Guides 2 Sep 2026 3 min read

7 Road Trips from Doha: Zekreet, Al Zubarah, Al Thakira, Khor Al Adaid and More

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Qatar is small enough that every corner of it is a day trip from Doha, and the roads - the Al Shamal expressway to the north, the Dukhan highway west, the Salwa road south - are as good as any in the world. What changes from one destination to the next is what car you need: a Yaris will take you to Al Zubarah's fort, but the last kilometres to the Inland Sea need a Land Cruiser and a deflated set of tyres. Here are seven drives, from easiest to hardest.

1. Al Wakrah and the Singing Dunes - 30-45 km

Twenty minutes south on the expressway, Al Wakrah's restored souq and beach make a gentle evening drive. Forty kilometres south-west of Doha near Mesaieed, the Singing Sand Dunes hum when the sand slides in the right conditions; the car park is on hard ground and a normal car will manage, though a 4x4 gets you closer. Go at sunset in winter.

2. Al Thakira mangroves and Al Khor - 55-60 km

North on the Al Khor expressway, Al Thakira is Qatar's largest mangrove forest, with kayak hire at high tide and flamingos in winter. Al Khor's corniche and the old fishing harbour are a lunch stop. Any car; the access road is tarmac to the water.

3. Purple Island (Bin Ghannam) - 60 km

Just past Al Khor, a causeway walk through mangroves leads to a small island that was once a dye-producing settlement. The car park is sand-topped but firm; the walk is an hour. Bring water and shoes that can get wet.

4. The Zekreet peninsula and Film City - 80-90 km

West on the Dukhan road, then north past Ras Abrouq. The mushroom-shaped limestone formations, Richard Serra's four steel plates of "East-West/West-East" marching across the desert, the abandoned film-set village at Film City and Bir Zekreet's empty beaches are the best half-day in Qatar. The tarmac ends and the tracks are firm gravel and sand; a crossover with care, a 4x4 in comfort. Fuel at Dukhan.

5. Al Zubarah fort and the north coast - 105 km

The 1938 fort and the archaeological town behind it are Qatar's UNESCO World Heritage Site, ninety minutes up the Al Shamal road. Combine it with Al Jassasiya's rock carvings on the north-east coast and Al Ruwais at the tip of the country, where the fishing harbour and the beaches are quiet even at weekends. All tarmac; any car.

6. Sealine and the beach camps - 60 km

South past Mesaieed the road ends at the Sealine Beach area, where the resort, the camps and the quad-bike hire sit at the edge of the dunes. A normal car reaches the resort and the firm sand near the road; anything beyond is 4x4 territory. It is busiest on Friday afternoons from November to March.

7. Khor Al Adaid, the Inland Sea - 90 km, half of it sand

The hardest and the best. From Sealine, the tracks run south-east through real dunes for an hour or two to where the sea reaches into the desert, a landscape on UNESCO's tentative list and shared with Saudi Arabia across the water. Only with a proper 4x4 with low range, tyres at 15-18 psi, a second vehicle and recovery kit, and preferably a guide on the first trip - read our desert-driving guide before you go. Tour operators run the trip in Land Cruisers for those without the car.

Before every trip

A full tank - stations are sparse in the north and west and there is nothing past Mesaieed. Tyre pressures checked cold. Two litres of water per person, a hat, sunscreen and a charged phone. An early start in summer; the light is best and the heat manageable before ten. And a look at the car's AC and battery, because a breakdown on the Dukhan road in August is not a story you want to tell.