Katara Cultural Village

Katara Cultural Village was built on reclaimed land on Doha's eastern coast, between the towers of West Bay and the island of The Pearl, and it soft-opened in October 2010 during the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. It is a planned cultural quarter bordered by a beach on one side and the Katara Hills on the other, and it works best as a place to wander for a few hours rather than a single sight.

The landmarks are easy to find. The Katara Mosque, designed by the Turkish designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, is covered in blue and gold tilework, and beside it stand traditional pigeon towers about 15 metres tall. The smaller Gold Mosque, clad in golden tiles, faces the amphitheatre, a marble arena of about 3,275 square metres that seats up to 5,000 people and looks out to sea. Between the amphitheatre and the water is the art installation The Force of Nature. Elsewhere you will find art galleries including Katara Art Center, a 550-seat opera house, theatres, a cinema, a maritime museum and the Al Thuraya Planetarium, whose full-dome digital theatre seats up to 200 people.

Katara also has a public beach about a kilometre and a half long, with water sports rentals such as speedboat rides and parasailing, and the landscaped Katara Hills, with walking tracks and views over the village and the sea. On the inland side, 21 High Street is an open-air shopping street with outdoor dining, close to Galeries Lafayette. Restaurants are spread across the village, from Lawazar for seafood to Tasty Street for quick bites.

The village suits couples, families and photographers, and it is a good choice for an evening out, as many visitors come once the heat of the day has passed. Check the Katara events calendar before you go, because concerts, festivals and exhibitions take place throughout the year, often in the amphitheatre. Dress modestly, especially if you plan to look inside either mosque outside prayer times.

Katara is north of West Bay, so taxis and ride-hailing apps are the simplest way to get there from central Doha. It combines well with an afternoon on the beach followed by dinner in the village, or with a visit to The Pearl further up the coast. Allow two to four hours, depending on whether you include the beach, a gallery or the planetarium.