Doha Qatar Tourism (2019) Travel Guide Top Places

"Doha: Walking back in time "

Doha Tourism

Doha is the capital city and most populous city of State of Qatar. The city is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country. It is Qatar's fastest growing city, with over 50% of the nation's population living in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, and it is also the economic center of the country. It comprises one of the municipalities of Qatar.

Doha, the city located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country and also, the capital city of Qatar, was founded in the 1820s as an outcome of Al Bidda. Doha is considered as a world city by the Globalisation and World Cities Research Network. Doha is growing globally by accommodating Education City, literally an area devoted to research and education; city hosted the first ministerial-level meeting of the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organisation negotiations. The city hosted a number of sports events in the past such as the Asian Games in 2006, the Pan Arab Games in 2011, and the most of the games at the AFC Asian Cup in 2011. In the near future, Doha is to host many more global events, major one is the FIFA World Cup in 2022. In May 2015, Doha was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, La Paz, Durban, Havana, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur. Doha is a city with hot desert climate and long summers, from May to September. Rainfall is scarce falling on isolated days mostly between October to March. Although winters in Doha are cool and the temperature rarely drop below 7 ?C (45 ?F). The majority of the religion followed in the city is Islamic. Though Islamic is not the only religion in Doha, Catholic is also a major religion of the people in the city. Catholic Churches came to existence in March of 2008, with the first one named, Our Lady of the Rosary, followed by many more in the later years. A majority of mosques are either Muwahhid or Sunni-oriented.

Places to Visit In Doha

Museum Of Islamic Art

Souq Waqif

Doha Corniche

Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Stadium

Villaggio Mall

Barzan Towers

View All Places To Visit In Doha

Currency in Doha

Qatari Riyal is used in the city. QR 1 is approximately 100 dirhams. QR 500, 100, 50, 10, 5, 1 are the available banknotes and QR 50, 25, 10, 5, 1 are the available coins in the city

Exchanging Money in Doha

Currency exchange is probably the best available at the Doha airport. The rates are least favourable there than any other money exchanger within the city. While ATMs are located easily around the country and easily accessible. Avoid exchanging money at the hotels.

Daily Budget for Doha

This is to give an estimate of the amount of money a traveller should carry. Try and give separate ranges for a shoestring budget travel, comfortable travel and luxury travel. Short, objective information expected.

Religion of Doha

Islam is the majority religion in Qatar. The vast majority of Qataris adhere to Islam, with a small number of naturalised Qataris keeping their religion of birth.

Doha Customs

Being an Islamic country, Qataris dress in a traditional manner, there is no set dress code, but it is expected to wear modest clothes while visiting any city in Qatar. Men are not allowed to wear shorts and no mini-skirts are to be worn by the women. People are expected to follow the dress code keeping in mind the Islamic culture. There are some set rules that are strictly to be followed anywhere in the country, including: 1. Normal swimmers are allowed on the beaches and near the pools, but if away from these places, one is to cover their legs. 2. Topless bathing is not at all allowed, not even on the beaches. 3. Roaming in public areas like parks, malls or souqs, one must dress in a decent manner. Rules for WomenWomen of the country usually roam in black dress covering whole of their body leaving out their eyes. But for foreigners or casual wears for women in Qatar excludes spaghetti-straps or see-through blouses and short skirts. Rules for Men Wearing long white shirt over loose pants and a headdress in white or red and white cloth held with a black rope is a traditional wear for Qatari men. For foreigners it is permitted to wear anything but shorts and sleeveless shirts in the country. There are all sorts of restaurants in the city. It is upon you if you want to tip the waiters, as they are not given well by the restaurants.

Language of Doha

The language of communication in Qatar is Arabic. It is also their official language. Majority of people speak Arabic. Though English is growing as a language in the country with the countryÃªs growth, it is essential for the locals to learn to speak English. Along with English, lingua franca is also rising, especially in commerce. Languages such as Baluchi, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Nepali, Tagalong, Ben gali, are also spoken in the country. This shows the multicultural make up of the country. Some of the common words in Arabic for foreigners to speak are as followed; "hello"- "marhabaan", "please"- "min fadlik" and "thank you"- "shukraan".

History of Doha

The city of Doha became independent from a local settlement known as Al Bidda. Looking in the past documents, it was found that Al Bidda was made in 1681, by the Carmelite Convent. The records mentions, that the ruler and a fort in the confines of Al Bidda are alluded to Carsten Niebuhr, the European explorer who happen to visit the Arabian Peninsula, created one of the first maps to depict the settlement in 1765 in which he labelled it as â€¢GutturÃª. Number of British Counsellors came to the country and made records of Al Bidda. One such was David Seaton, British Political resident in Muscat, who wrote the first English record in 1801. He refers to the town as â€¢BedihÃª and described the geography and defensive structures in the area. In 1820, British surveyor R.H. Colebrook, visited the city, remarked on the depopulation of the town. Later that year, agreement known as the General Maritime Treaty was signed between the East India Company and the sheikhs of several Persian Gulf settlements. It acknowledged British authority in the Persian Gulf and sought to end piracy and the slave trade.

Nightlife in Doha

Like any other country in the world, Qatar is also one which provides with the nightlife for people. There are several clubs, bars, discos around the country. Although, it is not as fun to do in clubs of Qatar as other countries, because it is majorly attended by people of Qatar who follow Islam and do not consume alcohol, yet there are few clubs serving alcohol for the foreigners who wish to have it, but at a high price. Local people find places like the nightclubs, bars, etc., an escape from their daily hectic jobs. They get there to relax themselves through dancing, spending time by themselves or their dear ones. Hotels, now have started to keep in house clubs for the locals as well as their guests, as it becomes easier for the people to attend clubbing within their place of stay. Not only are there clubs of Arabic nature, but Doha has come up clubs of the western nature. These western clubs allow people of different genders to become friends, talk with the opposite sex who might me strangers at first place. This shows that the country is becoming westernised and is appreciated. As mentioned earlier, drinking options in Qatar are lower, thus all variety of alcohol are served at the five-star hotels of Qatar. Tourists are here recommended that they look for bars offering happy hours or special discounts or maybe certain timing at which the bar serves liquor at lower rates. Some of the famous bars and nightclubs in Doha are mentioned below: 1. Qube, Doha 2. Pearl Lounge Caf_, Doha 3. Shehrazad Lounge Bar and Terrace, Doha 4. CloudNYN, Doha 5. Irish Harp, Doha

Shopping in Doha

Doha offers many shopping malls and Souqs for the tourists to shop from. Most famous of which is the Souq Waqif. 1. Souq Waqif _ This souq is the oldest and one of the best architected building of Doha, keeping the traditional Qatari styled village alive. It provides the visitors with plenty of varieties varying from shops, cafes, restaurants. 2. Shopping from the malls in Doha is a great option, it has variety of international brands, but they are expensive, look out for the discounts offered by the stores. Food courts are great in malls.