Bahrain: The Avenues Mall and Sunset at Bahrain Bay

By Mithun Divakaran
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Oct 14, 2026
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Bahrain, Travel

Date: February 6, 2025

I began the day walking from Manama to Bahrain Harbour, and now I was walking to The Avenues mall.

Road to Avenues mall Bahrain — It wasn’t much of a walk to The Avenues.

One of the benefits of Bahrain is that it is a small island, and you can easily drive from north to south in less than half a day.

Bahrain World Trade Center twin towers — The Avenues is across the road from Bahrain World Trade Center. At 240 meters in height, this is the 3rd tallest building on the island.

Mithun selfie sunset Bahrain — And this is me, all of 5 foot 6″

Avenues mall roundabout — The Avenues mall opened in 2017

The Avenues mall Bahrain Sephora — The Avenues Bahrain is the second mall under that name. The first is The Avenues Kuwait, the largest mall in Kuwait.

PF Changs inside Avenues mall Bahrain — Avenues has a lot of well known global brands, be it PF Changs or H&M

But when I walked into the H&M, the prices were so much higher than what the equivalent costs back in India. I’m so glad clothes are way cheaper in India, even from chains like H&M, Uniqlo, and ZARA.

Victorias Secret Avenues Mall Bahrain — By now, every mall looks the same to me. Also, India has bigger malls than this now

There was a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when I was blown away by the scale of the malls in Bahrain’s Seef district. Now having travelled across Asia and seeing the malls back in India now, The Avenues mall is nothing special.

Avenues mall glass dome Bahrain — This dome looked nice though

Avenues Mall waterfront Bahrain — Instead, I went out to the waterfront which spans the entire length of the mall

Avenues mall Bahrain Bay panorama — The Avenues offers a grand view of Bahrain Bay

Sunset cruise Bahrain Bay — This is a popular spot to watch sunsets and even embark on sunset cruises

Mind you, Bahrain Bay is all artificial. All the buildings you see sit on reclaimed land.

Seagulls Bahrain Bay — Except for the seagulls, they’re real

Four Seasons hotel Bahrain Bay — This H-looking building is the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay — also the tallest building in the Bahrain

Four Seasons Bahrain Bay sky bridge — Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay was designed by Chicago-based SOM and features a sky bridge that connects the two towers

Four Seasons Bahrain Bay sailboats — But seems like a lot of wasted space in the middle

Hilton Garden Inn Bahrain Bay hotel — If you can’t afford to stay at the Four Seasons, Hilton Garden Inn Bahrain Bay is a cheaper option

Arcapita headquarters Bahrain Bay — That is the headquarters of Arcapita, a major asset management firm

Avenues Mall parking lot Bahrain — As the sun set over Bahrain Bay, I decided it was time to leave

Evening traffic Manama Bahrain — Traffic was piling up as office goers headed home

Bahrain Financial Harbour towers sunset — The sunset sky behind Bahrain Financial Harbour

King Faisal Avenue intersection Manama — I had to cross King Faisal Avenue to get to Moda Mall

GIB office Manama buildings Bahrain — I remember these office buildings from the 1990s

Sheraton Moda mall parking Manama Bahrain — I had to see an uncle who manages a leading pearl jewellery shop in Bahrain

Moda Mall dome Sheraton Manama — Moda Mall is mostly full of high-end luxury brands… and yes, it’s near the oldest Sheraton in Bahrain

Blancpain DeBeers Moda Mall Bahrain — But much of the mall was empty!

Roberto Cavalli Moda Mall Bahrain — Not that these brands need hundreds of customers walking in daily…. but still, very empty

I met my uncle — one of my last two relatives — who are still in Bahrain. We left his shop and he took me to Gudaibiya because I told him I wanted to see the road that led to Awal Cinema (now shut). At the corner near Indian Club was our favourite shawarma shop.

That shop was all gone now and replaced by a Kerala cuisine eatery (see the vlog at the end of this post).

Tariq Pastries Gudaibiya Bahrain — Tariq Pastries in one of Bahrain’s most successful sweet shops, known for their baklava

Gudaibiya night road Bahrain — Every time after getting our shawarmas, my father would drive back to Manama on this stretch

Sizzling Plate Filipino restaurant Bahrain — Now this stretch of Gudabiya has a lot of Filipino restaurants

Once at my uncle’s house, we sat down for dinner together with my aunt, spoke for a while before it was time for me to head back to my hotel.

Me with Kishore uncle — Me with my uncle and aunt

My uncle’s driver dropped me back and he too reiterated how bad Bahrain’s economy has gotten post-COVID. Made me realize my uncle and aunt may not stay much longer in Bahrain.

I have one more post from Manama before I shifted to Juffair.

Previous posts in this series:

Bahrain Harbour: The island’s answer to Dubai Marina

Bahrain: Walking around Manama – Al Zeinah Plaza, Yateem Centre, and Post Museum

Bahrain: Visiting my old apartment, and Manama Central Market

Bahrain: Returning to the country I grew up in… after 23 years

Bahrain: Seeing BLR Terminal 2 and new Abu Dhabi airport for the first time

Bahrain Harbour: The island’s answer to Dubai Marina

By Mithun Divakaran
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Aug 23, 2026
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Bahrain, Travel

Date: February 5, 2025

Yesterday, I began my second day in Bahrain by first visiting my old apartment, walking to Manama’s Central Market, and then in the evening, exploring Yateem Centre and Al Zeinah Plaza. Today, I planned to walk to what used to be Manama’s corniche area.

By the time I woke up and finished my work, it was already past noon. I hadn’t had much of a breakfast.

Haji's Cafe beef biryani Bahrain — Lunch was at Haji’s Cafe. I had Bahrain-style beef biryani. Although not as strong on the masala, it was still very good and the beef so tender! Cost: BD 2 (₹500/$5/€4.5)

Bahrain Post office Manama — This is Manama Post Office… although I don’t know who uses it these days

Manama Joyalukkas KFC Bahrain — The iconic KFC at Bab Al Bahrain — it’s been here for some 30+ years!

Yateem Mosque Downtown Rotana Manama Bahrain — Yateem Mosque, next to Batelco Tower, and to the extreme right is Downtown Rotana – a 5-star hotel

Hotel Intercontinental Manama hotel Bahrain — That’s InterContinental Bahrain. I swear I thought that building was a lot bigger back in the 1990s!

Manama Amakin building Bahrain — I used to walk down this same path everytime my family used to go to Manama Corniche

Jasmis Amakin Manama Bahrain — Jasmi’s is a Bahrain-based fast food chain. Where it stands now used to be a Hardee’s before.

King Faisal highway signal Manama — This is King Faisal Highway, which extends all the way to Seef district — which is where the mall craze in Bahrain began in the late 1990s

Crossing King Faisal highway Manama Bahrain — I had to cross King Faisal highway to get to where the corniche once stood

Traffic signal button press many languages Bahrain — The pedestrian press sign on traffic signals is written in Hindi and Malayalam, besides English and Arabic

Conrad hotel Manama Bahrain — That blue building is the Conrad Hotel at Bahrain Financial Harbour — another 5-star property

View of Mamama Bahrain — A view of Manama from the former corniche

Manama Corniche was a long stretch of land with a seaside public park. Just a green open space where people could go for walks and jogs. All that is gone now.

Bapco Energies building Manama — Land reclamation extended the land further into the sea and many buildings have come up. BAPCO is Bahrain’s national oil company.

Bahrain Financial Harbour twin towers — The corniche’s destruction began in the early 2000s with this project — the Bahrain Financial Harbour towers

Bahrain Financial Harbour towers were the last project my father worked on for his company before leaving Bahrain. After the success of BFH, the area just kept expanding.

Bahrain Harbour apartments Manama — Now residential luxury apartments have come up

Walking to Bahrain Harbour Manama — As I kept walking, I was reminded of my first experience when I saw Dubai Marina back in 2010.

It may not be as impressive or vast as Dubai — but Bahrain doesn’t have to be

Bahrain Harbour cafe sit out — There are eateries and coffee shops with sit-out areas overlooking the marina

Bahrain Harbour yacht Marina — Needless to say, the residents of Bahrain Harbour are wealthy

Labourers Bahrain Harbour — But these are the labourers who built Bahrain Harbour

Strathclyde University Bahrain campus — University of Strathclyde’s Bahrain Campus

Bridge to Bahrain Bay — I then walked towards the Bahrain Bay area, where more new constructions are coming up

Bahrain World Trade Center building — Over in the distance are the iconic Bahrain World Trade Center twin towers

Future Generation Reserve Tower construction Bahrain — This upcoming skyscraper is the Future Generation Reserve Tower

When I saw that sign board with the name of the contractors, it reminded me of all the construction sites where my father worked and would take us to once in a while. This should be standard in India as well.

United Tower spiral Bahrain Bay — I was walking towards that spiral tower, called United Tower

Bricked pavement Bahrain Harbour — Everytime I walk along nice pavements, I am reminded of how much of India still lacks the basics like clean, paved or bricked footpaths

United Tower Bahrain Aecom office — United Tower houses the offices of American-engineering major AECOM, and other multi-national companies such as Regus, CBRE, and Deloitte

But as I was talking photos, a security guard informed me that photographing United Tower is not allowed. In fact, photography is restricted along Bahrain Bay. Why? I don’t know.

View from Bahrain Bay Manama — So I just took the view of Manama from Bahrain Bay and decided to leave

BIBF building Bahrain Bay — BIBF’s building in Bahrain Bay. BIBF is the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance.

Kempinski Bahrain Harbour Bahrain roads — I walked back and decide to head to Avenues Mall next

That will be the next post. I just had one more night in Manama before I shifted to Juffair to join my school friends.

Watch the vlog:

Previous posts in this series:

Bahrain: Walking around Manama – Al Zeinah Plaza, Yateem Centre, and Post Museum

Bahrain: Visiting my old apartment, and Manama Central Market

Bahrain: Returning to the country I grew up in… after 23 years

Bahrain: Seeing BLR Terminal 2 and new Abu Dhabi airport for the first time

Bahrain: Walking around Manama – Al Zeinah Plaza, Yateem Centre, and Post Museum

By Mithun Divakaran
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Apr 30, 2026
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Bahrain, Travel

Date: February 4, 2025

After visiting my old apartment building and walking to Manama’s Central Market, as the sun was setting, I decided to walk to two prominent shopping centers in Manama I used to frequent during my school days.

Khalifa Avenue Manama Bahrain — I walked down Khalifa Avenue

I walked through the alleyway which used to house a popular magazine store. While my father went in there to pick up newspapers, I would browse through British pop magazines like Smash Hits and video game magazines. But that store was long gone. I did find a lot of Nepali eateries though. See the vlog video at the end of this post for that footage.

I walked through Manama Souq to get Al Zeinah Plaza, my first stop.

Where F&F Watch Company stands now used to be a Dadabhai store — the most popular toy store chain in Bahrain

Al Zeinah Plaza Manama Bahrain — Dadabhai may have gone but across from it, Al Zeinah Plaza still stands…

Al Zeinah Plaza empty Manama — …mostly empty 🙁

Al Zeinah Plaza old arcade games Manama — The main reason I used to frequent Al Zeinah Plaza was for this arcade. Also shut.

Filipino restaurant Al Zeinah Plaza Manama — In fact, the only thing livening up the inside of Al Zeinah Plaza was this Filipino restaurant, which also had karaoke (no surprise there)

Kewalram Sons Al Zeinah Manama — Kewalram & Sons, Dadabhai, Babasons (MegaMart) are among the many big business groups founded by Indians who settled in Bahrain more than half a century ago

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