Living in the Gulf gives expats lots of opportunities to visit many new places without a hassle of long flights or travel.

Here is our subjective list of the top 10 tourist attractions in Bahrain that you can visit over weekend, even with a toddler. A little star (*) denotes places ‘starred’ by Lonely Plant. The below list was created thanks to our friends who recommended where to go, and where not to bother…

1. (*) Bahrain National Museum – amazing historical testimony of the island
2. (*) Bahrain National Theater – next to the national museum
3. (*) Manama Souq
4. (*) Bahrain Fort – 16th century Portuguese fort, best visited in the evening.
5. (*) Muhharaq’s Pearling Pathway – a walking trail through Muhharaq old town featuring multiple old houses from the pre-oil pearling era.
6. Tree Of Life – a lone tree in the desert.
7. Oil and gas fields – on the way to the Tree of Life.
8. Al-Fatih Mosque – open for tours daily from 9 am to 4 pm (except Fridays)
9. Royal Camel Farm – fantastic place for kids
10. Eating out – a) enjoy fantastic Friday brunch at Four Season Hotel – (*) Bahrain Bay Kitchen, b) try local food near Manama Souq – (*) Haji Cafe , c) fantastic Mediterranean food – (*) Masso

You can check out my video from the trip here. Here is the link to the map with all locations.

Few photos from the trip:

Other ‘attractions’ that we considered, but our friends who lived there recommended NOT to go:

• Al Dar Islands – not enough time (requires almost a full day), and the feedback from other is… ‘just nice’
• Bahrain International Circuit – maybe when there is F1 going
• (*) A’Ali Burial Mounds – we saw them from the highway and at the museum, interesting but we reckoned no need for a detour.

And lastly this could be an interesting option too…

Bahrain underwater theme park featuring Boeing jet to open…