Two days built for a long layover or two nights: the old city from Souq Waqif at opening to the Museum of Islamic Art and a dhow at dusk, then the new one from the desert rose museum to Katara's beach and the Pearl. The Metro is QR 2 a ride.
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Checked October 10, 2026. That’s the day we last confirmed the hours, prices and closed days.
November to March is the season: 64 to 82°F (18 to 28°C), dry, and the Corniche is a pleasure at any hour. April and October are hot but workable with early starts. May to September is 104°F (40°C) or more with humidity; put the outdoors before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. and spend the middle of the day in the museums. Ramadan is expected to run from about February 8 to March 9, 2027: the souq shuts for the afternoon, museums trim their hours, and the evenings after iftar are the liveliest of the year.
Souq Waqif or Msheireb for the old city on foot, two Metro lines and the shortest run back to the airport; the souq's boutique hotels are in the lanes themselves. West Bay for the towers, the hotel bars and the Corniche. The Pearl or Lusail for the marinas and the beach, 25 minutes from the souq on the Red Line.
Buy a Standard travel card at any Metro station (QR 10, then QR 2 a ride, capped at QR 6 a day) and tap in and out. The Red Line runs from the airport through Msheireb to Katara, the Pearl's Legtaifiya stop and Lusail; the Gold Line runs along the old city with stations at Souq Waqif, National Museum and Ras Bu Abboud for Stadium 974; everything meets at Msheireb. Gold Club is the first-class carriage at QR 10 a ride on a QR 100 card, which is a quiet seat and little else. Trains run from about 5 to 1 a.m., from 9 a.m. on Fridays; free Metrolink buses feed the stations. Turquoise Karwa taxis are metered and cheap for the distance; Uber works everywhere and Careem has gone.
Souq Waqif · 90 min
The spice lanes and the cloth and perfume alleys open around 9 a.m. and shut at 1 p.m. for the heat, so the morning is the quiet one. Breakfast at Shay Al Shoomos on the main lane: regag crepes with cheese and honey, and a glass of karak, under QR 40.
Corniche · 120 min
Fifteen minutes on foot along the water to I. M. Pei's limestone block on its own island. Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday to Tuesday, to 9 p.m. Thursday, 1:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, and closed Wednesday; the collection is calligraphy, carpets and astrolabes.
QR 50
Souq Waqif · 75 min
Back in the souq, the Persian room walled in mirror mosaic. Order the chelo kebab or the fesenjan with pomegranate and walnut, around QR 90 a head, and get hot knafeh at Al Aker two lanes over after.
Corniche · 75 min
Go north from the souq past the dhow harbor to the Pearl Monument, which marks the trade the city lived on before gas, with the West Bay skyline behind it. It is free, flat and shadeless, so in summer do it after 6 p.m..
Souq Waqif · 60 min
On the western side of the souq by the main parking lot, hooded birds sit on perches in a dozen shops and the owners will let you hold one. The Falcon Hospital next door shows its waiting room to visitors on weekday afternoons, free.
Corniche · 45 min
The wooden boats strung with lights wait at the Corniche between the souq and MIA Park. The short loop of the bay is around QR 25 a head and about half an hour, and they leave when the deck fills.
QR 25
Souq Waqif · 90 min
Yemeni, at the back of the souq: lamb or chicken mandi on a tray of smoked rice, with sahawiq chili sauce, around QR 50 to 70 a head and no alcohol. Then walk the lanes, which are at their best from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m..
Old Doha Port · 120 min
Gold Line to National Museum station. Jean Nouvel's building is a desert rose of 539 interlocking discs; walk the outside first, then the galleries in order, from geology through the pearling years to the gas.
QR 50
Msheireb · 90 min
Two stops on the Gold Line to Msheireb, the rebuilt old quarter of shaded lanes and cream stone. Four heritage houses are the museums, including Bin Jelmood House on slavery in the Gulf, and all are free.
Katara · 60 min
Red Line from Msheireb to Katara, about twenty minutes, then the Metrolink bus or a fifteen-minute walk into the village. Hot chapati with cheese and honey and sweet karak tea come to around QR 15; Sukar Pasha on the waterfront has a sit-down Turkish meal nearer QR 100.
Katara · 105 min
The Greek-style amphitheater facing the bay, the Golden Mosque in gilt mosaic, the Katara Mosque in Persian blue tile, and a dozen free galleries. The beach costs QR 10 and requires modest swimwear (one-pieces and board shorts, no bikinis).
QR 10
Lusail · 90 min
Red Line two stops north to Lusail: the new city's main street of towers and arcades, with the Place Vendôme mall at one end for air-conditioning and the marina promenade at the other for sunset. For soccer fans, Stadium 974 at Ras Bu Abboud on the Gold Line was still standing in December 2025, so check before you go.
The Pearl · 60 min
A ten-minute taxi from Lusail, or the Red Line to Legtaifiya and a walk. Porto Arabia's marina is a crescent of yachts and arcaded walkways, free to walk, with the Qanat Quartier canals ten minutes on, quieter after dark.
The Pearl · 120 min
Lebanese on the marina terrace: hummus, kibbeh, a mixed grill and the fattoush, around QR 120 to 150 a head, no alcohol. For wine with a view, the hotel restaurants in West Bay or the Marsa Malaz Kempinski on the Pearl serve it.
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Pins are approximate. Tap one for the stop; the directions links open Google Maps.
From Hamad International (DOH), the Red Line leaves from the station beneath the terminal: about 20 minutes to Msheireb and 25 to Souq Waqif with a change to the Gold Line, for QR 2 plus the QR 10 travel card, running 5 to 1 a.m. (from 9 a.m. on Fridays). A Karwa taxi from the rank at the left end of the arrivals hall is 15 to 25 minutes to the souq or West Bay for roughly QR 50 to 70, card or cash. Uber picks up in the multi-story parking lot through Gate 3 at a similar price.
About QR 250 to 400 a day per person for meals, tickets and transport. The two museums are QR 50 each and the beach QR 10; a souq or Katara street meal is QR 15 to 40, a sit-down dinner QR 80 to 150, and a drink in a hotel bar QR 50 to 70. Metro days rarely pass QR 6, which is the daily cap.
Plans change. Ask Chat and it proposes a reshuffled day you can apply, or just answers the question.
Yes. Two days cover the old city and the new one at a real pace, and a long layover of eight hours or more covers day 1's souq, museum and Corniche on its own. A third day buys the Inland Sea or Al Zubarah; beyond that you are repeating yourself.
Day 2: the National Museum, the Msheireb houses and the Place Vendôme mall are indoors and a Metro ride apart, and Katara's galleries are air-conditioned. Rain is a few days a year; heat is the real risk from May to September, so keep outdoor stops to before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m..
Most visitors do not: more than 100 nationalities enter visa-free with a passport valid for three months and a hotel or stopover booking. Nationalities outside the list apply for an e-visa on the Hayya portal before flying. Transit passengers staying inside the airport need nothing.
Yes. Souq Waqif shuts from around noon to 3 p.m. and the museums shorten their hours, but hotel restaurants serve during the day and the souq after iftar is the best evening of the year. Do not eat, drink or smoke in the street in daylight; the Metro and taxis run as usual.
Same country first, then the cities people tend to pair with Doha. Want two or three in one go? String them together in the trip builder.
Add your dates, your hotel and who’s coming, then ask Chat to change anything: it proposes the edit and you tap Apply. Want a long lunch instead of a museum? Just ask. Every place is checked against Google Maps before it lands on your day, and Chat can tell you when to leave for the next stop. Going on to another city? Build a multi-city trip.