Qatar: from the souq to Lusail

Doha’s museums and waterfront, Education City, an extravagant hotel stay and a memorable Indian meal.

Qatar202551 photographs

By Julius Uy6 min read

Interlocking discs of the National Museum of Qatar glow gold beneath a deep blue evening sky.

Qatar’s architecture impressed me again and again: the National Museum, Qatar National Library, Lusail’s towers and even the metro stations. Between those visits came the bustle of Souq Waqif, quiet afternoon streets and some exceptionally generous meals.

Doha’s waterfront and The Pearl

The waterfront visit took in Doha’s business district, the coastline and The Pearl. Across the water, glass towers rose behind the broad promenade; the Qatar 2022 sign was still there when I visited in 2025.

At The Pearl, boats filled the marina beside pale apartment blocks. I ended that post with a simple reaction: “Thank you Qatar! Amazing country!”

The skyline changed from one view to the next: smooth glass façades gave way to a tower covered in repeating triangular patterns, with a strip of green beneath it.

A Qatar 2022 sign stands beside blue water, with Doha’s towers across the bay. — Doha’s waterfront, with the Qatar 2022 sign still in place during the 2025 visit.

Glass towers rise against a clear blue sky in Doha’s business district. — The towers of Doha’s business district.

A tall tower covered in repeating triangular patterns rises above trees and a lawn. — A patterned tower seen during the Doha waterfront visit.

Lusail Boulevard

Lusail’s four towers were imposing, with a metal whale suspended between them. Standing below it meant looking almost straight up into the sky.

What surprised me most was how quiet the boulevard felt at four in the afternoon. There were remarkably few people around during that visit.

Other photographs from Lusail show an openwork oyster-and-pearl sculpture and the gold-coloured stadium. The contrast between those smaller sculptural details and the enormous buildings made this part of the city especially striking.

A suspended metal whale sculpture hangs overhead between four curved towers in Lusail. — Looking up at the whale sculpture between Lusail’s four towers.

An openwork metal oyster shell holds a spherical pearl beneath the Lusail towers. — A pearl-and-oyster sculpture in Lusail.

A gold-coloured stadium stands behind a large bronze sculpture on a paved plaza. — Gold-coloured stadium architecture and an outdoor sculpture in Lusail.

Lusail: Katara Towers and Place Vendôme

The two curved wings of Katara Towers house Raffles Doha and Fairmont Doha. From the waterfront, the building’s crescent shape was unmistakable.

Place Vendôme was another Lusail stop: an enormous, French-inspired shopping mall that I thought was beautiful.

Around the towers, the photographs caught globe lights suspended overhead, curved metalwork and a marina entrance. From the pavement, the glass façades filled much of the sky; at Place Vendôme, domes and an elaborate arch replaced those sweeping curves.

The two curved wings of Katara Towers rise above the Lusail waterfront under a blue sky. — Katara Towers in Lusail, home to Raffles Doha and Fairmont Doha.

White globe lights hang from cables between the curved wings of Katara Towers. — A canopy of globe lights beneath Katara Towers.

A curved woven-metal sculpture stands beside blue glass and a narrow water feature. — Curved metalwork beside the Lusail waterfront buildings.

Pale domes and an ornate arched entrance rise above the Place Vendôme shopping façade. — The domes and arched façade of Place Vendôme.

A rectangular metal entrance frame overlooks yachts and pale waterfront buildings at the marina. — A marina entrance framed by Lusail’s waterfront buildings.

Slender dark sculptures and palm trees line an empty pavement beneath a curved glass tower. — A quiet pavement, palms and sculptures beside the curved towers.

Souq Waqif

Souq Waqif felt much busier than the quiet streets I had been seeing elsewhere. Pigeons gathered around the fountain, people filled the market lanes, and mounted police passed through.

Beside the outdoor café tables stood the enormous golden thumb sculpture.

A large golden thumb sculpture stands beside outdoor café tables at Souq Waqif. — The golden thumb sculpture at Souq Waqif.

Katara Cultural Village

At Katara Cultural Village, tall dovecotes stood beside a mosque decorated in blue. The amphitheatre was another sight from the visit, along with the mosque with walls covered in gold-coloured tiles.

The interior view was just as ornate: round hanging lamps sat beneath a patterned gold ceiling, above a carpet marked out in repeated rows.

A mosque covered in gold-coloured tiles stands beneath a blue and cloudy sky at Katara Cultural Village. — The gold-covered mosque at Katara Cultural Village.

Circular hanging lamps illuminate a mosque interior with a decorated gold ceiling and patterned carpet. — Inside a mosque at Katara Cultural Village.

Msheireb Downtown

In Msheireb Downtown, I photographed a tram on a street lined with pale buildings. The low sun shone between them as people walked along the pavement.

National Museum of Qatar

The National Museum’s architecture was a highlight. I photographed it after dark, when the overlapping discs were lit in gold against the deep blue sky. “Amazing architecture” was my immediate verdict.

Aspire Zone: the Torch

The trip also included the Torch, in Aspire Zone on Al Waab Street.

Education City and Qatar National Library

Education City, in Al Rayyan, was another place that felt strikingly quiet during my afternoon visit. Around three o’clock, the open spaces seemed to have very few people in them.

The campus visit included plazas, the mosque and a tram stop. At Qatar National Library, bookshelves rose in terraces beneath a vast ceiling, with tall windows bringing light into the reading and study areas. Its architecture impressed me too.

The tram stop and its rows of bicycles and scooters were another view of the campus. Inside the library, the study desks, tall windows and reflective ceiling formed a very different kind of open space.

Angular shade structures and planted trees line a paved plaza in Education City. — An open plaza in Education City, Al Rayyan.

Rows of computer desks stand beneath the high reflective ceiling and tall windows of Qatar National Library. — Study desks inside Qatar National Library.

A white tram waits beneath a angular station canopy beside parked bicycles and scooters. — The tram stop at Education City.

Museum of Islamic Art: manuscripts

At the Museum of Islamic Art, I looked at Qur’ans from different places and periods, along with other manuscripts and scrolls. My notes also mention Bukhari and fragments from al-Andalus.

The manuscript photographs show how varied the pages were. Some have broad, angular writing and sparse ornament; others combine flowing lines of script with gold roundels, coloured marks and elaborate borders. Worn edges and missing areas remain visible in several of the older-looking fragments.

Two richly decorated openings bring in another layer of colour: green and blue borders, tiny illustrations and calligraphy in several colours. Seen together, these pages made the manuscript displays a substantial part of the visit.

An open manuscript displays Arabic calligraphy and gold ornament on pale pages against a red backdrop. — A manuscript on display at the Museum of Islamic Art.

An open manuscript combines a dense blue-and-gold panel with large Arabic calligraphy on the facing page. — A manuscript opening with a blue-and-gold decorated panel.

An open book displays small illustrations and Arabic text within intricate green, blue and gold borders. — Illustrated pages surrounded by colourful ornament.

An open manuscript shows two arched illustrations facing lines of multicoloured Arabic calligraphy. — Arched illustrations and coloured calligraphy on a manuscript opening.

Two worn manuscript leaves carry dark Arabic script with missing areas near the centre. — A manuscript fragment with losses in the centre of the pages.

A pair of irregular-edged manuscript leaves displays rows of Arabic writing. — Worn edges around another pair of manuscript leaves.

Broad angular Arabic script fills an open manuscript with small coloured roundels. — Bold angular calligraphy across an open manuscript.

Dark angular Arabic writing and gold roundels cover a single pale manuscript leaf. — A single folio with angular writing and gold ornament.

Fine Arabic calligraphy sits within rectangular gold borders across an open book. — Fine calligraphy framed by gold borders.

Museum of Islamic Art: gold and calligraphy

Calligraphy also appeared beyond the book openings. A large circular gold work occupied the wall, while a manuscript display below repeated the gold tones at a much smaller scale.

The closer photographs bring out the contrast between the circular composition and the dense lines of writing on the gold-coloured folio.

A circular gold calligraphic artwork hangs above a manuscript display in a dark gallery. — Gold calligraphy on the wall and in the display case below.

Dense lines of Arabic writing cover a gold-coloured manuscript folio. — A close view of a gold-coloured manuscript folio.

Interlocking gold forms create a large circular calligraphic artwork against a dark wall. — The circular gold calligraphy in closer detail.

Museum of Islamic Art: textiles and carved stone

The museum visit also included objects whose patterns were worked into fabric and stone. Hanging textiles carried bands of embroidery, while a rectangular stone panel held a carved inscription.

Another relief was filled with figures and animals. Architectural capitals, shown against a photograph of an arched interior, brought the display back to the shapes and details of buildings.

A rectangular pale stone panel bears rows of carved Arabic lettering around an opening. — A carved stone inscription on display.

Red, purple and gold embroidered textiles hang vertically in a museum display. — Embroidered textiles in red, purple and gold.

A weathered stone relief contains carved figures and animals in a rectangular composition. — Figures and animals carved into a stone relief.

Carved architectural capitals stand before a black-and-white photograph of an arched interior. — Architectural capitals and the forms of an arched interior.

Doha Metro

These were among the most beautiful metro stations I had seen. The Gold Class cabins even had upholstered seats and cup holders, which seemed excessive for a daily commute.

The practical side left me less impressed. I found the overhead wayfinding harder to follow than the systems I knew elsewhere in Asia, the shops sparse, and the station locations inconvenient for my journeys.

Empty cream-and-burgundy upholstered seats with metal cup holders line a Doha Metro Gold Class cabin. — Gold Class seats on the Doha Metro, complete with cup holders.

Direction signs for platforms hang beneath the sculptural ceiling of Souq Waqif metro station. — Platform directions beneath the station’s sculptural ceiling.

Banyan Tree Doha: the room

Banyan Tree Doha felt extravagantly generous. My room had a sitting area beside tall windows and, to my astonishment, two toilets. I could not quite see why I needed both.

The photographs show the sitting area from several angles, including the chaise beside the windows and a dining table beyond the sofa. The bedroom continued the same spacious feeling, with the city visible through the glass.

A sofa, chaise and armchairs sit beside full-height windows overlooking Doha. — The sitting area in the room at Banyan Tree Doha.

A long chaise sits beside full-height windows overlooking Doha’s buildings. — The chaise and city view at Banyan Tree Doha.

A dining table and armchairs stand beyond the sofa in a spacious hotel sitting room. — The dining and sitting areas in the hotel room.

A neatly made bed stands beside tall windows in the Banyan Tree Doha room. — The bedroom at Banyan Tree Doha.

Il Galante: a generous breakfast

Il Galante, one of the hotel’s restaurants, continued the theme at breakfast. There were pastries, fruit, cheese, olives, toast and coffee spread across the table. I thought the breakfast was quite decent, and it was so filling that I did not need to eat for the rest of the day.

The closer photographs pick out a plated egg dish, a small pan of beans, the basket of croissants and the toast rack. Even the coffee had its own photograph against the bright window view.

A breakfast table at Il Galante holds fruit, olives, cheese, pastries, toast and coffee. — The generous breakfast spread at Il Galante.

A plated egg dish with sauce and garnishes sits on the breakfast table. — The plated egg dish at breakfast.

Beans topped with chopped herbs fill a small metal pan. — A small pan of beans at Il Galante.

Croissants fill a bread basket beside a rack of toast and small jam jars. — Croissants, toast and preserves on the breakfast table.

A hand holds a white cup of coffee in front of a bright window. — Coffee to go with the generous breakfast spread.

Banyan Tree Doha: Qalamkarri

Qalamkarri, the hotel’s Indian restaurant, was the meal I was most enthusiastic about. At the time, I called it the best Indian food I had had so far.

The amuse-bouche came on a tall elephant-shaped stand. Crackers and dips were excellent, even though I did not know exactly what all the dips were. There was lobster curry, garlic naan, rasmalai and ice cream with a theatrical cloud of vapour.

The presentation was as memorable as the food: the elephant stand, the green curry bowl and the vapour around the ice cream each became their own photograph.