Ever since I was a child, I have had dreams of Arabian nights. Nomadic cultures, grand mosques and Silk Road souks have always sparked my imagination. So when booking a trip to Singapore, I noticed I could arrange a stopover Doha Qatar; I could not let the opportunity pass me. After spending just short of 26 hours in Doha, I can tell you Hamad International Airport is the perfect hub for a city starting to bloom into a tourist destination.
To be completely honest, if you were to compare Doha to food, I would suggest you have a taste as opposed to a meal. A few hours on a Qatar stopover in the city are more than enough. Apart from the malls, souk (open-air market, or bazaar), Katara Cultural Village Amphitheater and the Islamic Art Museum, there just is not much there. With this said, though, a trip to the city is easy to organise.
Qatar Airlines Free City Tour Service
If you book on Qatar Airlines, like I did, they offer a complimentary tour of Doha. The Doha stopover tour is based on a first come first serve system (6 am being the best time to meet.) The sign up is easy to find at the airport under the giant “B.” The Qatar stopover tour generally goes past the Islamic Art Museum, the embassy district and ends at the souk. The Doha free tour remarkably showcases the wealth of Doha and what a Gulf capital has to offer. The nicest feature of this tour is the 30 minutes at the end where you can explore the souk. It is the only place in the city where locals and tourists seem to mix, and the falafel is pretty good too.
Stopover Doha Qatar Independent Tour
If you’re like me and prefer touring independently, you can pick up a visa at the airport. The visa costs around USD 30 and gives you 24-hour access to the city. As I mentioned before, the free city tour covers most of the highlights of the city, but if you want to visit the Islamic Art Museum or the souk in-depth, you will need to grab a visa.
The museum is free and has an extensive collection of Islamic art organised chronologically with the highest floor left for alternating exhibits. If you are looking for souvenirs, the gift shop on the main floor has a fantastic selection of books, trinkets and art. One of the best features of the museum is the café overlooking the Gulf making for a beautiful and relaxing break. Since I was at the museum on a Saturday, the park next door was holding their weekly market. Only 15 % of Doha are locals while everyone else is a migrant worker. This Saturday market is a perfect opportunity to see the city’s diversity: Indonesians, Thais, Malaysians, and Indians all selling their cultural foods. The entire park smelled like pad thai, beef soup and Indian Biryani. Oh and just a warning but the Indonesian meatballs were super spicy! In addition to food, the park was full with various vendors selling handmade art or second-hand clothes.
Doha Stop over Airport Hotel
If you choose to stay in the airport during your time in Doha, there are a couple of great options to spend a long layover. For those who want a high level of comfort, the “Airport Hotel”, yes that’s the official name, offers the best option. The Doha airport short stay hotel located in Hamad airport is only available to people on a layover. The rooms are well-organised and offer all of the amenities one comes to expect from a 4-star hotel. All hotel reservations come with access to the “Vitality” — a fitness centre with a pool, gym, massage area, and squash court. If you do decide to use the lounge, remember to bring your bathing suit and a towel, but for those who forget, bathing suits are available for around 30 USD. One of the coolest aspects of the fitness centre is the squash court. For those travelling alone, the spa will rent you running shoes and will even provide someone to play with; it’s a great way to kill some time. With this said, though, for an 8-24 hour layover a hotel room is approx. 200 USD and I do not recommend this option unless you have money to burn.
For those looking for a more economical option for their Doha layover, the “Vitality” lounge also offers an all-access pass for around USD 30 giving you access to everything the spa has to offer. Another option right below the hotel and Vitality fitness centre are two lounges. The Al-Maha transit lounge and the Oryx transit lounge can both be accessed for $55 USD an evening. Though these two lounges are located on the same floor right next to each other, there is only one main difference in the way that they operate. The Al-Maha transit lounge is the one affiliated with all the airline and credit card point programs. So if you have that platinum American Express travel card, you can get free access to the lounge for the duration of your layover in Doha. In my opinion, though, the Oryx lounge is the better choice with its quiet room, video games, and a free flow of alcohol and snacks. In summary: the Oryx offers a lot of comfort for a long stopover in Doha. If you put it into perspective, a meal in the food court ranges from USD 10-30, but if you fall asleep in some random seat, you may wake up with all of your belongings gone. So, in my opinion, USD 55 is fairly reasonable for food, drink and shelter.
All in all, I would say Doha is not ready for tourism yet but with its winning bid to hold the World Cup 2018, the city did get better. The area, in which the city does shine, is as a comfortable stopover in Qatar. Hamad Airport with its Airport hotel, lounges and free city tours makes for one of the most accommodating airports in the world – just don’t forget your trunks if you decide to take a dip in the pool!
What did you do on your 24 hour Qatar airways stopover in Doha, Qatar?
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