In Transit

A first-hand account of the Discover Doha Transit Tour, including visa tips, a visit to the Katara Mosque, and a relaxing stop at the Al Mourjan Lounge before flying to Barcelona.

Day 1 of the trip to the South Caucasus region features a transit through Kazakhstan, exploring Almaty’s iconic monuments and parks before arriving in Tbilisi to collect a Mercedes Metris for the road trip.

We left from Mumbai on TG318 for Bangkok at 11:35 PM, a little before midnight. There was a meal service onboard and the rest of the flight was comfortable. We landed on time around 5:35 AM. During transit at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, we visited the Miracle Lounge near Gate D5 for a quick breakfast. ...

Our flight, SQ 423, left from Mumbai a little before midnight. We had exit row seats towards the end of the lower deck and we were able to get priority boarding thanks to my United Premier Gold status. The meal service was dinner, more than an hour after take-off. We were able to catch a little sleep and before long we were starting our descent into Singapore. ...

We got up early to get ready to pass through immigration and customs to join the transit tour from the airport. I had a great day in Istanbul 🔗 with touristanbul the last time I was here in transit. We had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese, pastries and Turkish coffee. There were, of course, many other things to choose from, like sandwiches, a live omelette station, fresh juices, etc. But we were rushed and didn’t have the time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. The day long tour was scheduled to depart at 8:30 AM, so we left the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles lounge at around 7:00 AM to find a way to exit the departure level. ...

This was part of A day in Lisbon 🇵🇹 🔗. After lunch I joined the 3:00 PM walking tour of Baixa and Bairro Alto by Live History Lisbon with Alexandra. We started at Praça Dom Pedro IV and walked past Joalharia Ferreira Marques which was featured in some James Bond movie. We passed by Elevador de Santa Justa and while telling us about it, Alexandra said we’d be getting there another way. ...

This was part of A day in Lisbon 🇵🇹 🔗. I made it to Praça Dom Pedro IV just in time to join the 11:00 AM Alfama Free Walking Tour by Discover Lisbon. Our guide was Francisco. He told us about the history of Lisbon and then we stepped into Casa do Alentejo to see the beautiful moorish courtyard there. × < > We walked to back to Largo de São Domingos and got some time to visit Igreja de São Domingos. ...

Going to the airport and taking a flight always gets me excited, so I didn’t really mind waking up at 3:00 AM and making my way to Helsinki airport for my flight to Lisbon and onward to Barcelona. I was able to use priority check-in at the airport with my Star Alliance Gold status. The counters for TAP Portugal were located right next to Lufthansa’s. With my bags tagged to Barcelona, I was issued boarding passes for both legs, first to Lisbon and then onward Barcelona. I was offered a complimentary priority seat in forward economy cabin but I was ok with my currently assigned aisle seat at the back so declined (a decision which I questioned later). I made a quick visit to the SAS Lounge before heading to the gate for boarding. ...

This was part of A day in Oslo 🇳🇴 🔗. I joined the Free Tour Oslo City by Nordic Freedom Tours at 10:00 AM. We assembled at The Tiger and after introductions and seeing where everyone was from, we started off. × < > We walked by the Christian Frederiks plass to our first stop the Oslo Opera House. We were given some time there to explore around and walk to the roof. There were great views of the floating sculpture She Lies. ...

There were no connections from Helsinki which would make it in time for the Swiss flight to Mumbai on the same day. So I flew from Helsinki to Oslo on SAS connecting on Swiss to Zurich and I was going to stay at the Zurich airport tonight. Since my flight to Mumbai was the next morning, I wasn’t in any rush to get to Zurich so I choose a long layover in Oslo. ...

My flight from San Francisco via Hong Kong landed around noon and I had just short of 7 hours before my connecting flight. I decided to take the Free Singapore Tour from the airport. Indian nationals in transit through Singapore are visa-exempt for 96 hours, provided they hold a valid visa issued for USA. I registered for the 1:30 PM Heritage Tour and it was fully booked soon after. I would not have been able to take the 4:00 PM tour so it was good that I signed up just in time. ...

This was part of A day in Madrid 🇪🇸 🔗. I was reached Plaza del Callao to join the Free Walking Tour in Madrid at 3:00 PM. We started our walk towards Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales and learnt about the history of Spain and Madrid. × < > We passed by the Teatro Real on the way to Plaza de Oriente and saw the Monumento a Felipe IV. ...

I landed from Munich at around 11:00 AM and had the rest of the day in Madrid till my next flight at 11:50 PM. This was my first time in Spain and I was excited. I made my way out of the airport and to the metro station and bought the €8,40 Tourist Ticket for 1 Day. × < > I planned on talking a walking tour at 3:00 PM so I had time to see a couple of places on my own before that. First I took the metro from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Puerta de Toledo to see the neoclassical arched gateway built to honor Fernando VII. ...

This was part of A day in Copenhagen 🇩🇰 🔗. We started at Højbro Plads and walked to the Stork Fountain. × < > We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Concentration Camp Prisoner at the Church of the Holy Spirit. We also learnt about the origins of Lego. ...

This was part of A day in Copenhagen 🇩🇰 🔗. We started at Københavns Rådhus, the Copenhagen City Hall and walked to Henrettelsesplads to see the Copenhagen Court House and the Scientology Church Denmark. × < > Next stop was the Christiansborg Palace which had stables and large expanse. The Supreme Court and the State Government Office was also on the grounds. ...

I was flying back home from Helsinki on SAS and Air India. The Air India flight from Copenhagen was at night so I decided to fly to Copenhagen the previous day and spend one night here instead of staying one more night in Helsinki and taking the day time connection. My flight from Helsinki reached Copenhagen at 9:25 PM the previous night and the flight to Delhi was at 8:45 PM giving me about a 23 hours layover. I had stayed at the Park Inn By Radisson Copenhagen Airport last night. I got up early in the morning and walked to Kastrup Søbad to see the sunrise. There was a boardwalk from the beach leading to a circular multi-level wooden structure around a seawater pool. ...

This was part of A day in Stockholm 🇸🇪 🔗. We started the Free Tour Old Town by walking to Helvetesgränd (Alley of Hell), which was the northern end of Storkyrkobrinken/Prästgatan known as such due to the location of the city executioner in the area. We then saw the S:ta Gertrud, Tyska kyrkan and then the Boy climbs the horse sculpture. Next was the Järntorget (The Iron Square), where we also saw the statue of Evert Taube. ...

This was part of A day in Stockholm 🇸🇪 🔗. Free Tour Stockholm City started at the Familjegrupp sculpture towards Munkbron and we saw the Riddarholmen Church across the water. We saw the House of Nobility and then crossed the Stallbron to see the Parliament House. Next we walked to the King Gustav II Adolf statue and then saw the Charles XIII statue in Kungsträdgården. ...

Having arrived on the flight from Delhi the previous evening, I had stayed at the Clarion Hotel Arlanda Airport. This place was inside the terminal building and easy to find. Check-in was hassle-free and the room was comfortable for an overnight stay. The room windows overlooked the interior of the terminal building and there were also views of the apron. Breakfast was served in the Runway Restaurant on the 2nd floor and included in the price of the room. ...

This was part of A day in Brussels 🇧🇪 🔗. We started off from the Grand Place and our guide told us about the history of Brussels and Belgium. We saw the Everard ‘T Serclaes and then walked to the famous Manneken Pis. × < > From there we headed towards Place de la Bourse through some of the surrounding neighbourhoods as we learnt more about Brussels. After the Brussels Stock Exchange and walked to Galerie De La Reine where saw Neuhaus, famous for Belgian chocolate. ...

My flight from Washington-Dulles landed on time around 7:15 AM. There were two paths to clear immigration, one for transit passengers with onward connections and the other for people going to Belgium, I stood in line at the latter. When I reached the immigration desk, the officer asked me where I was going and I replied Frankfurt. He told me that I was in the wrong line and I should have cleared immigration at the other section for transit passengers. I told him that I had a long layover in Brussels and wanted to go into the city to look around before by next flight. He stamped me in and I exited the airport and found the local bus stop. I bought the STIB-MIVB 1 day ticket for € 7.50 from the GO machine and boarded the bus from Brussels Airport to Schuman and then took the metro from Schuman to Gare Centrale. ...

This was part of A day in Amsterdam 🇳🇱 🔗. Because of the constant rain, I wasn’t even sure if anyone else would turn up and if the tour would operate, but there were a few others like me who showed up and we were off. We walked through the Red Light District of Amsterdam and learnt about its history and the legal prostitution. As we heard about the ground realities there, it all was a little disconcerting. ...

Ever since I transited Schiphol airport when I traveled to the USA for the first time in 2003, I’ve always wanted to visit Amsterdam and the Netherlands. During this trip, I managed to get connecting flights back from Zurich to Amsterdam on Swiss and then Munich to Mumbai on Lufthansa with a 23 hours 45 minutes layover in Amsterdam, which was technically still a connection and not a break journey. My flight from Zurich arrived around 9:10 AM, and I exited the airport and took the shuttle bus to Hampton by Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. ...

It was finally here. The day we began the trip that we had been planning for the last 11 months. I had booked United award tickets for us from Mumbai to Cape Town via Cairo and Addis Ababa. We left Pune the previous evening for our first flight to Cairo MS 969 departing from Mumbai at 2:20 AM. The flight itself was uneventful and we reached Cairo early in the morning. The plan was to spend the day in Cairo in transit and then continue to South Africa. Since we were travelling on an award ticket, I wasn’t sure if we could get the complimentary transit stamp and hotel. So we had applied for the transit visa in advance just in case. We were redirected to multiple lines and immigration counters only to be told that we couldn’t exit the airport with a transit visa. Exasperated, we finally went to the EgyptAir desk for transfer customers and they arranged for us to get the transit stamp to enter Egypt and also gave us complimentary hotel accommodation for the day. Had we followed this path from the beginning we would have been better off. But we wasted money on the transit visa and also three precious hours trying to get through. ...

My flight from Mumbai via Delhi and Hong Kong landed just past noon and I had about 6 hours before my connecting flight. I decided to take the chance and pass through immigration to take one of the Incheon Airport Transit Tours. Indian nationals in transit through South Korea are visa-exempt for 30 days, provided they hold a physical visa / residence permit issued by one of the following countries: USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Although I had a visa for Canada, the immigration officer checked my visa for the USA. He stamped my passport and I was through. My bags were checked all the way to Canada so I walked past baggage claim to the arrivals hall. I reached the Transit Tour Information Desk in Terminal 1 1F Near Exit 8. Given my transit duration and the tour timings, the only tour I would be able to take was the Incheon tour so I registered for it. ...

Ever since I found out about touristanbul I was eagerly waiting for the opportunity fly Turkish Airlines and visit Istanbul in transit. My red-eye from London to Istanbul on Saturday night landed early morning and I had a 15-hour layover before my flight to Mumbai. There were kiosks at the airport where people could apply for a visa.The Republic of Turkey issues e-Visas for Indian passport holders who have a valid visa for the USA, the UK, or the Schengen countries. I had applied for the e-Visa in advance to avoid any last-minute complications. I headed to immigration, where the officer checked my e-Visa and also my visa for the USA, and stamped my passport. My bag was checked through to Mumbai so I walked past baggage claim and customs and proceeded to the Hotel Desk in the International Arrival Hall (next to Starbucks). I submitted my boarding pass to them, and they asked me to wait around until they called for the tour. There was still lots of time so I found an empty bench and took a nap since I hadn’t really slept well on the overnight flight. ...