Things to do in Kuwait

Kuwait City

Kuwait Towers

Three slender towers on a headland in the Gulf, studded with blue and green discs — the Kuwait Towers have been the emblem of the country since they opened in 1979.

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The dome and arcaded facade of the Grand Mosque

Heritage

Kuwait City

The Grand Mosque

Opened in 1986 opposite Seif Palace, the Grand Mosque is the largest in Kuwait — a calm, light-filled space that has long welcomed visitors of all faiths on guided tours.

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Seif Square and the clock tower of Seif Palace

Landmarks

Kuwait City

Seif Palace

Facing the sea in the old city, Seif Palace is a working palace of the State; its blue-tiled clock tower, capped with a roof plated in gold, is one of the most recognisable sights in Kuwait.

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A covered lane of Souq Al-Mubarakiya hung with Kuwaiti flags

Souqs & shopping

Kuwait City

Souq Al-Mubarakiya

For at least two centuries traders have sold dates, spices, oud, textiles and gold in the lanes of Souq Al-Mubarakiya — the best place to feel the rhythm of old Kuwait, and to eat well.

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Landmarks

Kuwait City

Al Hamra Tower

Its sculpted, twisting form makes Al Hamra Tower the signature of the Kuwait City skyline — and, at 412.6 metres, the tallest building in the country.

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Landmarks

Kuwait City

Liberation Tower

At 372 metres, the Liberation Tower is the second-tallest structure in Kuwait. Begun before the 1990 invasion and completed in 1993, it was named to mark the country’s liberation.

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Museums & arts

Kuwait City

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre

On the Gulf shore, this vast complex brings together museums of natural history, science, space and Arab-Islamic science — interactive, family-friendly and air-conditioned, ideal for a hot afternoon.

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Museums & arts

Kuwait City

Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre

A cluster of faceted, jewel-like buildings on Gulf Road, the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre — known as JACC or the Kuwait Opera House — hosts concerts, theatre, film and exhibitions.

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A lake framed by palms in Al Shaheed Park

Nature & outdoors

Kuwait City

Al Shaheed Park

Kuwait’s largest urban park follows the line of the old city wall: shaded walks, lakes and gardens laid over roads and car parks, with two museums about the country’s nature and its martyrs.

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Museums & arts

Kuwait City

Kuwait National Museum

Designed by Michel Ecochard and opened in 1983, the National Museum traces Kuwait’s past from the Bronze Age finds of Failaka Island to the age of pearl diving, with a planetarium and a dhow in its grounds.

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Heritage

Kuwait City

Sadu House

Next to the National Museum, Sadu House keeps alive Al Sadu — the bold geometric weaving of the desert — with exhibitions, workshops and a shop of handwoven pieces.

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The Amricani Cultural Centre, home of Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah exhibitions

Museums & arts

Kuwait City

Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah

The al-Sabah Collection — one of the great private collections of Islamic art — is shown by Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah at the Amricani Cultural Centre, a restored early-20th-century mission hospital on the seafront.

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Museums & arts

Kuwait City

Museum of Modern Art

Housed in the old Eastern School of 1939, the Museum of Modern Art in Sharq shows modern Kuwaiti, Arab and international art around a quiet courtyard.

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Heritage

Kuwait City

Dickson House Cultural Centre

This restored mud-brick house on the seafront was the British Political Agency and the home of Harold and Violet Dickson, whose writing and photographs recorded Kuwait before oil.

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Souqs & shopping

Kuwait City

Souq Sharq & the fish market

On the Sharq waterfront, a shopping centre with its own marina stands beside Kuwait City’s main fish market and a harbour of wooden dhows — come in the morning, when the catch is sold.

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Family & science

Kuwait City

Green Island

Opened in 1988 off Arabian Gulf Street, Green Island was the first artificial island in the Gulf region — a waterside park of lawns, palms and promenades linked to the shore by a bridge.

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Museums & arts

Kuwait City

The Mirror House

In a residential street in Qadsiya, the artist Lidia Al-Qattan spent four decades covering her family home in mirror mosaic — a dazzling, deeply personal house museum visited by appointment.

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The glass-roofed Grand Avenue at The Avenues

Souqs & shopping

Kuwait City

The Avenues

Opened in 2007 in Al Rai, The Avenues is the largest mall in Kuwait and one of the largest in the world, with themed districts from a traditional-style souq to a glass-roofed grand avenue.

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Nature & outdoors

Salmiya & Hawalli

Arabian Gulf Street & Marina Crescent

Kuwait’s coastal road follows the shore from the city to Salmiya past beaches, parks and cafés — and at Salmiya, the curving promenade of Marina Crescent wraps around the yacht harbour.

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Clownfish in the aquarium of the Scientific Center

Family & science

Salmiya & Hawalli

The Scientific Center

At the tip of the Salmiya peninsula, the Scientific Center combines a large aquarium, a hands-on Discovery Place and an IMAX theatre, with a harbour of historic pearling boats outside.

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Heritage

Salmiya & Hawalli

Bait Al-Othman Museum

Set in a traditional-style house in Hawalli, Bait Al-Othman brings together several small museums about Kuwaiti life before and after oil — from the family home and the souq to Kuwait’s beloved TV dramas.

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The gold jewellery room of the Tareq Rajab Museum

Museums & arts

Salmiya & Hawalli

Tareq Rajab Museum

In a villa in Jabriya, the Rajab family shows one of the finest private collections of Islamic art in the region: Qurans and manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, costumes and an outstanding collection of jewellery.

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Islands & sea

Failaka Island

Twenty kilometres offshore, Failaka holds Bronze Age Dilmun settlements, a Hellenistic fortress and temple from the time it was called Ikaros, and the ruins of an early Christian village — all reached by ferry.

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Boats anchored off the beach of Kubbar Island

Islands & sea

Khiran & the south coast

Kubbar Island

About 30 km off the coast, the tiny sandy island of Kubbar is ringed by coral reefs — a protected area and Kuwait’s favourite destination for snorkelling and diving by boat.

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Islands & sea

Khiran & the south coast

Al Khiran & Sabah Al-Ahmad Sea City

Near the Saudi border, a network of man-made waterways and lagoons has turned Al Khiran into Kuwait’s favourite weekend escape, with chalets, boating and a waterfront mall.

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The mud-brick walls of the Red Fort in Jahra

Heritage

Jahra & the desert

The Red Fort, Jahra

Built in 1897 to guard the farms of the Jahra oasis, the Red Fort was the scene of the Battle of Jahra in 1920. Restored, it reopened as a museum in 2025.

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Nature & outdoors

Jahra & the desert

Mutla Ridge & the desert camps

From mid-November to mid-March, Kuwaitis head for the desert: family camps spread across the plains around Mutla Ridge, the most prominent hill in the country, for evenings of fires, coffee and stars.

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The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway at sunset

Landmarks

Subiya & the north

Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway

Opened on 1 May 2019, the causeway carries a highway 36 km across Kuwait Bay from Shuwaikh to Subiya — one of the longest road bridges in the world.

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The house at Al-Qurain preserved as a museum

Heritage

Ahmadi & Fahaheel

Al-Qurain Martyrs Museum

On 24 February 1991, nineteen young members of the Kuwaiti resistance were surrounded in a house in Qurain. The house, kept as it was after the battle, is now a museum.

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Museums & arts

Ahmadi & Fahaheel

Ahmad Al-Jaber Oil & Gas Exhibition

In the oil town of Ahmadi, the Kuwait Oil Company’s exhibition explains, with models and interactive displays, how oil is found, produced and exported — and how it transformed Kuwait.

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Al Kout Mall on the Fahaheel waterfront at night

Souqs & shopping

Ahmadi & Fahaheel

Fahaheel fish market & Al Kout

On the Fahaheel seafront, fishermen carry their catch straight from the boats into a traditional fish market; next door, Al Kout Mall adds a waterfront promenade and fountains.

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