Bahrain’s New Walking Trail Transports Visitors Back to the Country’s Pearl Trading Heyday

It was a blazing November afternoon in Muharraq, the former capital of Bahrain. Cardamom and clove perfumed the air, mingling with the scent of fresh flatbread wafting from ovens around every corner. A muezzin’s call to prayer echoed off the coral-stone walls and mingled with the shuffle of men heading to mosque. Guiding my way through the serpentine alleys were spheres of milky glass as big as basketballs, mounted on posts made from oyster-shell-flecked terrazzo. These pillars mark the Pearling Path, a 2.2-mile walking trail that threads together more than a century of Bahrain’s pearling history. 

Before oil, pearls were the Persian Gulf’s main commodity, and during the industry’s heyday in the late 19th century, Muharraq emerged as the region’s pearling center. The path offers a rare glimpse into the country’s past and the city’s well preserved architecture. It’s also an ambitious bid to revitalize Muharraq’s cityscape and heritage, which had been largely neglected since Bahrain moved its capital to Manama in 1971. 

The self-guided path, which opened last February, begins at the Bu Mahir seashore, on Muharraq’s southern tip, where pearl fishers would embark on their months-long journeys. At Al Ghus House—a divers’ residence turned museum and one of the first stops along the route—I learned about the hardships they faced: overcrowded boats, poor diets, and backbreaking work. They found solace in fan al-bahri, or divers’ songs. Renditions of those melancholic hymns, which often told of homesickness and heartbreak, played from a speaker in the courtyard.

I continued past merchants’ mansions, many of which have been turned into exhibition spaces by notable designers, including the Dutch architect Anne Holtrop. At the Siyadi House, home to Muharraq’s oldest mosque, the part of the building once used for receiving guests (known as the majlis) is now the Siyadi Pearl Museum. Inside, I found priceless jewels by Jacques Cartier, who visited the city on a gem-sourcing trip in 1912.

The visitors’ center, a Brutalist construction by the Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati, doubles as a community gathering spot. Nearby, the Suq Al Qaysariyyah, Muharraq’s oldest market, has a mixture of traditional pearl sellers and new cafés and bookshops. All along the route, I spotted locals hanging out in recently installed public plazas in the shade of young trees.

“Pearl diving is still in our blood,” said Mohamed Al Slaise, a fourth-generation diver who offers guided excursions. “The Pearling Path helps us understand how our ancestors lived and how they created such a tight-knit society. It’s the foundation of the Bahrain of today.”

Where to Stay

At the new Raffles Al Areen Palace Bahrain, the 78 villas have private courtyards and pools. Each comes with a butler, who can arrange pearl dives and tours of the resort’s art collection.

A version of this story first appeared in the March 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “Pearl of the Gulf.”