King’s day in the Netherlands gives us a 4 day holiday to make use of, and as things were still a bit chilly at the end of April then getting away to the heat is just what we needed. Our chosen destination was Kuwait, plenty of sun, sea and lots of heat, with a lot of Eastern promise and a world away from the Orange clad celebrations in the Netherlands (and good for our livers…the absence of alcohol!).
Not your typical tourist destination but plenty to keep you interested for a few days, Matt got to top up his tan ( to go from white to pink) and Lyssa got to enjoy some world class Malls that Kuwait’s tax free shopping offers…and all with local smiles greeting you all the way!
Getting there
The journey is direct from Amsterdam with KLM, just 6 hours, and you’ll only have a 1 hr time difference to deal with. Lyssa and I also got to try out our self made business class seats!
Arrivals are a little confusing, where you need to go to a side room to get your visa on arrival (or even pick up your evisa), but as with all Kuwatis the officials are very friendly and get you sorted quickly…a bonus for Matt is that finally he gets a benefit from his UK passport as the British don’t have to pay a visa fee, the Dutch, like Lyssa have to hand over 3kd (c. 9 eur)…a small but happy joy for Matt in this post Brexit world!
Getting around
Kuwait’s sights are not vast, but the city is spread out quite a bit, especially if you want to do some mall hopping; combined with the fact that organised tours tend to be for a minimum of 6 people this made us go for renting a car. Matt read that you need an international driving license, but on arrival, it seems it was not necessary, and you just pay 11kd foreign license ‘tax’, and you are done.
Car rental is quite well priced and petrol is cheaper than water, so all you really need to get used to are the roads (good quality but with continual exits popping up both left and right) that are sometimes deserted and sometimes very busy (usually around 8-9 pm) involving local drivers, who have good lane discipline but sometimes feels as though you are in the Fast and the Furious doing 100kmph through the middle of the city!
Driving around will also afford you the opportunity to see some of the middle eastern opulence that is about; particularly the palatial homes that are tucked away behind the tree lined borders of the highways; many that look larger than the hotel we were staying in!
Where to stay
We stayed at the Mövenpick Kuwait Al Bidaa on the eastern side of the city, with a beachside spot looking out into the Persian gulf. The rooms are newly refurbished and if you get a sea view room on the top floor then you’ll be rewarded perfect views into the Gulf that is an oven hot suntrap in the morning and refreshingly cool in the afternoon. With a big pool, a decent restaurant that has all the Kuwati favourites of tasty carbs and devilishly sweet treats, and its own private beach, you’ll have enough for a great short stay.
If you love sunsets then moving up round the Arabian Gulf Street to stay along the coastal stretch of Salmiya…with a long stretch of corniche to stroll along, some coastal eating spots and great views of the sun setting behind the downtown city.
Around here is also one of the best restaurants in the city, the Lebanese Babel, situated in a building that looks like it has been transplanted from Karnak in Egypt. The food is great, with little snacks to start, perfect dishes and a complimentary desert of light cheese with cotton candy that was one of Matt’s favorites of the trip.
What to see
The Malls are a day trip in themselves…if you like shopping (which Lyssa does and Matt doesn’t!), but more about those later.
The old Souq area…also shopping, but with a little bit more history! Right in the middle of downtown and surrounded by the sights of the business district.
It is not as frenetic as Marrakech, but wandering the shaded alleyways on a hot afternoon is diverting for an hour or two. Things also get a bit busier when the sun sets…as everything seems to do in Kuwait City.
The Kuwait Towers…the iconic symbol of the city and once again, best seen at sunset! Get there around 5ish and spend your time wandering around them to get pictures at all angles, trying to crop out the golden arches of MacDonalds or TGIF that are strategically placed to cause maximum Western eyesore of the sight!
Move a bit north (by the cheesecake factory) and stroll out the jetty of the ‘Head of the Bridge’…populated by local fishermen and tourist alike whilst the local aquatic boy racers rev up their boats and make a splash to show off.
As dusk settles the jetty takes on an ethereal blue glow that is great for the camera wielding instagramarti! Enjoying this stretch of coastline by night, with all the families strolling along you are reminded how safe it is here to walk around at night and enjoy the evening breeze.
Despite the serious looking fences that surround the towers, it is relatively simple to get in and visit them up close, just a 3KWD ticket and you are in. A quick lift ride up to the observation globe to get a birds eye view of the city. The observation deck slowly rotates, so you don’t even have to expend any energy to get that 360 degree view. The towers also host a couple of restaurants if you are feeling a bit hungry on your visit.
The Grand Mosque is a must see…reserve a place on the tour through their website (may need some google translate!), although no one checked our reservation, so you may get away with just turning up (from 10-11 in the morning and 17-18 in the afternoon. If you are driving, give yourself a bit of time to get there as you may have to drive around the mosque several times (where you will realise how big it is!) to discover the barrier you have to go through to park in front (hint it is at the south western corner!).
The mosque itself is a marvel…as much a work of art as a place of worship, and the tour is excellent, explaining about the inscriptions, the symmetry that is all around and the various acoustics in the building. As with many Mosques we have visited, the welcome is warm, in a calm oasis from the hustle and bustle outside and is supplemented by free tea/water as well as a nice new outfit for Lyssa to wear.
A side trip if you have time is to the Al Hashemi Marine Museum…the little museum (free) has some local boats and descriptions of the maritime life in Kuwait, but the real draw is the 80m Dhow that is parked in the middle of the adjoining building…its actually incorporated as a set of function rooms for grand parties, which one day we would love to host a party in.
One final little sight that gets a mention is the musical fountain at the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre…every 30 minutes it will do a song and dance, and for us, in honour of Matt it chose a James Bond theme to impress us with.
Mall life
As one of the few remaining countries of the Arabian peninsula Kuwait has some great Malls to visit (even if, like Matt, you don’t like shopping).
Starting with The Avenues…the Disney World of Malls…we probably have smaller sized towns in the Netherlands! Containing different sections that will appeal to almost anyone, starting with Dutch high street chains all the way up to the highest French and Italian luxury. A palm tree lined (enclosed) avenue that you can be chauffeur driven along, a luxury area with colourful sculptures and curving escalators ( that had Matt riding up and down with a wonderous look on his face), it’s very own souq and gold market and probably the world’s largest cheesecake factory!
The food Garden here is a gourmet pleasure and having spent several days eating mezze for breakfast , lunch and dinner we could not pass up trying out our favourite Parisian style restaurant Le Relais d’entrecote…it was almost as good, but sorely missing a nice bottle of St Emilion to accompany the meal!
The 360 mall is our no.2, the high end mall that had lyssa dreaming of untold riches! Make sure you head across to the arena to the food court to taste some of the local delicacies, another desert favourite for Matt was the sweet cheese kunafa that had him hooked. Also indulge in the national obsession of perfume shopping (and wearing), where it reaches fever pitch along the route ways of the Malls.
The Marina Mall is the smallest and most down to earth of the three, but close to Lyssa’s heart as it had both a Jollibee and Chicken Bacolod, the national food chains of the Philippines!
3 days flew by and in no time at all we were being whisked back to NL, more than enjoying that glass of in flight red wine and sadly getting ready to switch off that out of office reply. So until the next time, enjoy!