The National Museum, once the pride of Kuwait and its centrepiece, used to house the Al-Sabah collection, one of the most important collections of Islamic art in the world. During the occupation, however, the Iraqis systematically looted the exhibit halls. Having cleaned out the building, they smashed everything they could and then set what was left on fire. A hall at the back of the museum complex's courtyard has been restored and is sometimes used for temporary exhibits. Because of the loss of the National Museum's treasures, the Tareq Rajab Museum, a private collection of Islamic art housed in the basement of a large villa, is all the more important.

The Sadu House is a museum and cultural foundation dedicated to preserving Bedouin arts and crafts. It's also the best place in Kuwait to buy Bedouin goods. The house itself is built of gypsum and coral, and there's some beautiful decorative carving around the courtyard. More impressive to the country's Muslims is the huge, modern Grand Mosque, opened in 1986, which cost millions to build and can accommodate over 5500 worshippers.

The Kuwait Towers have become Kuwait's main landmark. The largest of the three rises to a height of 187m (615ft). The upper globe houses a two-level observation deck, which is open daily and overlook the emir's Sief Palace. The largest tower's lower globe has a restaurant, coffee shop and banquet rooms.

Failaka Island
The home of Kuwait's main archaeological site, Failaka is definitely worth a visit, though it requires a bit of extra caution. The Iraqis turned Failaka into a heavily fortified base and filled the area with mines. Failaka's history goes back to the Bronze Age Dilmun civilisation, which was centred in Bahrain. The Greeks arrived in the 4th century BC in the form of a garrison sent by Nearchus, one of Alexander the Great's admirals. A small settlement existed on the island prior to this, but it was as the Greek town of Ikaros that the settlement became a real city. The Greeks lived on Failaka for two centuries. The centrepiece of the island is its temple. Failaka is about 20km (12mi) north-east of Kuwait City's centre and well served by ferries, which depart daily from Arabian Gulf St just south of the city centre.

Al-Ahmadi
Built to house Kuwait's oil industry in the 1940s and '50s, Al-Ahmadi was named for the then emir, Shaikh Ahmed. It remains, to a great extent, the private preserve of the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). The Oil Display Centre is a small, well-organised and rather self-congratulatory introduction to KOC and the oil business. Al-Ahmadi also has a small, pleasant public garden that's worth a visit. Al-Ahmadi is about 20km (12mi) south of Kuwait City.

Al-Jahra
Al-Jahra, 32km (20mi) west of Kuwait City, is where invading troops from Saudi Arabia were defeated (with British help) in 1920. The town's only conventional site is the Red Fort, a low rectangular mud structure near the highway, that played a key role in the 1920 battle. Al-Jahra is also the site of the Gulf War's infamous 'turkey shoot' - the Allied destruction of a stalled Iraqi convoy as it attempted to retreat from Kuwait.

Doha Village
On an arm of land jutting out into Kuwait Bay, Doha Village is the site of several small dhow-building yards and a fishing village of squalid shacks. Buses from Kuwait City make the trip to Doha, 20km (12mi) to the north-west.

Bayt Al-Bader
Situated between the National Museum and the Sadu House, this is an old house built between 1838 and 1848. It was formerly the home of the Al-Bader family and is currently used for exhibitions of local handicrafts.

Old City Wall Gates
The wall was originally built by sheikh Salim Al-Mubarak in 1922 to keep the marauding desert tribes out of the town. Although largely demolished in the 1950s, the gates are still standing at various key points in the city. All of them are on, or adjacent to, the First Ring Road.

Dhows
This was one of Kuwait's major dhow building areas. Some dhows are still built there, including miniatures.

AAA Housing provides Fully Furnished & Serviced Apartment and Complexes for Expatriate Executives during their assignment in Kuwait. We own and manage over 780 fully furnished properties all over Kuwait. Our properties are especially designed for Western Style of living for families and bachelors.