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Is Al Zubarah Fort Worth Visiting?
Scribbled by Claire ◊ 15 Jul 2025
Are you planning a trip to Qatar, and wondering if the country’s only UNESCO designated site is worth the journey? Here, we talk about what it is, why you might want to visit, and why you might want to give it a miss!
We recently spent five days in Qatar on a layover. During this time, we rented a car and were wondering what cool stuff there was to do *outside* the capital city of Doha.
Well, it turns out that Qatar’s most important archaeological ruin, and only UNESCO designated site, Al Zubarah, is situated adjacent to the north-western coast, on the other side of the country! So, we headed off on a random road trip to see what it was all about.
We had a really, quirky, enjoyable day exploring beyond Doha’s limits, including the 18th century fort and ruins of Al Zubarah. However, it’s debatable whether it would be worth visiting, depending on your interests, time constraints and transport options.
Below we’ll explain more about what we mean!
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Is Zubarah Fort Worth Visiting?
Getting straight to the point – we loved our visit to Al Zubarah Fort and ruins, and think it is *potentially* worth visiting, depending on a few factors that you should consider:
Days available | if you only have two days in Qatar, we’d highly recommend skipping the fort and archaeological site. If you are staying longer, a visit could certainly be a great part of an itinerary.
Photography | if you love photography, like us, then visiting Zubarah would be a good choice for an activity in Qatar. We had quite a nice time because the fort was entirely empty, which meant we could spend a decent amount of time taking pictures without distraction.
History | the entire area is culturally significant and there’s lots of information within the fort and ruins for history buffs (plus free guides).
Expectations | have you visited forts or castles in other Middle Eastern countries, like Oman? Because they are far grander than Al Zubarah’s fort, so set your expectations accordingly. If you’ve never visited a Middle Eastern fort – then this is a great introduction! The nearby archaeological remains also involve using your imagination a fair bit!
Road trip vibes | if you fancy a random adventure and are curious to see how sparse Qatar is outside of pretty, manicured Doha, then it is a fascinating day trip. You can then drive back via the northern section of the country, which reminded me far more of other nearby countries we’ve visited, like Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Tour | we think it’s definitely worth visiting on a tour as you get to stop at all sorts of other interesting spots outside Doha, like ancient villages and mangroves. This is the way we’d do it next time.
Kids | we don’t have kids, but would imagine they’d quite enjoy exploring the fort, but might hate the journey there and the actual archaeological ruins! There are no barriers in the fort, so I’d be cautious with young children.
Time | you’ll only need around two hours for visiting the fort and archaeological site. As the drive is around 75 minutes each way it can make for a great day trip from Doha, if tied in with visiting other sites as well.
How to get to Zubarah Fort
Al Zubarah Fort is around 100 kilometres north-east from Doha, which took us about 75 minutes to drive. If you have already decided to rent a car in Qatar (we recommend doing so), then the drive is very simple, along well-maintained, flat, straight roads. Honestly, it doesn’t get much simpler!
There is no public transport to Al Zubarah Fort.
The other option is to take a tour, that includes several other stops along the way.
Taking a Tour from Doha
This is the best option if you don’t want to rent a car. There are great private tours that include some very cool options, combining the fort, archaeological site and an ancient village, beaches and mangroves.
It’s good value for money, you get to see loads of stuff and you don’t have to rent a car.
Why is the Al Zubarah Site Important?
Al Zubarah is Qatar’s most significant archaeological site.
It contains the remnants of a once prosperous pearling and trading town, formed by members of the Utub tribe from modern day Kuwait in the late 18th century. At its peak, the town had a population of over 6000 people and was one of the major trade ports in the Gulf.
Due to its size, the fragility of the site, and its location, estimates on how much of Al Zubarah town has actually been excavated so far vary. Some predict as little as five percent has been excavated, whilst others suggest ten or fifteen percent. This provides a bit of an insight into the scale of the ruins!
There’s a fair bit of information online about the ongoing and previous survey/restoration efforts, if you’re interested. Previous large scale work was done as part of the Qatar Islamic Archaeology and Heritage Project (QIAH), which was a joint venture of the Qatar Museums Authority and the University of Copenhagen. Through the QIAH project, hundreds of sites in Qatar have been surveyed and excavated, with Al Zubarah being a major focus of these efforts.
If you want to read more, ongoing restoration works include The Trash Boom Project and a two-stage project to create a model of the town and its mosque, palace, market and towers.
How Much Does it Cost to Visit Al Zubarah?
Entry to Al Zubarah’s Fort and archaeological site is free.
At the entrance to the fort, you’ll be given a ticket, but it’s complimentary. When you receive your ticket, the only thing we had to do was to log whether we were a Qatari resident or a visitor.
Within the fort, there are loads of informational signs in both English and Arabic (which is nice since it’s free!). These give information on other ancient sites in the area, local flora and fauna, geology and hydrology, and the lives of the pearl divers who resided in Al Zubarah.
Apparently, divers would often find only one pearl in every five thousand oysters collected, which is crazy to me!
There is a free shuttle bus that goes from the fort to the ruins, roughly a few kilometres into the desert, every hour. The tour of the archaeological site takes about 45 minutes.
Other Things to do Nearby
There’s not much around Zubarah, in all honesty. It’s a particularly empty, desolate and barren area out there.
As you drive north up the coast from Zubarah, there are lots of brown signs mentioning various archaeological sites that branch off the main road. However, the tracks to the sites are basically non-existent at the moment and I wouldn’t recommend heading down there unless you have a high-clearance, potentially four-wheel drive vehicle. It feels like it’s being prepared for development, but not yet ready?
Below are a few things to do on your visit with a normal car, though:
◊ Art Installation – Shadows Travelling on the Sea of the Day, by Olafur Eliasson
◊ Jumail Abandoned Village
◊ If you drive back via the northern coast, stop off in the small town of Al Ruwais for a coffee at the spacious, oceanfront Arsan Café, which came highly recommended to us. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay since there was only outdoor seating available and it was so flaming hot by the time we got there, I was feeling dramatic (I’m British, after all). If the temperatures are tolerable for you, take a wander along the waterfront afterwards. It’s an amazing change of pace from the big city of Doha.
CAR HIRE FOR YOUR QATAR TRIP
We always rent our vehicles all over the world, including our recent trips in Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Morocco, with Discover Cars. They’re often the most affordable, plus they paid out immediately on an insurance claim we made when our car took some heavy damage in Sicily. We fully recommend them.
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TAKE A LOOK BELOW OR CHECK CAR RENTAL
Things to Pack
The site is really remote, and there is not much in the way of shops and amenities around. Taking a hat and sunblock would be very helpful.
If you choose to drive, rather than take a tour, we’d also recommend taking:
◊ Food
◊ Snacks
◊ Water
◊ Full tank of petrol (there are not many gas stations outside Doha)
When is the Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit is in winter, between November and March (although by March it is really warming up in Qatar).
We visited in May and, oh my goodness, the midday temperatures were horrendously hot!
Al Zubarah Map
Below is a savable Google Map marking everything within this post.
Select the star next to the title to save it.
Where to Next?
We hope our little summary of visiting Al Zubarah was helpful! We really enjoyed our trip and would highly recommend a visit under particular circumstances, but it definitely isn’t for everyone.
If you’re planning a trip to Qatar, have a look at some of the other places we recommend, within our two-day Doha itinerary. We definitely suggest renting a car while in Doha if you’re able, so if you’re considering that, take a peek at our driving guide.
If you love photography, also consider having a quick scroll through our favourite photography spots in Qatar.
We hope you have a great trip!
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Thank you, Claire + Nick
