Known for
- 1
Old Dhaka.
South of the university, the Mughal and Nawabi city crowds the bank of the Buriganga: Lalbagh fort, Ahsan Manzil, the Star mosque, the Armenian church, Dhakeshwari temple and the launch ghats of Sadarghat lie within a few kilometres of each other, joined by lanes best seen from a rickshaw.
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The nation's memory.
The Central Shaheed Minar of the 1952 language movement, Curzon Hall and the university, the Liberation War Museum, Louis Kahn's Parliament House and, at Savar, the National Martyrs' Memorial tell the country's story from the British era to independence.
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A city in a hurry.
Dhaka is one of the most crowded cities on earth. Plan by area, start early, and use the metro rail where it runs; an evening at Hatirjheel shows the newer city.
Best season
GoodFairNov–Feb
- Shakrain Mid-January, kites over the rooftops of Old Dhaka
- Ekushey (Language Martyrs' Day) 21 February, flowers at the Shaheed Minar from midnight; the book fair all month
- Pohela Boishakh 14 April, dawn songs at Ramna and the procession from the Fine Arts faculty
- Durga Puja, Dhakeshwari September–October
November to February: dry, mild days and the best light for walking Old Dhaka. March and April turn hot; from June to September monsoon rain floods streets for a few hours at a time. 21 February (Ekushey) and Pohela Boishakh (14 April) fill the city with people and colour.
Getting there
Air
Abroad and other divisions
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Kurmitola
Train
Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna and more
Intercity trains to Kamalapur; buy tickets online ahead
Bus
Everywhere
Gabtoli for the north and west, Sayedabad for the south and east, Mohakhali for the north
Launch
Barishal and the south
Overnight launches with cabins into Sadarghat
Getting around
In the city
Metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel; rickshaws for Old Dhaka; ride-hailing cars and motorbikes elsewhere
Dhaka is the hub of the country. Flights land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport; intercity trains end at Kamalapur (many also stop at the Airport station); buses come into Gabtoli (north and west), Sayedabad (south and east) and Mohakhali (north); river launches from the south dock at Sadarghat.
Local food
Kacchi biryaniMust try
Mutton and rice cooked together in the pot, Old Dhaka style
BakarkhaniMust try
Flaky baked bread from the tandoors of Lalbagh, with tea
Nazira Bazar beef and biryani
The lane of old eateries off Bangshal
Old Dhaka is the food: kacchi and tehari biryani, morog polao, bakarkhani from the tandoor ovens of Lalbagh and Chawkbazar, and the lane of Nazira Bazar for haji biryani and beef bhuna. In Ramadan the iftar bazar at Chawkbazar is famous across the country.
Places to see
Museum and galleryMahbub Hossain Shaheed (mahosha) · CC BY-SA 4.0Ahsan Manzil
The pink palace of the Nawabs of Dhaka on the Buriganga, with its tall dome and grand river stair, now a museum of the family and the city in the 19th century.
ChurchNo machine-readable author provided. Mak assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection
A quiet 18th-century church in Armanitola, left by the Armenian merchants who once traded in Dhaka, with an old graveyard around it.
Monument and memorialMostaque Ahammed · CC BY-SA 2.0Central Shaheed Minar
The monument to those killed in the 1952 language movement, beside Dhaka Medical College, where the whole country lays flowers on 21 February.
Monument and memorialSajid Muhaimin Choudhury (Transfered by
Boles Shikmim/Original uploaded by Smcbuet) · CC BY-SA 3.0Curzon Hall
A red-brick hall of 1904 that mixes European and Mughal styles, now the science faculty of Dhaka University and one of the city's best-loved buildings.
Hindu templeRagib Hasan · CC BY 2.5Dhakeshwari Temple
The national temple of Bangladesh, an old shrine of the goddess Dhakeshwari after whom, by tradition, the city is named; the centre of Durga Puja in Dhaka.
River, lake and haorNahidSultan · CC BY-SA 3.0Hatirjheel
A long lake in the middle of the city with curving bridges, walkways and water taxis, where Dhaka comes out in the evening.
Fort and palaceজারির · CC BY 2.5Lalbagh Fort
An unfinished Mughal fort of the 1670s by the Buriganga, with a mosque, an audience hall and the tomb of Pari Bibi in walled gardens: the best-known old monument in Dhaka.
Museum and galleryMohammad Fazla Rabbe · CC BY-SA 3.0Liberation War Museum
A museum at Agargaon that tells the story of the 1971 war through documents, objects and the personal belongings of those who fought and died.
Monument and memorialNasir Khan Saikat · CC BY-SA 2.0National Martyrs' Memorial
The tall concrete monument at Savar to those who died in the 1971 Liberation War, standing in wide lawns, lakes and mass graves.
Museum and galleryShariful iea · CC BY-SA 4.0Bangladesh National Museum
The country's largest museum at Shahbag: sculpture, coins, textiles, natural history and the Liberation War over four floors.
Monument and memorialNeelShahadeb · CC BY-SA 4.0National Parliament House
Louis Kahn's concrete and brick seat of parliament at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, rising from a lake: one of the landmark buildings of the twentieth century.
Fort and palaceMuntasir du · Public domainRose Garden Palace
A white colonnaded mansion of the 1930s in Tikatuli with a garden, statues and a pond, where the Awami League was founded in 1949.
River, lake and haorP.K.Niyogi · Public domainSadarghat
Dhaka's river port on the Buriganga, where multi-deck launches leave for the south every evening and small wooden boats ferry people across all day.
Mosque and shrineOmar Faruq Komol · CC BY-SA 4.0Star Mosque
A small Mughal-era mosque in Armanitola covered all over in blue stars and floral china mosaic, one of the prettiest buildings in Old Dhaka.
Sources 2
Times, fares and opening hours change. Check before you go.
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