North Qatar Tour | Zubara Fort | Purple Island | Mangros Colony
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Doha, Qatar
- 4 to 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Many visitors to Qatar never see its northern reaches, which offer historical buildings, traditional ports, and sweeping beaches. On this private tour, a driver-guide navigates and provides commentary as you visit the former pearling hub of Al-Khor Harbour, explore UNESCO-listed Al Zubara Fort, and observe wildlife-filled mangroves at Al Thakhira beach. Hotel pickup and drop-off make your trip easy and convenient.
- See and learn about north Qatar’s highlights on a private tour from Doha
- Visit various sites with ease and dig deeper into them with a driver-guide
- View mangroves, see Al Khor’s “dhow” boats, and explore Al Zubara Fort
- Relax with private air-conditioned transport and included hotel pickup and drop-off
What's Included
- Bottled water
- Coffee and/or Tea
- Air-conditioned vehicle
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Doha City: Pick-up service from your residential address or preferred location in Doha city, 5 Minutes before the tour's actual starting time. -Hotels: Pick-up is available from Any hotel lobby within or near the Doha city zone, 5 Minutes before the tour's actual starting time. The pickup service is expected to arrive within 45 minutes of your designated booking time. Our guide will reach out to you to provide information regarding the pickup. The tour will begin at the time of your pickup.
Itinerary
1
Doha
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Al Khor
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Purple Island - Al Khor Island
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Al Zubara Fort
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Al Jumail
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travelers
- The pickup service is expected to arrive within 45 minutes of your designated booking time. Our guide will reach out to you to provide information regarding the pickup. The tour will begin at the time of your pickup.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 430 reviews
James_G, Feb 2026
Very awesome experience. Our host was very friendly and informative. He took us to the mangroves, Purple Island, an abandoned village, a fort and even went off road to show us these sculptures in the middle of the dessert. Very nice of him. Excellent experience.
James_V, Feb 2026
My tour guide Saad is really knowledgeable and interesting. He made the tour enjoyable and engaging. I really enjoyed the tour and had fun seeing the north of Qatar.
Henrik_K, Feb 2026
We were never picked up, the driver's car had broken down. We were told he would be there 2 hours later, when we asked where he was, he wrote that he was on his way. After another 35 minutes of not hearing from him, we cancelled the trip, he never returned. Really bad service. Now we are anxiously waiting to see if Viator will refund our money.
Noor_M, Jan 2026
We had a great experience exploring the history of Qatar with our guide, Rehan. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, and super helpful throughout the trip. He explained the history and culture clearly and made the tour both interesting and enjoyable. We really appreciated his guidance and would highly recommend him.
Nicholas_K, Jan 2026
The tour gives you a good scope of Northern Qatar. You will see villages that were once responsible for Qatar’s main source of income throughout history, pearling and fishing.
My guide Rehan was very friendly and informative and was happy to answer any questions I had. If you’re also looking for insight on how life is like in Qatar now, Rehan was also happy to answer which was very insightful.
Overall I was very happy with the tour.
Thank you.
Arto_R, Jan 2026
This is a good overview about Qatar in that area. We saw the fish market and mangrove area well. Fortress is also hood to see.
Ian_R, Jan 2026
This tour is an efficient and interesting way to explore what Qatar is like outside the sparkling modernity of Doha, to discover what life was like before the cataclysmic discovery of oil and gas. Recommended.
Arber_D, Jan 2026
The price is not worth the experience. Also, our guide was very sweet but with limited English and not very informed when asked questions.
Saida_z, Dec 2025
Thank you very much
to Ahmed for this
excellent excursion
that allowed us to
discover the north of Qatar.
I highly recommend him
for his kindness, his gentle
manner, and his explanations.
We had a wonderful time
and we will choose
this perfect guide again,
Inshallah.
Vriti_M, Dec 2025
The tour was great and well organized. Our guide Adnan was great. There is no dedicated lunch stop so recommend packing something. Our guide made a stop as we left Doha and recommended we packed lunch which was good.
Colin_R, Nov 2025
Didn’t even show up. Never responded to my message on when pickup will be or even a message day before. Highly recommend picking another tour company
Susan_P, Nov 2025
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -
The Good:
1) Van was air conditioned and refreshments were provided.
2) Interesting tour itinerary.
The Bad:
1) Tour guide was not enthusiastic with minimal information (sat on phone during stops).
2) Pre-trip communication was poor / last minute.
3) No information shared beyond signs at stops.
4) Odd detour at fish market where group was left to wander.
The Ugly:
1) Tour was advertised to be 4-5 hours but was 6.5 hours (no warning provided by guide) which caused delays to later booked activities for ourselves and other travelers.
We enjoyed the opportunity to see Qatar beyond Doha, but this tour did not meet our expectations.
Brian_H, Nov 2025
Not much to see, but I enjoyed it - it was good to see something outside the city. The fort was interesting. Rehan was a great guide to be with - extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and a good, careful driver. Overall I’m glad I joined the tour.
Michael_T, Nov 2025
Ejaz led a fantastic tour, sharing lots of information throughout the day and answering all sorts of questions we had. Highly recommend Ejaz!
Avinash_B, Nov 2025
Our tour of North Qatar was truly unforgettable, and a big part of that credit goes to our guide, Muhammad Syed. From start to finish, he made the experience smooth, informative, and genuinely enjoyable. Muhammad was incredibly polite, patient, and knowledgeable, and he took the time to explain the history, culture, and significance of every place we visited.
He guided us through each stop with enthusiasm and care, making sure we were comfortable and engaged throughout the trip. His warm personality and professionalism added so much value to the tour, turning it into a memorable experience rather than just a sightseeing day.
I would highly recommend this North Qatar tour to anyone visiting the country—and if you can, definitely request Muhammad Syed. He made our day outstanding!
fiona_t, Nov 2025
Quite a bit of driving involved. Was interesting to see the history of Nth Qatar. Sadly the tides were low and mangroves were not looking their best. Syed Shar our guide was a very safe driver
Jannika_P, Nov 2025
Awesome trip to interesting places. Felt always safe and comfortable as a female solo traveller. We were a group of four. Our guide Noor was so kind and open minded. Told us everything he knew about qatar, its history and the places we visited, and always willing to answer all our further questions.
Tour from pick up to drop out at the hotel took about 5½ hours, we never were stressed to hurry up etc.
Muhammad_U, Nov 2025
The tour provider is very unprofessional and inexperienced.
The drivers car needed repair so he turned up late as this was a group tour he picked me and my wife first and then went back to old doha to pick his other passenger up, hence made him late start and messed up the itinerary. He did the fist thing last and last one first due to less time b4 sun set which is why he ended up going places after sun set and we had to visit places in dark. I would recommend a morning tour for north qatar due to the risk of your drivers being late.
Paula_B, Nov 2025
We saw some lovely places and had a great time. Really recommend doing it on Friday as there were no crowds. Overall a really nice experience:
Pablo_P, Nov 2025
The tour leader was kind, pick up was on time. Unfortunately, we did not visit one of the stops advertised in the program: Al Khor. I wonder why that was. No explanation or disclosure was given. Also, I would say that you should consider the tour leader rather a driver than a guide. He would be able to answer questions concisely, but was not very proactive and providing context and a rich experience during the tour. I don’t think he would have studied tourism or have any other extensive training. I have taken tours in other countries and therefore have a reference to compare
Hamaad_A, Nov 2025
Fantastic day out visiting the North of Qatar. Well worth the visit to understand the history and local peoples way of life. Throughly enjoyed the day. Thank you to our guide Rehan who was knowledgable and worked at our pace.
Steven_H, Oct 2025
Our tour North Qatar Tour was led by Hassan.
He was an excellent guide and quite knowledgeable about the area. He spoke very good English and never hesitated to provide answers to our questions. We would recommend Hassan to anyone who needs a guide. What a wonderful experience
Sandy and Steve Handler
Jacob_M, Oct 2025
My partner and I took this tour with saad. He was an amazing guide that was very knowledgeable and easy to talk too! The sights were great. Overall we really enjoyed this trip and would highly recommend it to others.
Alec_D, Oct 2025
Yasir was a fantastic guide! He was deeply knowledgeable about not only the sites we toured, but about the history, environment, and cultures of Qatar. I learned a lot.
Linda_P, Oct 2025
Great tour if you want to see the outskirts of Doha. Tour was exactly as described. Abdulla our driver was very knowledgeable and we learnt a lot about life in Qatar.
Julie, Oct 2025
This tour was a nice aside, to the very modern city of Doha.
We wanted to see the quiet, peaceful, side of the country, and were pleased with both the fishing port and the mangroves. Both locations had plenty to look at with lots of fish and interesting surroundings.
The fort was a little underwhelming, probably not helped by the hot day.
Our guide, Akhtar, was very knowledgeable and gave us information about the country’s history.
Neil_W, Oct 2025
A very enjoyable and informative half day trip . The guide was also excellent and knew his stuff.Good to see Qatar away from Doha.
Marc_F, Oct 2025
Via a Google search “best tours in Qatar” - “North Qatar Culture Tour” was Top of the list and presented a clear itinerary at a very reasonable price, transacted via the secure Viator app. With Viator I selected the Tour, submitted my Name, Contact, Collection Point, Date and Time and then made the very reasonably priced transfer to complete my booking. The whole process was very easy, quick and secure. Very quickly I received my confirmed booking via email from Viator. Then shortly after I was contacted on WhatsApp by an excellent and clear, English speaking, friendly, polite, professional and knowledgeable member of the team. Everything was upfront, planned and clear including the pick up and drop off locations and times as well as the itinerary. You will find with this team a very large, clean, reliable car. Controlled by a very safe, professional, confident driver. There are no catches, no short cuts, no hidden charges - only a great safe, enjoyable tour with a very knowledgeable and friendly as well as professional and passionate Team. I selected 2 x 1 Day tours “North Qatar” and “West Qatar” and I highly recommend them both. Both Tours were great and all of the Team I dealt with Yasir, Abdul and Sajid were excellent and so knowledgeable and understanding as to what their guests are interested in learning about this fascinating country. I will be coming back to Qatar and I will be using this Tour Team again and I highly recommend you to choose, Yasir, Abdul and Sajid, you will be very happy..
Guchuan_L, Oct 2025
Yasir is pretty good at showing us around, it is a very good tour! And show us all the sites. Thank you
BRENT_P, Sep 2025
Abdullah was an excellent tour guide, enjoyed the experience. Got to see and experience some interesting places.
From
-28%
$39.60
per personWas $55.00
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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North Qatar Tour | Zubara Fort | Purple Island | Mangros Colony
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