Not so long ago, Doha was a modest pearling and fishing town on the Arabian Gulf, where wooden dhows bobbed in the shallows and the population was a fraction of what it is today. Then came oil, then gas, then what can only be described as an extremely ambitious building programme. The result is a city that contains multitudes: gleaming towers and sinuous modern museums alongside a restored old souq where the smell of cardamom and spices has been doing its thing for generations.

The Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I.M. Pei and perched on its own island off the Corniche, would be a highlight of any city in the world. Jean Nouvel's National Museum of Qatar, shaped to evoke the desert rose crystal, is another. The 7-kilometre Corniche waterfront, the labyrinthine alleyways of Souq Waqif, the Katara Cultural Village, the peculiarly compelling Falcon Hospital next to the souq: Doha has quietly assembled an itinerary that no longer requires any apology.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup put the city on a new kind of map, and the visitors who arrived expecting a glorified airport stopover tended to leave rather pleasantly surprised. The desert is on the doorstep, the food scene is genuinely excellent, and the city is, by any reasonable measure, among the safest and most navigable in the region. Doha is still finding its cultural voice in some respects, but it is finding it quickly, and with considerable style.