Back in Qatar! Our 7 day itinerary in Doha
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I’m going back to Doha! This time my husband, Yoni, and I are visiting together. We have one week in the city and are taking our time exploring.
What we have planned:
Wandering around Souq Waqif
Walking The Corniche, riding in a dhow boat
Photoshoot in the desert near the border of Qatar and Saudi Arabia
Yoni has a surprise for me! Any guesses about what it is?
Relaxing at the hotel pool
Visiting the Katara Cultural Village and walking the Pearl
Visiting the National Museum of Qatar
Yoni and I arrived in Doha separately. I flew on a 13-hour 47-minute direct Qatar Airways flight from Miami in an economy exit row seat. If you’re into planes, it was an Airbus A350-1000 and there was a QSuite on board. It was very helpful not to be crammed into a row with three seats, but I did miss having space under the seat in front of me and in the seat back pocket for my items. The chair did recline some and I took advantage of this as the middle seat behind me was empty.
what does Getting to Qatar look like due to Covid As of early 2022?
For my trip, I had to show proof of a negative PCR covid test 48 hours before my flight time. I also had to pre-register online with my passport and personal information, as well as submit my vaccine card. This would tell me if I am approved to enter the country. These time frames changed before my flight so please check with your airline for current procedures.
I also had to check in with the Qatar Airways counter at the airport and show proof of my application approval, vaccination status, and hotel information before I could receive my boarding pass. All of this would be needed again for immigration upon arrival.
what was immigration like?
Easy! The longest part was waiting in line. I showed all my paperwork to the female immigration officer. As I visited for personal travel, I was issued a temporary visa upon arrival.
Wow! Now, tell me more about Qatar.
Happily! Qatar is located in the Middle East and borders Saudi Arabia. It is an independent emirate and has one of the largest reserves of petroleum and natural gas in the world. In November later this year, they are hosting The World Cup. It is a primarily Muslim country and as such, alcohol is not really sold outside of a handful of hotels and establishments. It’s a great place for mocktails!! The water in Qatar is safe to drink, which is very important as it’s a desert. Bottled water is also a plentiful option.
At the time of posting, $1 is about 3.64 Qatari Riyal.
ok, I’m ready to hear about your first day.
We’re staying at the Najd of the Souq Waqif boutique hotels in the Souq and it could not be a more perfect location. I took an Uber from the airport to the hotel. After checking in, getting settled, and showering after a half day of travel, I ate at the Georgian restaurant that’s part of the hotel. It’s called Al Terrace and it was delicious!!
I ordered a tarragon lemonade, a Qartuli salad, an adjaruli khachapuri, and a beautiful fruit platter. I’ve seen the khachapuri (cheese boat) on a few Jewish food articles and was excited to try it. It did not disappoint! The lemonade was a refreshing surprise too. Look at the menu for yourself!
Yoni met me after dinner and we rested up before our first day. I was up at 3:30 a.m. and from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. before magically falling asleep until 9:45 a.m. when he woke me up for breakfast. It’s an 8-hour time difference from Qatar to Miami.
Our first day in Doha
We opted in to get breakfast with the room reservation and the meal is at a different location. Our hotel consists of 8 different boutique hotels in various locations around the souq. We are staying at Najd. Originally, we booked for Mushareib and were upgraded at check-in. Najd is a better location in the Souq and we’re very pleased.
For breakfast today, we both opted for the Arabic breakfast. I chose scrambled eggs, while Yoni chose shakshuka. It was scrambled and very different from an Israeli or Mediterranean shakshuka as it wasn’t saucy. I also tried Arabic coffee (not my thing) and I’ll try the tea tomorrow. You can see the room where we ate and some of our breakfast below.
After breakfast, we wandered around the Souq Waqif and took our time exploring the various corridors. The Souq is made up of several sections: pets, handicrafts, gold/jewelry, clothing and textiles, kitchen/home items, foods and sweets, and spice sections. There is also the Falcon Souq where you can see and sometimes hold falcons. This is different from the pets area. Check out the video below for the sounds of the birds in the pets section. Separately, you can find horses and camels in the souq and nearby is a large square and fountain where pigeons like to hang out.
After the Souq, we went to the Villaggio mall which is just like the one in Vegas. It’s another thing to see and honestly, it wasn’t too important to me to check it out but it worked in our favor. We found a very favorable money exchange place where we exchanged USD for QAR at the current rate without fees. Score! And next door to the exchange kiosk is a Carrefour. Double score!
At Carrefour, we picked up bottles of water, produce snacks (apples and golden plums), snack bars and pretzels for the organized tours, and some goodies for our family back home. I love getting gifts at local grocery stores because it’s consumable (so not a tchotchke), cost-effective, and where the locals shop. Sometimes I’ll find something in the airport at duty-free but I’m always curious about the local authenticity of the items.
Following our trip to the mall, we went back to the hotel for a nap and then ventured out again for dinner. We ate at Shay Al Shamous which is the only restaurant in the Souq owned and operated by a woman. I ordered Karak (milk and tea) and Balaleet (vermicelli noodles seasoned with sugar, cardamom, and rose water with an omelet on top). It was a good mix of sweet and savory! We agreed it tasted like noodle kugel. Yoni ordered Motabak Regag Vegetables, which ended up being like a flat pizza calzone. It wasn’t too good but somewhat tasted better with the noodles on top.
Following dinner, we walked over to the Corniche and strolled along the water. We also took a dhow ride out on the water. There were about 20-25 people on the dhow with us. The groups were dancing like crazy to the music and lights on the dhow. The ride was about 30 minutes, nothing too long, and it was a fun time to wrap up the day!
Tomorrow we plan to see the Corniche in the day and see how things go. It’ll be a very early night because on Friday we have our photo shoot and will be leaving the hotel at 4 a.m. to be in the desert for sunrise.