Key areas

Al Sadd The poshest neighbourhood in the city, Al Sadd is neatly laid-out with banks, shopping malls, restaurants, car showrooms, designer boutiques and internet cafés. There’s also plenty of space for parking.

Rumeilah Park An attractive yet very busy and well-populated landscape near the sweeping bay on the Corniche. The park has an art gallery, open-air theatre, water features, shops and cafeteria. Fun rides for children include boats, a ferris wheel, miniature train and a skateboarding area. Corniche A 13.5kms stretch of shoreline, popular with joggers, especially at dawn and after sunset in summer. The Corniche is great for a relaxing walk and ample parking makes it a hit with expatriates and locals.
Ramada Junction This is the place to go for restaurants, with a vast variety of Asian eateries to suit every taste and budget. There are also fast-food joints like Dairy Queen, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, all within a kilometre’s radius.

Things to do

A must-do for first-time visitors is a trip to the dunes for a spot of desert driving. It’s an unforgettable experience. Tour operators like Alpha Tours (Tel: 434 4499, Fax: 447 8956, email: nelson@alphatoursqatar. com), Alshamel (Tel: 442 0232, Fax: 431 9863, email: Khalid.yousef@alshamel.com) and Arabian Adventure (Tel: 436 1461, Fax: 436 1471, email: arabvent@qatar.net. qa) can help organise desert safaris and visits to old forts around Doha, falconry displays, souks, camel races, excavation sites, museums and other places of interest. Tour operators set rates according to the number of persons in a group. The per head rate shouldn’t go above £30.

Excursions

Evening dhow (traditional Arabic boat) trips to Palm Tree Island, off the Corniche, are a perfect getaway from Doha’s heavy traffic. The ride starts from the sweeping bay of Doha and takes you to a man-made island seven minutes away from the shore. The island is safe, neat and quiet. Tel: 486 9151 for more information.

Shopping

Doha offers plenty of opportunities for shopping. Five shopping complexes—City Centre, Landmark, The Mall, The Hyatt Plaza and The Royal Plaza—are the focal points. All are easy to reach by taxi. The malls in Doha provide air-conditioned comfort, lots of parking, quality goods, and City Centre has a huge cineplex. From fashion to gifts, furniture to electronics, clothes to groceries, everything is available under one roof. If you’re keen to buy things cheaper, then ask a taxi driver to take you to a souk, where you can buy rugs, carpets, hats, dried fruits, perfumes, embroidered clothes or shoes.

Gifts to buy

An embroidered dress, traditional jewellery or a packet of dates decorated with almonds would all make nice gifts. There are plenty of traditional shops in the malls as well at the souks, which sell typical Arabic souvenirs: hand-made decorative items, vases filled with different-coloured sand, khanjars (small Arabic swords) and so on.

Conference centres

There are no dedicated conference facilities in Doha as yet. Instead, several of the larger hotels offer excellent conference facilities and business support. These include the Ramada Hotel, Sheraton Doha and InterContinental Doha—see the ‘Hotel’ entries below.