Abu Dhabi vs Doha

This is my 47th day at Qatar, i stayed in Abu dhabi for the past 6 years. Qatar is nice and peaceful, if you compare it with AUH, i shall say that apples cannot be compared with pears. Qatar is small, developing and pretty dull.

If the salary gain is 10- 15% DONOT leave UAE.

We moved from AUH to DOH last year.Find my opinion below:housing? Much better than AUH. Cheaper and better. for the rate of a studio apt in AUH, you will get a two bed appartment here in DOH . traffic? Driving is a tension when compared to UAE! park for the kids? Bad. Not many options like we have in AUH. There are only a couple of places here. No beach where we can take a nice swim. I must mention, there are several swimming pools here.shopping malls? There are only a couple of nice malls here. (Small when compared to Abu dhabi mall or Marina Mall. And is too bad when you compare with those in Dubai - which is just an hour drive from AUH!)Centrepoint? Lulu? Carrefour?  Same as AUH.Things are about 25% expensive in DOH compared to AUH.Flight charges (to my place) are almost double, when compared to those from AUH. Very bad in DOH!Exit permit is one real headache in DOH.Documentations take longer to be completed. restaurants? We felt that the restaurants are much better in DOH.We found that the Kid's Schooling is much much better in DOH.The salary is definately better in Doha: You will really enjoy this part!In short: DOH is not bad. To more earn money, Doha is good. But standard of life of life is better in the UAE. (ahmed.qatar, do not get excited!! These are MY OPINION.  You can have other opinion!   LOL )

Hi friend,

if the diffeerence of the package is small stay there and forget Doha. Cannot compare the lifestyle of AD with Doha.....there is too much better. We and many expats like to spend the week end in UAE so shall be a reason for that.

Good luck

Qatar is a very small place as compare to UAE, there is not much to do. Cost of living is lower as compare to Abu Dhabi, Accommodation is less costly but quality/standard is not same (few areas like westbay and pearl are exceptionally good but then these are very expensive). All other utilities, food etc are less. You dont hv to pay for parking as well.

Regarding places, parks and Malls there is no match with Abu Dhabi, you hardly find any happening place in Qatar. Its just routine life with almost ZERO activity.

U cant change your job bcoz of local restrictions (NOC requirements), to go out u need Exit Permit and the learning curve will actually stop bcoz u will not find professionalism and high skill individuals here.

The positive part it that its very peaceful place, not much to do hence u end up saving good money (i lived in Abu Dhabi and i knw its almost impossible to save). It really depends if you are desperately looking for a new opportunity and fed up with current organization or you want to save money then u can decide to join Qatar...Good luck

I currently live in Doha and I used to live in Abu Dhabi and there is a lot of differences.

Housing is better in Doha (cheaper and well furnished)

Traffic is the same as Abu Dhabi but not safe

For the parks only few parks for kids

shopping malls are the same

restaurants,centerpoint, LuLu and Carrefour are all here

But the lifestyle in Abu Dhabi is much better than here

in Abu Dhabi there is a lot of coffee shops ,beaches, pubs, events and concerts but here nothing.

and there is no transportation in Doha Taxis are very few you can't live here without a car.

But if the salary is much better than Abu Dhabi you have to sacrifice otherwise don't leave Abu Dhabi you will regret...

I wish to go back....

I moved a while ago from Abu Dhabi to Doha.

In summary, Doha is quite small and a bit dull compared to Abu Dhabi. Traffic is definitely worse, the local driving style is quite bad. It took me 5 months to finalize all the paperwork, lots of qeues, wrong info etc, etc,, Whenever you want to leave the country you need an exit permit, changing jobs within Qatar is nearly impossible since your employer needs to issue a no objection letter.

There are several quality supermarkets, Carrefour, Lulu and Spinneys. There are sevaral large malls like Villagio, City Center and Landmark, they are OK but very crowded and parking is a real problem. Within Doha, you need need two (big) cars, taxis are difficult to get and are more expensive compared to AD. For sure, Doha is in full development and the situation will improve but evyrything takes lots of time.

Accommodation is cheaper than Doha. Make sure you live close to work and school and move into a brand new villa/flat.