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I'm a Vietnamese and I'm travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to London, and I'll have to spend 12h30 at Doha.
1. If I don't leave the airport, do I need a visa?
2. What can I do there during the transit time?
Thank you for your help.
btw, I'll be 18 this November, am I allowed to travel alone?
Hi there
Yes - you will need a visa if you leave the airport - check that you can get a visa on arrival at the airport though, as I'm not sure if there are restrictions on certain nationalities and you may have to get the visa in advance. The cost for us at the time in Sep. 2008 (British citizens) was 80 QAR pp. We had a 10 hour stopover in Doha so hired a car and after a quick bite to eat for breakfast we decided to have a drive around the city along the Corniche area and then stopped to look around Souq Waqif in the centre, which has many nice restaurants to visit and is a nice shopping area. There is an impressive Persian restaurant in the souq area which is all decked out in mirrors, so nice to have a look inside, even if you don't eat there.
We visited the Gold Souq, Doha Zoo, drove to the beach at Al Wakra (12 km south of the city, where to be honest, there is not much to see!), tried to see the National Museum and Museum of Islamic Art (both closed at the time, but may be open now), saw the Aspire Sports Academy and had a nice buffet meal at the Movenpick Hotel to round off the day. If you do not want to drive, there are several tour companies operating in Doha who can show you around - just do an internet search for them. I was looking at this option before we decided to hire a car for the day.
I have no idea about entry age restrictions if you are traveling alone - I would check with the nearest consulate/embassy.
Good luck!
Of course you can travel alone !
Not sure if Vietnamese citizens need a visa for Qatar but if you do, then I would suggest you get a short stay visa before you travel so you could actually go out of the airport and see around for a few hours. 12 hours at Doha airport is going to be killer, I had 3 hours stay and it bored me to death.
P.S. - Sorry I misread your post - I see you are looking to stay in the airport, not venture out. To be honest, the airport in Doha is very small and there is nothing to do really, so you would be pretty bored for such a long time. I would take the option of doing some kind of tour if you have the funds. I would assume that if you in transit, then you would not need a visa. Good luck!
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