The Middle East is, of course, very strict on alcohol laws. So you won’t find trendy craft breweries in Qatar’s souq, and can’t order a bottle of Burgundy with your dinner, even at western hotels. BUT you can bring alcohol into Qatar if you’re just passing through the Doha Hamad International Airport.
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SO, can you bring alcohol into Qatar?
You can’t bring alcohol INTO Qatar, just through. If you’re transiting in Doha Hamad International Airport, you won’t have your alcohol confiscated on your layover.
Until recently, you were able to declare it and leave it with customs for a few days if you were on the Qatar Airways Stopover Program. (This was considered transiting, so it was a bit of a loophole.) Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case.
Thanks to LW and Iain in the comments for letting me know!
I’d originally written this post explaining how to do the whole drop off with customs and pick it up later trick, but things have changed. It was hard to find definitive information, so I contacted Doha Hamad International Airport directly. Here’s what the airport officials had to say:
In case that’s too small to read or your image won’t load… the answer is “not possible.” Even if you’re just there as part of the airline’s stopover promotion.
I still highly recommend booking the Qatar Airways Stopover Program if you’re ever flying a route that transits through Doha. It’s an amazing way to break up a long journey and see this beautiful country.
Read more: How to Book the Qatar Stopover Program
Stay connected with an eSIM in Qatar
I used an Airalo eSIM for the first time on my trip to Qatar. It was super convenient, as we only had a short time (3 days) to explore, and it would have taken up some of that time trying to find a tourist SIM.
With the eSIM, I was able to activate it as soon as we arrived at the airport, which gave us immediate access to the internet. If you’re trying an Airalo eSIM for the first time, use the code NAOM15 at checkout for 15% off. If you’ve tried it before, you can still use NAOM10 for 10% off.
Holafly and Saily are other great eSIM alternatives. Holafly offers unlimited data for all their plans, and Saily is one of the cheapest options out there. I’ve tried both (in New Zealand, not Qatar) and they worked a treat. Get 5% off Holafly by clicking here or using NAOMILAI, or 5% off Saily with the code NAOMI5.
Yes, I have a lot of codes lol. But I like to give you guys options and who doesn’t love a li’l discount?
Our experience trying to bring alcohol into Qatar
Because I’ve already written it and you might be curious, this is how the system used to work. You used to be able to bring alcohol into Qatar. And I know because I did it.
We had three small bottles of Italian limoncello and Romanian cherry wine that we wanted to bring as gifts to our next destination. As part of the Qatar Airways Stopover Program, we booked 3 days in Doha on our way to Cape Town. It was on a bit of a whim, and we didn’t think everything through. Including whether we could share a hotel room as an unmarried couple. But that’s a story for another time. So we found ourselves with these little alcoholic gifts and did a bit of research which suggested we could declare them without getting in trouble.
It seemed pretty low risk, and good for the plot.
We packed our 3 small bottles (under 1L) all together in one of our checked bags. And because we weren’t totally sure when/where we’d have to declare, we were on high alert and ready to confess as soon as the time was right.
Only after going through immigration, juuuuust before leaving the airport, we found a customs guy and told him we had something to declare. TBPH, I think we probably could have just kept walking if we were like, alcoholics and ready to risk it all to sip a bit of limoncello in a country with a strict alcohol ban. But I obviously do not recommend that at all. I guess I just mean no one was there scanning or inspecting bags.
The guy we spoke to didn’t say much, but brought us to a nearby office. He asked how long we’d be staying in Qatar (3 days) and for one of our passports. Without requesting any proof (we were very ready to provide proof), he filled out a form that didn’t actually include much.
It had Chesney’s first name, nationality, and the date, but nothing like his passport number. He attached it to our bag of bottles and he gave us a copy to present when we came to pick them up later.
Everything was in Arabic and I probably shouldn’t have run it through Google translate. Because now I’ve hurt my own feelings.
Did I get roasted because I wanted to bring alcohol into Qatar, or is Google Translate messing with me?
And that was that! We left the airport, enjoyed our 3 days exploring Qatar, and claimed our bottles again on our way out.
Read more: My Detailed 3 to 4-Day Doha Itinerary
Picking our alcohol up again
The customs pick up office is near the spooky-yet-iconic teddy bear statue in the departures area of the Hamad Int’l Airport. So we couldn’t pick up our stuff until after we’d checked in and gone through security. Our flight was super early and the office was closed at that time. So we had to get some help from the info centre people to call the customs team, but it only took about 20 minutes.
The strange little room had no windows and absolutely reeked of smoke. It was just kind of eerily barren with a few lonely plastic bags spread across the floor-to-ceiling shelved walls. I guess they all contained miscellaneous bottles of random alcohol, like ours.
We weren’t treated like alcoholics or criminals, it cost us nothing, and the whole process was super efficient.
I’m not exactly sure why or when they changed the rules, all I know is that they’re no longer holding alcohol at customs.
Read more: What to Do With 1 or 2 Days in Doha, Qatar
Activities to book in Qatar:
Your blog came up as I was searching for an answer to this question and I wanted to add a caveat; this may be possible if you have alcohol in your checked in ( and must exit with it).
However, it seems like the general answer for Customs storing your alcohol is a strong NO.
I had a one day stopover and only needed my hand luggage. The duty free alcohol I had bought was promptly confiscated and I had no recourse ( including returning back, as once you pass immigration, you are in the customs area)
We just tried following this method but no dice. All bottles confiscated and told by customs dude that they don’t hold it any more.
Wow I’m so sorry that happened to you! Thank you so much for coming back here to let me know. I’ve contacted the airport for clarification on the new rules and will edit this article accordingly.