As a quick-hit, Doha makes for a head-turning stopover when travelling to Europe, where you’ve got all the flashy and futuristic bling of Dubai, overlaid with deep pockets of old world Doha, where tradition, heritage and culture abounds. I locked-in a couple of excursions via the handy Attractions section on Booking.com, which now offers a one-stop-shop travel offering, including flights, accommodation and car hire. If you’re short on time, grab a ticket to ride on the hop-on, hop-off Doha Bus, which will whisk you around the city’s headline attractions and landmarks, from the forest of cutting-edge of skyscrapers in West Bay and Katara Cultural Village to the glamour-laden man-made island, The Pearl. It’s Doha’s answer to Dubai’s Palm, with some of the planet’s most expensive real estate, perched around a circular marina. Gold Bentleys and limited-edition Ferraris are thick on the ground in these parts. Hello Disneyland for the one percenters! 

Waterfront bling in The Pearl. Photo / Mike Yardley

The picturesque Qanat Quartier was inspired by Venice, with multi-coloured apartments, canals and bridges, aping the faded hues of Venice. It’s shamelessly superficial – not that I’m one to judge. However, the imitation game looms large in Doha’s extra-splashy malls like Villaggio, complete with indoor Venetian canals, gondolas and painted blue skies! While at The Pearl, head to the exuberant Italian restaurant, Spuntino, at the Four Seasons. This swanky waterfront trattoria is a smash-hit, a frothy, celebratory masterclass in delightful Italian cuisine. Service is flawless and the dishes are triumphant. I highly recommend their calamari as a starter, which is accompanied with citrus mayonnaise. Pasta aficionados, don’t skip by their handmade ravioli, paired with Parmigiano Reggiano cream brulee, asparagus confit and morel mushrooms. Bellissimo! 

Another quintessential experience is to savour the golden hour goodness of a setting sun gilding the city aboard a traditional Dhow cruise on Doha Bay. I also locked in that cruise on Booking.com, which is a two hour return float from old Doha Port.  Doha seems to have nailed the sense of urban intermingling - the fusion of cutting-edge modernity and age-old tradition. When you’ve had your fill of West Bay’s futuristic skyline, studded with so many edgy designs and distinctive buildings, there’s plenty more starchitecture to explore. I’m a self-confessed building geek, so like Chicago, Doha kept me goggle-eyed. I M Pei, Norman Foster and Jean Nouvel… so many boundary-busting architects have left their calling card here, transforming the cityscape. 

Dhow boat at night. Photo / Supplied

Before the searing summer heat of the day sparks up, step out on the 7km-long horseshoe-shaped Corniche promenade, that connects old Doha with West Bay. It’s an impeccably landscaped waterfront playground, packed with cutting-edge public amenities like open-air gym equipment and phone-charging stations. Further north, I headed by metro to Lusail, home to the gleaming stadium that is nicknamed the Lantern. It was here that Lionel Messi raised the FIFA World Cup in 2022. I was fascinated to learn that post-FIFA, Doha disassembled several stadiums and teleported them as gifts to developing nations in Africa.  As you do! There’s no doubting Doha’s ambitions to cement itself as a superhost for blockbuster sports events. Surely it’s only a matter of time before they snag the Olympics. 

Definitely take a ride on Doha Metro. They broke the Guiness World Record for tunnel boring, because they had twenty one tunnel boring machines, all operating at the same time, blasting through the earth to build their driverless metro system in record time. It took just two years to deliver three city-wide metro lines, spanning over 100km of tunnels. And the metro is a remarkably cheap way to get around Doha - just 3 NZ dollars for an all-day pass. 

The Museum of Islamic Art is a chiselled jewel. Designed by I M Pei, of Louvre glass pavilion fame, the museum has an illusory quality of floating on the water. Pei was determined to encapsulate the essence of Islamic architecture in his design. The building’s bright white cubes reflect in the sea by day and are illuminated by night. The curved openings in the top tower resemble the eye slit of a burqa while the museum’s ceiling is a traditional geometric pattern. Calligraphy, Islamic patterns, jewellery and textiles from three continents comprise its vast collection. Reaching back 1400 years, the museum charts the artistic flowering of Islam. The biggest unmissable is the necklace that once belonged to Shah Jahan, builder of India's Taj Mahal, studded with huge diamonds and emeralds.  

But there’s an even more-impressive building that has elevated Doha’s stature in the cultural arms race playing out among the Gulf States. The National Museum of Qatar’s nearly mile-long loop of galleries, tells the story of how this tiny nation of nomadic Bedouin and pearl divers became, with the discovery of natural gas, the world’s most wealthy country per capita in just half a century. 18 years in the making, French architect, Jean Nouvel was inspired by the desert rose for his gob-smacking design - an intricate subterranean rock formation, which is manifest by the 539 creamy discs, tilting at all angles across the site. It looks like a fleet of flying saucers piled on top of each other, or the disgorged contents of gigantic crockery set.  In contrast, the museum’s courtyard has been left with a pleasingly sandy surface, as though ready to host a caravan of itinerant traders. 

The National Museum of Qatar. Photo / Mike Yardley

I locked my accommodation with Booking.com at the Pullman Doha West Bay. Just two years old, this glorious property is comfort personified, with dreamy views across the glittery towers and golden sands of West Bay.  The hotel is steadfast in its commitment to sustainability and waste minimisation. It’s an attribute that increasingly chimes with Kiwi travellers. Booking.com research reports that 60% of Kiwis feel that witnessing sustainable practices during their travels inspires them to be more sustainable in their everyday life. 60% of Kiwi travellers also say that they want to travel more sustainably over the next 12 months. You can filter accommodation based on sustainability certification on www.booking.com 

Award-winning Qatar Airways, just crowned as the World’s Best Airline by AirlineRatings.com, flies non-stop between Doha and Auckland, one of the world’s heroic ultra-long haul flights. Kiwis enjoy via-free entry into Doha. Experience an unrivalled standard of Business Class in your very own personal suite with privacy doors. QSuite is available on the daily Auckland service, delivering first-class luxury to the Business Class cabin, including double lie-flat beds. Beyond Doha, Qatar Airways flies to over 170 destinations worldwide. www.qatarairways.com 

Mike Yardley is our resident traveller on Jack Tame Saturday Mornings.