By Mohammed Rashad Hussain, Managing PartnerPublished 4 min read
Where are Salwa and Abu Samra, and what is each post?
Qatar has one land border, with Saudi Arabia. It is 87 km long, from the Gulf of Bahrain coast in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the east, according to the CIA World Factbook as quoted on Wikipedia. Two crossing posts face each other on it:
- Salwa, on the Saudi side. You leave Saudi Arabia here.
- Abu Samra, on the Qatari side. You enter Qatar here.
Wikipedia puts the two posts more than 8 km apart. The stretch between them is a short drive in the same car, with no stop.
If you left the UAE at Al Ghuwaifat and entered Saudi Arabia at Al Batha, Salwa is the third post of four. Our Ghuwaifat and Batha guide covers the first two.
What is the road from Dubai to Abu Samra?
From Downtown Dubai the E11 runs west past Abu Dhabi to Al Ghuwaifat, 453 km away. After Al Batha, Highway 95 crosses Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province for about 150 km, then turns east towards Salwa.
| Stage | Distance | Drive time without traffic |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown Dubai to Al Ghuwaifat | 453 km | about 3 h 58 min |
| Al Ghuwaifat to Abu Samra, through Saudi Arabia | 148 km | 1 h 44 min |
| Dubai to Abu Samra in total | about 601 km | about 5 h 42 min |
| Abu Samra to central Doha | 96 km | 1 h 03 min |
| Dubai to central Doha | 695 km | 6 h 38 min |
Figures are OSRM results on OpenStreetMap data, measured on 17 October 2026. They leave out queues, fuel stops and the time inside each border post. Treat the trip as a full day, starting from Dubai in the morning. The UAE to Qatar by road page sets out the whole trip.
The four posts, in order
- Al Ghuwaifat (UAE exit).
- Al Batha (Saudi entry). The German Embassy in the UAE reported it open around the clock in March 2026.
- Salwa (Saudi exit).
- Abu Samra (Qatar entry).
We could not find official opening hours for Salwa or Abu Samra. Ask us to check all four posts the day before you leave.
A short history: closed in 2017, open again in 2021
The crossing was shut on 5 June 2017 during the Gulf dispute, according to Wikipedia. It reopened on 4 January 2021. Wikipedia cites The Guardian’s report of that day for the reopening date.
This matters for planning. Older road guides written between 2017 and 2021 describe a closed border. Anything you read from that period does not apply.
What do you need to enter Qatar at Abu Samra?
Passengers. Visit Qatar says citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE need no visa for Qatar. Hayya, Qatar’s platform, issues the Tourist Visa (A1) and the GCC Resident Visa (A2) for others. The A2 is built for people who live in a GCC country.
Visit Qatar describes visa on arrival as an airport process. Apply on Hayya before a road trip. Visa-free passports need at least three months of validity from arrival, and some nationalities also need a confirmed hotel booking. Our guide to Qatar and Bahrain visas for UAE residents covers residents.
The car. Visit Qatar says Hayya also takes vehicle pre-registration, to help entry through Abu Samra. Before we confirm a Doha trip, we check:
- motor cover valid in Saudi Arabia and Qatar on your dates
- the car’s UAE registration card on board
- a no-objection letter from the registered owner
- the car’s Hayya pre-registration
- approval to carry paying passengers through both countries
What do you need to leave Saudi Arabia at Salwa?
You will have entered Saudi Arabia at Al Batha, so the Saudi leg needs its own visa for every passenger. The KSA Visa platform sorts visas into categories that include visit and transit, checks eligibility by nationality, and asks for a passport valid for 6 months from arrival.
Salwa is an exit post. Officers check the passport and the car’s departure from Saudi Arabia. We found no official statement of Salwa’s procedures, so we do not describe them in detail.
Salwa and Abu Samra with a chauffeur
Few travellers drive this route, and most fly between Dubai and Doha. The road makes sense when a group’s luggage outgrows an airline allowance, or when you want one car and driver waiting in Qatar on the Saudi crossing.
Assure drives it on request, confirmed per trip. Our Dubai to Doha transfer lists the drop-offs in Doha, from West Bay to Hamad International Airport. The cross-border transfers page compares it with Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. For Bahrain, the same Saudi road leads to the King Fahd Causeway, and the UAE land border checklist lists every paper to pack. Road travel from Dubai compares the GCC borders.
Photos in this guide
Towers of the West Bay skyline in Doha, Qatar, with palms in the foregroundZairon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Hazy shore and flat desert hills where Qatar meets Saudi Arabia, with low rock islets in the waterChristine und Hagen Graf / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The E11 highway leaving Dubai, the start of the long road west towards Al Ghuwaifat and Saudi ArabiaRizwan Ullah Wazir / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
