MaserMan

Just arrived in Doha from Riyadh today, previous company made me wait 2 weeks from my official finish date, before producing the final exit visas. The exit was painless, which is more than can be said when we flew to Penang last month for a holiday!

New Company have put us up in the Holiday Villa Residence, nice 3 bed apartment, while I find somewhere to live. Defo will be looking for input on that one!

Won't bore everybody with all the normal questions, but I do have one. As I have lived in Saudi I have a drivers license from there, could I use this to hire a car this weekend so that I can have a bit of a drive about. If I can, any recommendations of where to go?

Will get a company car, but still don't know what it might be, probably a camry, so just want something for a couple of days.

Theseus

I don't know about a RSA licence, but if you have your UK one you can drive for 7 days on it.

Debowing

If you have a KSA (not RSA) driving license, you can legally drive in Qatar, as it is a GCC license and as such acceptable. While your Qatari residence visa is being processed you should go to the traffic police in Al-Gharrafah in Doha to get a temporary Qatari license which you can then convert it to a 5-year Qatari license after you obtain your Qatari residence visa.

MaserMan

Thanks for the info, good to know that I can drive around while getting yet another licence

co durham boy

Get used to the A, B , C , D and E roads , get to the corniche and just get your bearings in the city , it's a tiny hole .

After Riyadh driving around Doha is a piece of piss mate

Get a small map and you'll crack it in a day or two , traffic is shit but that's par for the course with a city full of dummies .

gottheTshirt

No hire companies I could find would accept a KSA licence. It expired when you left KSA. They prefer an international driving permit. Your best solution is to get a temporary driving licence. if you have a UK licence it is a simple process - go in the afternoon it takes 20 to 30 minutes. It lasts until your visit visa expires. Once you get a resident Permit they will change the temporary for a permanent driving licence: again a simple process.

Debowing

The trick in Doha is to avoid the traffic period times which are 07:00-09:00 and 17:00-19:00....Otherwise, it is pretty simple to find the best routes to follow. I was living near Salwa Road and I had to be at the Pearl Construction site, it was quite a challenge with the traffic, then I used to visit our suppliers in the Industrial Area and go to work at the Pearl later at 9-10 and it was very easy. At the evening though, it was a challenge driving back.