Desert Adventure in Qatar: Encounter Mushroom Rocks, Camel Racing & Richard Serra's Art

Embark on a desert adventure in Qatar’s western region, where you’ll witness camel racing, explore Mushroom Rocks, and encounter Richard Serra’s captivating art installations.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Al Shahaniya Racetrack - A traditional regional sport, the first professional camel races were held in qatar in 1973 with 300 participating camels. Today the races are held at Al Shahaniya Camel Racing Track located at one hour of northwest of doha where you may see young camels paired with more experienced camels as a part of their ongoing…
What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • Bottled water
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Tea and coffee
Additional Information

Embark on a journey to the mystical western region of Qatar, a place where the barren desert conceals awe-inspiring natural and man-made wonders ready for exploration.
Our exploration starts from Qatar’s cultural backbone, the Camel Racing Track, an opportunity to experience the impressive speed and elegance of these royal animals as they race across the…

Location
Al Shahaniya Racetrack
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(33 Ratings)
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F5965qttc
May 26, 2025
Great Tour to West Qatar - We had a fabulous half day tour with Mr Nawaz. He was professional, friendly and considerate to our requests. We highly recommend Mr Nawaz.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Zionrocks
Apr 19, 2025
We enjoyed this tour! - This was an awesome tour, thanks to Zohaib, our great guide and driver. We learned a lot about Qatar from him, and he competently conducted our tour and timing. We had requested an afternoon tour to see Richard Serra’s East-West/West-East sculptures at sunset. Zohaib (via WhatsApp) recommended a specific tour start time (3:40pm instead of 3pm), and it worked out absolutely perfectly. Note that this tour does involve a lot of driving – you are going to west Qatar from Doha after all. But Zohaib’s car is roomy and comfortable, he’s a good driver, and the highway roads are great. First stop was the camel racetrack: although there were no races when we were there, the camels and riders were out for exercise – very cool to see up close. We did a short stop at the Zekreet Fort by the sea, with nice views and a nice breeze. And at the mushroom rock formations, Zohaib took us to his favourite spots - wonderful! Close by were the East-West/West-East sculptures just as the sun was setting – spectacular! On the way back to Doha, we were treated with views of the full moon as the sun was setting. Thank-you, Zohaib! This was a very enjoyable tour, and we highly recommend it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fearless02649380961
Apr 18, 2025
Baby and the Desert - I enjoyed the spectacular scenery created by nature. It was with a baby, but the whole family had the best time with careful driving and friendly treatment. This tour is recommended for those interested in natural beauty.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Teachers55
Apr 12, 2025
The desert is amazing. - Zohaib or Z, a 22 year old young man, was our guide and driver. He was patient and kind and willingly took our pictures. First we went to the camel race ground, but the camels were not racing today - they usually race on Friday afternoon. Sorry to have missed the race, but Z explained everything about how it works which was fascinating. Observers stay in their cars and drive following the camels on tracks of a wide variety of length from 4 kilometers to 20 kilometers. We saw a number of camels exercising with riders. There is no gambling over the races. Next we went to Mushroom rock out in the desert. We also climbed a steep hill to sit in a natural arch on the rock. It reminded us of Arches National Park. Then we went to an art exhibit by Richard Serra that’s out in the middle of nowhere where, commissioned by the king to attract tourists. It cost 22 million dollars for four slabs of steel that feel like rocks and are a real stark difference to the desert. It actually divides the country between east and west. He explained how all of the area had been under the sea a thousand years ago. Z bought us a drink - kind of a cross between tea and coffee that’s very tasty and offered us a snack as well which we declined. I left my prescription sunglasses on the seat of the car but the company has offered to mail them to me without cost. This is a pretty expensive tour for about 3-4 hours but we felt it was well worth it to get out onto the desert. The last time we were in Foha, we took a city tour which was also quite good. They are trying to become a tourist destination. It looks as if it will be successful. Z was a good guide who made our excursion fun.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Giuseppegn5922ef
Apr 1, 2025
Worth a visit - Great trip, very flexible. We were lucky enough to experience a camel race. Zohaib is a nice and communicative guide!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christian
Mar 28, 2025
West of Quatar with Zohib, Mushroom Hills, East-West - We had a wonderful private tour with zohaib. The mushroom hills were very scene, the formations impressive. The steel pillar are huge; 14m over ground 7 m inside the ground. We enjoyed this tour very much
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Horstelbrig
Feb 28, 2025
Varied, informative and exciting - Our expectations were fully met, all questions were answered - it was a nice trip we can recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Odyssey33446341549
Feb 22, 2025
Fabulous guided tour! - Our trip was great- made even better by our guide Zohaib. We saw camel racing at the track which was fabulous. Then drove to see the rock formations and the sculptures- had plenty of time to get out and explore at each place . The knowledge shared with us by our guide made everything more interactive. Would recommend to anyone as a good adventure.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Escape625423
Feb 18, 2025
Excellent first day in Qatar - Enchanting day discovering the wonders of Qatar near Daha. Camel racing was fascinating and we thoroughly enjoyed our experiences in the desert.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Galina
Feb 17, 2025
Perfect Tour! - The tour with Zohaib was exactly as we imagined, simply perfect, we saw a lot and the tour was very informative! I can only recommend it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $66
up to 6 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).