Arriving in Kabul: The Airport and Your First Day in Afghanistan

By Al Hamid Tour and Travel · Updated 2026-10-28 · Kabul, Afghanistan

Landing in Kabul for the first time is the moment most travellers worry about most, and it turns out to be one of the easiest parts of the trip. Here is what happens from the plane to your hotel, and how we spend the first day.

What should you have ready before you land?

• Your passport, valid for at least six months, and a printed copy of your e-Visa.
• Two or three paper copies of your passport and visa, for the permits and the checkpoints.
• US dollars in clean $50 and $100 notes for the whole trip: foreign cards rarely work.
• Our phone number and your hotel's address written on paper, not only on your phone.
• For women: a headscarf, to put on before you leave the plane.

What happens at Kabul airport?

Immigration comes first: an officer checks your passport and visa and may ask why you have come and where you are staying; answer simply, tourism, and the name of your hotel. Then come the bags, a customs and security check, and the exit. People meeting arrivals wait outside the terminal, so walk out with your bags and look for our driver with a sign with your name. We send you his name and number before you fly.

How do you get money and a SIM card?

Don't change money at the airport: your guide takes you to a money changer in the city on the first day, at a better rate (see money in Afghanistan). A local SIM card needs your passport and a registration that can take a while; we can arrange one with you, or you can buy an international eSIM before you fly. The Wi-Fi in Kabul hotels is usually good enough for messages and calls.

Why does the first day include the Ministry?

To travel outside Kabul you need a travel letter from the Ministry of Information and Culture naming each province you will stay in. It is issued on working days and takes about two hours, so on most of our tours it is the first morning's errand, with your guide. Our permits guide has the details.

What do you do on your first day in Kabul?

Once the letter is done, an easy afternoon: Babur's Gardens, a view over the city, and a walk through the bazaars, with a first Afghan meal of kabuli palaw. If you land early in the morning after an overnight flight, we keep the first day short and leave the Ministry for the next morning. Our Kabul guide has the rest of the city.

Tips for your first days

• Let your guide do the talking at checkpoints, and keep your passport copies to hand.
• Ask before you photograph people, and don't photograph checkpoints, soldiers or government buildings.
• Drink bottled water, and go easy on rich food for the first day or two.
• Friday is the weekend: offices are closed, so after a Friday arrival the Ministry waits until Saturday.

Before you fly, read the Afghanistan visa guide and what to wear in Afghanistan.

Sources: what our drivers and guides see at Kabul airport every week, October 2026.