Where to stay in Bahrain

The areas

• Manama city centre and the Diplomatic Area - business hotels, the World Trade Centre, walking distance to the Bab Al Bahrain souq.
• Adliya - the restaurant and gallery district, low-rise, walkable, and where people actually go out in the evening.
• Seef - the malls and the newer towers, functional and dull.
• Amwaj Islands - reclaimed islands off Muharraq with beaches and apartments, quieter and further out.
• Muharraq - the old town, the pearling trail, and the closest thing Bahrain has to genuine heritage streets. Underrated.

Timing is the price

• Bahrain is where Saudi Arabia goes for the weekend, across the causeway.
• Thursday and Friday nights cost far more than Sunday to Wednesday, and everything is busier.
• The Formula One weekend in spring fills the island entirely and prices multiply.

Where not to bother going

• The FCDO names Sitra, Bani Jamra, Diraz and the villages along Budaiya Highway as places where demonstrations occur.
• These are residential villages with nothing for a visitor. Avoiding them is not a restriction on anything you would want to do.
• Leave any area where a large gathering forms, which is the general advice everywhere.