Most hotels and clubs are at the south-eastern end of the Corniche on Ras Abu Abboud Street.
The corniche proper starts just beyond this,near Doha Club. Close to Museum Roundabout, just beyond Doha Club, is the Al Nasaa Restaurant with its notable architecture, featuring traditional wind towers. After this is the Qatar National Museum, based around the restored former palace of the ruling family. The grassy, shaded Museum Park is alongside it.
Across the main road, known as Al Corniche Street, is the fascinating Doha Port area, with its ships, dhows, working boats, fishing boats and pleasure craft. People spend hours gazing at port-side activities.
The fine new Museum of Islamic Arts is here, on its own jetty. Then another jetty leads to the largest wooden dhow in the world and the popular dhow restaurants. At the entrance to this jetty is the famous pearl sculpture that features in so many visitors' photo albums.
Continuing westward, you come to the impressive Emiri Diwan building with its lush landscaped gardens and cascading water feature.
The massive, attractive Diwan building is the official home of the Qatar Government.
After this, you come to the imposing Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.
Following the sweep of the attractive Corniche to the north-west, you get to Rumeilah Park, sometimes known as Al Biddah Park, which features a variety of attractions and facilities for families.
The park has restaurants, children's play areas and the impressive Heritage Village, which was built to resemble a traditional Qatari hamlet. Local crafts and arts are featured and musicians sometimes perform there.
Qatar National Theatre and the National Council for Culture ,Arts and Heritage are next to Rumeilah Park, followed by the Qatar National Library. This bold, futuristic building is an unmistakeable landmark on the corniche.
Carrying on around the corniche, there are striking examples of of Doha's architectural achievements, with residential and commercial towers enjoying commanding positions overlooking Doha Bay and the Gulf. Amongst these is the General Post Office. It is always worth knowing where that is in a city!
Further along, at the end of the corniche, is the unmistakeable Aztec-pyramid shaped, luxurious Sheraton Hotel, in a prime scenic, very commanding location. Just before you reach it, there is the very pleasant Sheraton Gardens, with hop, cafe, children's playground and plenty of relaxing space for a picnic.
This is also the place to catch a dhow over to Palm Island, in the harbour. They leave every 10 minutes and the journey takes about 10 minutes.
This small island, just offshore, is also called Palm Tree Island. It has fine beaches for swimming and excellent family amenities, such as restaurants, cafes and water sports.
Is there any wonder that Doha Corniche is so popular, both with visitors and locals?
It is a fascinating, attractive place, with wonderful views right across the sea-front of Doha. It is the part of Doha that all visitors comes to, at some time during their stay.
