The Doha Airport Edition

On intentionally-long layovers, when the airport deserves them.

Rebekah Sanderlin is a writer, marketing strategist and copywriter, and a former (and still sometimes) journalist based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Rebekah here. Living in mid-sized cities all my life, layovers have always been a miserable, unavoidable part of travel. What I’ve gained in lower cost of living and access to nature in smaller metropolitan areas, I’ve lost in days spent in awful food courts, jockeying for outlets and workstations.

But, when my travel itinerary features a layover in Doha, Qatar’s Hamad International Airport—especially a really long one—I get very excited.

Why is this interesting?

Doha has, quite possibly, the world’s greatest airport. Certainly, it’s the best one I’ve ever been to. Forget everything you know about airports. Doha is different.

Sure, it’s clean and efficient and there are numerous lounges available for people who qualify to use them. There’s even a whole private lounge just for unaccompanied minors, so they stay safe while they travel. For me, the Al Maha Lounge is open to Priority Pass members, and even has showers.

But, really, the airport is a destination in itself. With stores like Tiffany, Valentino, Hermes and many others, it’s more like an upmarket shopping mall than an airport. There’s a wide array of restaurants and massive, inexplicable sculptures throughout, like the delightfully weird, ginormous “Lamp Bear.” And then there’s The Orchard. 20,000 square feet of living trees, plants, and waterfalls, in the middle of everything!

Doha’s airport has positioned itself as a gateway to the world, and that’s not just marketing-speak. Home to 48 airlines and serving 190 global passenger destinations, at any place in the airport, at any time of day, you’ll see fabulously wealthy Qataris in thobes, gutras, shaylas, and abayas shopping, dining, and strolling—for some reason they never seem to have to rush—to their gates. But, woven amongst them, you’ll see migrant workers from all over the world en route to somewhere with more opportunities.

You’ll also see Aussies in backpacks; Americans in cropped tops and short shorts; Chinese, Japanese, Singaporeans, Filipinos, Indians, and many others in transit west or further east; South Americans and Europeans headed home or on vacation; and because the airport is the hub and home base for the fantastic Qatar Airways, Africans from every country on the continent also pass through Doha on their way to anywhere else.

It’s a head-spinningly delightful mish-mash of people watching, and in fact, after my first time passing through, I was disappointed to only have a four-hour layover there on my return flight. Four hours was barely enough time to find my gate and clear security twice—a obnoxious necessary measure for flights back to the U.S.—and not enough time to enjoy the amenities. My first layover there had been 10 hours and—brace yourselves—I actually think that was a perfect amount of time.

Why? Well, with 10 hours to kill, I booked the very convenient Discover Qatar Doha city tour, which leaves the airport approximately every hour and only costs about $30. Tour staff sped me and the other guests through immigration and guided us onto a comfortable, air-conditioned bus, then whisked us around the spectacular city. We even had time to spend nearly an hour shopping in the souk.

As a woman traveling alone, I was more than comfortable the entire time, and I was back to the airport and through security with three hours to spare—enough time to visit the Al Maha Lounge and take a shower. (Qatar is very hot and humid, and I needed one after all that walking around.)

But even if I hadn’t taken the tour, I could have easily entertained myself inside the airport for five hours or more. I’ve traveled through Doha four times now. The next time I’m passing through, I plan to try to arrange the longest layover possible. (RS)

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Thanks for reading, 

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Rebekah (RS)

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Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) with editing help from Louis Cheslaw about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing.