Bahrain Travel Guide
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a popular destination for motor sports fans from throughout the world who flock to the kingdom every year for the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix. It’s popular too with families who head to Bahrain’s number one tourist attraction, the Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park. But does this small oil-rich country on islands in the Persian Gulf have much to offer older travellers?
The short answer to that question is not a lot – at least compared to other destinations in the Middle East – but there is enough to see and do to justify a 2-3 day stopover or side trip from places like Dubai or Doha, particularly if you have an interest in ancient history, or in the pearling industry which was Bahrain’s main source of income before oil was discovered in 1932. It’s also a shopping destination with malls that are less busy than those in Dubai. As well, you may find music events that will make a trip worthwhile.
Inside Bahrain’s City Centre shopping mall.
Bahrain regularly hosts music, arts and cultural events including the Bahrain International Music Festival every October. The festival focuses on Middle Eastern folk, Latin, oriental and jazz performances, as well as staging interactive workshops. The National Theatre hosts orchestral events and ballet performances a few times a year. Check out the website of the Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities here to see what upcoming performances may be on in the kingdom’s events calendar.
Be aware that Bahrain is a very conservative country (so you’ll need to dress accordingly) and has some strict customs regulations. It is prohibited to bring drones into the country. All bags are x-rayed at the airport and if you are carrying a drone, it will be confiscated. It is also prohibited to bring in medications unless you have prescriptions for them, so remember to take a copy of your prescriptions before you leave home or keep them on your phone if you use e-prescriptions.
Manama
Your first stop in the capital, Manama, located on the north-eastern coast of Bahrain Island, should be the National Museum. It’s not a large museum but its well-presented exhibits provide a good overview of Bahrain’s history, culture, customs, and traditions. The hall containing the different styles of burial mounds is particularly interesting (you’ll see burial mounds all over Bahrain) as is the one displaying the traditional garments of the region.
Inside the National Museum of Bahrain.
There is another hall devoted to the history of the pearling industry and there is a fascinating aerial photograph of the whole of Bahrain Island etched into the ground floor of the museum. Entry tickets are 1.5 dinars which must be paid by card. The museum is open every day except Tuesday. You’ll need 1-2 hours to see it properly. There is an excellent café inside the museum. The café accepts both cards and cash.
Across from the National Museum is the state-of-art National Theatre that looks like it’s floating on water. The performances that are staged here are always world class and have featured artists like the opera singer Placido Domingo, the Berlin-Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Russian Bolshoi Ballet. However, bring a jacket or sweater, even in the middle of summer, because the air-conditioning inside is very cold.
Your next stop after the National Museum should be Qal’at al-Bahrain, popularly known as the Bahrain Fort. It’s Bahrain’s most important historical site and classified on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as having “outstanding universal value”. It’s a well-preserved Portuguese fort built in the 16th century over the remains of the capital of the Dilmun Empire, an ancient civilisation dating back 4,500 years.
A corner of Bahrain Fort with Manama in the distance.
Some of the excavated remains of that civilisation can be seen around the fort and the surrounding palm groves are representative of agricultural practices that go back thousands of years. Entry to the fort is free and there are excellent views of Manama’s skyline from the towers.
For those interested in ancient history, there are two other forts in Bahrain worth visiting. One is the 15th century Arad Fort not far from the airport, and the other is the smaller Bu Maher Fort on the southern tip of Muhurraq Island which is not as well preserved. The Arad Fort is easily accessible, but the Bu Maher Fort can only be reached by boat (fare 1 dinar) from the National Museum across the bay.
If you’ve never visited a mosque before, then a visit to Bahrain offers an ideal opportunity to do so. The Al Fateh Grand Mosque near the Oasis Mall has daily tours between 10am and 4pm and is rarely very busy except around the middle of the day on Fridays (tours are not conducted during prayer times). The tours are free and are accompanied by a guide. The guides are mostly retired volunteers and don’t expect a tip.
The chandelier inside the Al Fateh Grand Mosque.
The mosques in the Sunni countries of the Gulf region are very plain compared to the much more colourful and intricately decorated mosques in Turkey and Iran, but the Al Fateh mosque is impressive because of its size. It’s the largest in Bahrain and can accommodate 7,000 worshippers. There’s an enormous chandelier from Austria hanging from the dome that weighs three and a half tonnes.
Bahrain doesn’t have any souks on the same scale as other countries in the Middle East. There’s a small souk in Manama on the inland side of King Faisal Highway across from the Bahrain Financial Harbour. Entry is through the historic Bab Al Bahrain market gate near the InterContinental Hotel. There’s a restaurant on the right-hand side after entering that serves an excellent Bahraini breakfast, but it closes at 12.30 pm, so is not an option for lunch.
Google Maps describes the Manama souk (usually spelled ‘souq’ in Bahrain) as a “bustling bazaar for food, crafts and more” but in fact it’s very quiet most of the time, so this may appeal to those who find other souks too crowded. Likewise, Bahrain’s modern malls are much quieter than other malls in the region.
The Avenues has an excellent choice of restaurants.
The Seef Mall and City Centre are the largest malls in Manama with the latter being the more upmarket of the two. There are dozens of other smaller malls all over Bahrain, some of which have some excellent restaurant strips. One of the best is The Avenues down on Bahrain Bay opposite the Four Seasons Hotel. There are outdoor eating areas facing the bay but plenty of seating in air-conditioning for when it is too hot to be outside.
Muhurraq
There are two ‘old town’ areas in Bahrain. One is the area around the Manama souk and the other is on Muhurraq Island which is where the international airport is located. Muhurraq Island is joined to Bahrain Island by three causeways with bridges. The old towns of Muhurraq and Manama were both founded in the 1800s with Muhurraq being the first capital of Bahrain. Manama didn’t become the capital until 1923.
Visitors who like exploring the streets and alleyways of old towns will probably want to visit both, but if you’ve only time to do one, then Muhurraq would be the better choice because it has a walk known as the ‘Pearling Path’ that takes you through 3.5 km of streets that contain some of the best-preserved buildings from the pearling era.
The Visitor Centre halfway along the Pearling Path.
There is an excellent article about the Pearling Path on the AramcoWorld website here. The walk starts near the Bu Maher Fort and heads north, and about halfway along there is a visitor centre that incorporates a small museum about the places in the old town that were connected to the pearling industry.
There was a link to a walking map on the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities website, but the link is no longer working, so finding your way along the Pearling Path can be quite a challenge. There is a map on the Pearling Path visitor information website here but it’s not very helpful because it doesn’t show the street names. There’s another map that’s a little larger incorporated in this article on the ‘Bahrain This Month’ website, but again it doesn’t show street names, but could be used in conjunction with Google Maps or Apple Maps on your phone. Either way, walking the path will be a test for your navigation skills. If you do get lost, you may need to enlist the help of a local resident to get you back on track.
Southern Bahrain
Aside from the Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park, which probably won’t appeal to most older travellers, the top tourist attraction in the southern half of Bahrain Island is the so-called ‘Tree of Life’. It’s a 450-year-old Prosopsis cineraria tree (a desert species that is extremely drought tolerant) growing atop a small hill surrounded by a barren landscape. There are many legends associated with the tree because it has survived so long in such dry conditions, but scientists believe its roots to be 50 metres deep and have probably tapped into an underground water source.
Bahrain’s famous ‘Tree of Life’.
Some visitors say the Tree of Life is not worth the 35 km trip from Manama because “it’s just a tree”. However, the journey does enable you to see something of Bahrain’s oil and gas fields. If hiring a car with a driver, ask to be taken to the nearby Sakhir Hills View Point. The 10-15 mins journey between the Tree of Life and the viewpoint will take you through a fascinating landscape that has an almost ‘Mad Max’ feel to it.
There is a lot of information about the Tree of Life on the web, and if you read up about it before you visit, you will appreciate it more. If you are driving yourself, you’ll need GPS navigation because there are no road signs to the Tree of Life once you are off the main highway. The last 500 metres or so is on a dirt road, but it’s navigable for conventional vehicles.
The Bahrain International Circuit, just south of the Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park, is the other major attraction in the southern half of Bahrain Island. It’s open in the months between the annual grand prix for tours and ‘driving experiences’. It’s something that will appeal to motor sports fans because you can book to ride as a passenger in a racing car, or you can drive a Radical SR1 provided you are not over 190 cm in height or 118 kg in weight.
Entry to the Bahrain International Circuit.
The Radical SR1 driving experience requires completion of two track sessions of six laps in a Renault Clio (top speed 234 km/h) following a professional driver. There are also co-pilot experiences in a Renault Clio for those who may not wish to drive themselves, and in a Radical SR3 for those who want the ultimate adrenaline-producing passenger experience. Details are on the Bahrain International Circuit’s website.
Of course, if you are a motor racing fan, then you may want to head to Bahrain specifically for the F1 Grand Prix. It’s usually held in March but has been held in other months in some years. Even for those not planning to attend the event, it’s worth knowing in advance when the race will be held because flights get booked out in the weeks before and after the race, and hotel rates increase.
One other place worth a visit in the southern half of Bahrain (which is known as the Southern Governate) is the Sheikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Fateh Fort at Riffa. Popularly known as the Riffa Fort, it was built in 1812 and was used as a residence for the then royal rulers of the kingdom up until the early 20th century.
Oil and gas pipelines criss-cross the Southern Governate.
It’s been open to the public since 1993 when its interior was renovated by French architects. The fort incorporates a small museum which provides a glimpse into the early lives of the ruling Al Khalifa family. Entry fee is 2 dinars and there is a café with a glassed-in terrace that overlooks the dry Hunayniyah Valley and distant oil and gas fields.
Just south of the Riffa Fort is the Bahrain Royal Golf Club which has an 18-hole international standard course and a 9-hole (par 3) course, both designed by Colin Montgomerie. The facilities (including restaurants) are open to visitors and tee times can be booked online at https://www.theroyalgolfclub.com. Visitors will pay only 10-12 dinars for nine holes.
Best Months to Visit Bahrain
Bahrain gets very hot between June and October, and any form of outdoor activity during those months can be extremely uncomfortable – especially from August onwards when humidity levels increase.
Therefore, November to May are the best months to visit. Remember to bring a warm jacket from about mid-December to mid-February because evenings can be quite cool during that period.
Currency and Exchange Rates
Bahrain’s currency is the Bahraini dinar, which locals refer to as BD (“bee-dee”). There are notes in denominations of half dinar, one dinar, 5, 10 and 20 dinars. The dinar is divided into 1000 fils (which is why you see one dinar written as 1.000) and there are 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 fils coins.
One Bahraini dinar is worth US$2.66. It’s been pegged to the US dollar since 1980 so that makes converting to your home currency very easy.
All images: © David Astley
