what I saw, it’s one of the cleanest and best-maintained city cores I’ve ever strolled through.
Omar Al Mukhtar St cuts right through the center of the downtown area, and it’s a spectacular walk in the late afternoon when the sun is low and reflecting off all the glass and metal like a disco ball.
This is the section of Omar Al Mukhtar St that’s most interesting (from an Instagram point of view, at least). Pics taken anywhere on this blue line will get you loads of “holy crap you’re in Doha?!” comments on your Instagram feed.The magnificent skyline of Doha, with Omar Al Mukhtar Street slicing right though the middle of it. With all the glass a metal reflecting every ray of sunlight, all I can say is: wear gobs of sunscreen!Luckily, as a San Diegan, my sunscreen application techniques are on point and I was lathered up perfectly for my exploration through the city. I could have used a pair of sunglasses though…I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the downtown area has a lot of charm and character, but it is extremely photogenic. I came home from this trip with way too many pictures of silver buildings, as well as the realization that I’m not a talented enough photographer to warrant so many pics of the same 10 silver buildings in my archives.Doha looks best at night IHMO. Too bad I was so jet lagged that I couldn’t stay awake past 8pm…
My best suggestion for this walk is to start at the Marriott Marquis Hotel (Omar Al Mukhtar Street, Area 61, Al Dafna, Street #850) and head south towards the waters edge stopping along the way to check out anything that strikes your fancy.
Oh, and just so you know: if you’re a history buff who is looking for things to do in Qatar that are especially “old world”, you’re not going to be satisfied with this walk. All you’re going to see is business people yammering and tapping on their mobile phones (as well as beautiful modern architecture). You’ve been warned.
Is 24 hours really enough time to see Doha?
Doha is an interesting place. It’s a city rich in history and culture, yet you’d be hard pressed to see any of it while walking though the downtown corridor in between the glitzy steel and glass skyscrapers.
It takes a bit of work to uncover it‘s past, but once you start peeling away the layers, you’re likely to find yourself becoming more and more enamored with Qatar both past and present. It’s fascinating.
However – if I’m being completely honest, there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of things to do in Doha. It’s definitely not a destination where you could spend a week in and feel like you didn’t see anything.
While vibrant and energetic, the footprint of Doha is relatively small (and much easier to consume than a first time visit to Dubai for example). 24 hours is more than enough!
It certainly has it’s own style of charm though. I can’t wait to return, phone in hand, bombarding all my Instagram friends once again with the beautiful sights.
My recent trip to Dubai was significant. As a matter of fact, it was only the second time in my entire life where I felt more nervous than I did excited in the days leading up to departure, and I couldn’t help but to have vivid flashbacks of my first trip to Asia way back in 2002.
Keep in mind that I was a very inexperienced traveler back then, and thought of hopping on a plane and flying 15 hours to Hong Kong took every bit of courage I had. Would I be able to handle the food?
What if I couldn’t read the signs and understand the language? What if I lose my passport and…I know. I used to worry about some really stupid and irrelevant shit when I was younger, so doing something adventurous like going to Asia for the very first time put me into anxiety overload.
Kowloon, May 2002 – complete sensory overload for a young guy from Michigan who had never been to Asia before!
Thinking back on it, it was easily one of the best trips of my life and I’m so glad that I had the willingness to step outside my comfort zone and do it. And even though I’m not anywhere near as much of a worrier as I used to be, I was still feeling a twinge of anxiety on the 15 hour flight from Los Angeles to Dubai which kicked off this entire trip.
I didn’t have any worries about not understanding the language or being able to handle the food, but it was mostly political thoughts and how a snow-white American dude like me (Midwest represent!) would be perceived by the locals.
I know. Dubai is one of the richest and most extravagant cities in the world, diverse and multicultural, and really not all that much different than anywhere else.
So even though I knew that wasn’t going to be complete culture shock, it was going to be my first ever visit to the Middle East and I just couldn’t help feeling a little bit nervous about what the coming days would bring.
Those of you who have been to Dubai before are most certainly falling out of your chair and laughing hysterically by now. I know this because it only took me all of about 10 minutes of being there to make me realize that all of my worrying was for naught since it’s essentially just a huge tourist trap (and a stunningly beautiful one at that).
The entirety of my three days on the ground in Dubai were spent mingling with tourists from the US, Europe and Australia – not that I was trying to mingle with them, but they were everywhere and after a while it kind of felt like I was at an amusement park – or perhaps Las Vegas on steroids.
Imagine Las Vegas mixing with Star Wars, and you’d pretty much end up with Dubai.Come to think of it, I’d actually go as far as to say that Dubai looks like a mix of Vegas, Star Wars, AND Disneyland. You just can’t leave out the Disneyland part, because it’s essentially a city built to attract tourists.
Setting reasonable expectations for your very first trip to Dubai
The somewhat disappointing realization of Dubai feeling like an amusement park was the inspiration for this post, and I hope what I am about to write will help first time visitors to this glitzy desert oasis get the most out of their trip.
Dubai is not a walking city
One of my favorite things to do as a traveler is to strap comfortable shoes to my feet and spend entire days walking around and checking things out. I generally try to avoid taxicabs or other public modes of transportation as much as I can, because I really enjoy taking my time to slow down and see the sights.
I realize that I don’t see as much by doing it this way, but getting some exercise while sightseeing is a total win-win.
Unfortunately, as beautiful and modern as Dubai is, it’s so bloody hot that walking outside for longer than 10 minutes in the middle of the day will kill you dead (or at least put you in the hospital).
Seriously – you have to ignore the fact that even though they built some really nice bike paths all around the city, they are completely useless for at least 16 hours of the day due to the heat.
Maybe it’s possible to go cycling or running at 11 PM, but even then you still have to be a total badass because it will be above 90°F (32°C) with oppressive amounts of humidity.
There’s a very good reason why you don’t see many people in this pic. It seems as if everyone was smarter than me, and I was absolutely crazy for venturing outside in the middle of the day. I feel like even that little girl was snickering at me for being so reckless…Anyone wishing to see the sights on foot (like me) should know that the best time for that sort of this is well after the sun goes down. It’s still going to be really hot though, so don’t be a hero and push yourself too hard!
Thankfully, shopping seems to be a national sport in the United Arab Emirates, and there are two ridiculously huge shopping malls in the city which you can spend entire days in walking around in air-conditioned comfort if you really feel the need to put some miles underneath your feet.
Public transportation in Dubai is plentiful and cheap
As I mentioned above, I’m not normally the kind a guy who likes to use public transportation so much when traveling.
However, Dubai was a complete exception because of the oppressive heat, which ended up being kind of a good thing because it made me realize how plentiful and cheap public transportation is in Dubai.
Of all the cities that I’ve ever been to in the world, I found taxi fares to be quite reasonable within the city limits of Dubai.
Fares are normally so expensive that it’s a last resort option in most places, but I was able to go from one end of the city to the other several times spending less than US$50 total – which is really impressive considering how much of a large area it covers.
Another nice thing about taxi service in Dubai is the fact that they are literally everywhere and I never had difficulty finding one ready to take me wherever I needed to go.
I’m sure that one of the main reasons for this is the fact that it’s so hot and most people don’t normally walk from place to place, so there needs to be enough taxes to cover the demand.
Taxi cabs are super cheap in Dubai, so don’t be a stubborn cheap wad and think that you’re going to be ripped off using them as a primary mode of transportation.
The other option for getting around Dubai quickly and cheaply is to use the elevated rapid-transit metro system. For roughly US$10, I was able to get a day pass for unlimited use which covered the entire network.
This unlimited use day pass for the metro system was the best $10 I’ve spent during this trip. I certainly got my money’s worth and it felt too good to be true – almost to the point where I was afraid they were going to cut me off and I was going to be “escorted” out to the desert (where I’d be left for dead) by two armed and angry security guards.Not only are the metro stations plentiful and super cool looking…The views while traversing one end of the city to the other are amazing! It’s totally worth wrangling your way to the front (or the back) of the train to get cool pics like this.
The elevated metro is obviously a better deal than using taxis when it comes to getting from place to place, and it’s what I would recommend as your primary mode of transportation in Dubai. Go get that card (officially referred to as a “Nol Card”) and save yourself a ton of money!
It’s not always necessary to make reservations for the Burj Khalifa observation deck
One of the things that all first-time visitors to Dubai must to do is to take a trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa. It’s the world’s tallest building, and a very impressive one at that!
Even better, it serves as a very good way to get your bearings in this amazing city since you will be able to see all of it from such a high vantage point.
A trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa was my only goal for this trip to Dubai, and I tackled it the very first morning after my arrival the evening prior.
Unfortunately, I got too busy and distracted, and I forgot to make reservations online ahead of time like so many other websites and travel guides suggested that I do.
Would it be too stupid to make a Leonardo Decaprio “I’m the king of the world!” comment?In all seriousness, standing at the top of the Burj Khalifa was one of the most mind-cleansing experiences I’ve had in a good long time.Tell me, how does that not look like a set from Star Wars? Dubai was by far one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been.
Fortunately, despite my forgetfulness leading up to this trip, I was able to make a reservation online the morning of, and even though not all timeslots were available, I showed up an hour early and they were still able to let me in (they were also allowing people to walk up and purchase tickets for immediate access as well).
Keep in mind that this was a Monday, and you may not have much luck showing up without a reservation on a weekend. But from my experience, weekdays are a much better time to go.
Nearly all restaurants in Dubai are closed during Ramadan
I’ll be honest when I say that I felt kind of stupid for showing up in Dubai not knowing that it was Ramadan.
For those that don’t know, Ramadan is a holy month of fasting and avoiding impure thoughts (which may be the most simplistic definition ever – there’s much more to it of course, and Wikipedia is a good source of info if you’re interested).
Muslims are not to eat from sunrise to sunset for each day of Ramadan, which means that most restaurants and cafés are closed. It is also disrespectful to eat or drink in public whether you’re Muslim or not, so as you can imagine, eating will be challenge for non-Muslim tourists in Dubai during this time.
That being said, I did run across a few cafés that were open to non-Muslims only, but they were very few and far between. You’ll have to creative with your dining habits if you show up in Dubai during Ramadan having no clue like I did.
Since all the restaurants and cafés are closed during Ramadan, you might as well hang out the beach (snow-white tourists like me who burn easily beware).Or perhaps you would prefer to go skiing instead? Yeah, this is more like it!The fact that it’s possible to go skiing in Dubai (on real freaking snow) after nearly dying of heat stroke on the beach less than an hour earlier is what makes this one of the most fascinating cities in the world. Who cares if all the restaurants and cafés are closed when you have the totally fun option of freezing to death and dying of heat stoke in the same afternoon?
While I did find the food options to be limited, room service was available in my hotel room 24 hours a day – so I had that as a last resort option if I couldn’t find anything else.
I did find that as long as I ate a really big breakfast and a really big dinner, I was able to skip lunch altogether, so it was never really an issue for me. But still – if you’re not expecting it (or you have small kids who eat like elephants), it can be kind of a big deal.
Final words of advice
My biggest take away from this trip and the final point that I would like to leave you with is the fact that Dubai felt just as western as any other city that I’ve ever been to.
Additionally, if it wasn’t for the Arabic script on all the signs, I would’ve never been able to guess that I was in the Middle East at all.
Dubai is an engineering masterpiece that needs to be seen to be believed, and it is a very fun and easy destination for travelers on any level (even those with very little experience exploring countries other than their own). Heck, If I can do it, anybody can.
