I did this I interesting tour as part of my visit to Zubarah Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Qatar. From the Fort, a small minibus takes you a kilometer or two off the road to visit the site and the local guide fills you in. There is no cost to this optional extra. Excavations are ongoing but presently, you stop at two sites, the foundations of a grand house destroyed by Omani raiders a couple pf centuries back, and the ruins of a fort. If you are visiting Zubarah, this short extra is worth your time.

We took a nearly 200 mile day trip to this country’s north region that included this site. The focus is the reconditioned fort, built in 1938 to protect its precious well, that contains the 2013 UNESCO Visitor Center and museum. Three rooms have detailed explanations with photos of the gridded town that was settled by pearl divers in the 1700’s. Over time it became a trading center with neighboring countries, then with settlers from Bahrain and Persia, grew to over 6000 people and became “one of the most extensive and best preserved examples of an 18th–19th settlement in the region”. Our admission was included with the receipt from the National Museum.