Katara is Qatar's government-built cultural quarter, a compact village of mosques, galleries, theatres, restaurants, and a long beach, about 8 km north of central Doha along the coast. The architecture mixes traditional Islamic and Gulf styles to reasonable effect — more coherent and less overtly commercial than most such developments elsewhere in the Gulf.
It works best during events: outdoor film screenings, the annual Katara Traditional Dhow Festival, and the Doha Film Institute's programming in the 5,000-seat open-air amphitheatre. On a quiet weekday morning the galleries can be very good, and the beach is one of the few accessible stretches of coastline close to the city centre. Several restaurants line the waterfront, including some serving good Lebanese and Syrian food.