Bangladesh travel guide

Planning to travel to Bangladesh? This is the most comprehensive guide to backpacking in Bangladesh on the internet, so you’ve come to the right place. If you’re not a backpacker, no worries—this Bangladesh travel guide is useful for everyone!

Why travel to Bangladesh?

Although few people think of visiting Bangladesh for their next trip, even the most seasoned tourists are sure to be impressed by the little nation. you could go on and on about Bangladesh’s many tranquil rivers, delectable Bengali food, and lively tropical scenery, but in the end, people are the country’s greatest resource.

Some of the world’s friendliest people are Bangladeshis. They never cease to astound me with their boundless curiosity and desire to assist a foreign visitor. During your trip to Bangladesh, you will be inundated with tea invites, requests to eat at people’s houses, and casual and in-depth discussions about your respective nations. The main reason you should travel to Bangladesh, in my opinion, is to see the people.

The bad news is that there is a lot of false information about traveling to Bangladesh because it is one of the least visited nations in the world. Traveling in Bangladesh can be a huge hassle, with anything from outdated and badly translated pricing listings to timetables that are only made public by asking others to verify locals’ assertions that visiting some locations will result in your kidnapping by pirates (which isn’t true).

❑ Bangladesh basics:

• National language: Bangla
• Currency: Bangladeshi taka
• Population: 163,000,000+
• Capital city: Dhaka

❑ Visas for Bangladesh:

During election time it might be more difficult to obtain a visa. I heard several stories of people being turned away at the border around these times. Elections in Bangladesh are often accompanied by strikes and protest marches, and sometimes turn violent, especially during general elections. Make sure to keep up-to-date if you want to travel to Bangladesh during election time.

❑ When is the best time to visit Bangladesh?

Bangladesh is, to put it mildly, a tropical nation that is situated near the Indian Ocean on the Bay of Bengal coast. The majority of the nation is pancake flat, making it perfect for griddle cooking and sun-roasting, notwithstanding the occasional hill.

If you want to avoid roasting, the winter season of October to March is the best time to travel to Bangladesh. Monsoon rains and changing seasons cool the air by October, and the floodwaters will recede.

“Winter” in Bangladesh brings clear skies and lower temperatures—think an average of 20-25°C (68-77°F) around the country—though the temperature has dropped to as low as 2°C in the capital. Yay climate change!

Summer arrives by late March/early April. Expect unpleasantly humid heat and temperatures in the 30-40°C (86-104°F) range… or higher, given our planet’s current condition. If traveling Bangladesh in summer, drink plenty of water, and prepare to sweat.

The monsoon season, which lasts from May to September and submerges most of the nation, begins in May or June. Even though the monsoon season is enjoyed by some Bangladeshis, it is not the ideal time of year for tourists to visit the nation. Roads flood, strong currents make launch trips take longer, and mosquitoes are rife.

I advise you to postpone your Bangladeshi expedition until after the monsoon season is ended, unless you have a great affinity for water-based challenges (or malaria). Be cautious to arrive prepared if you are traveling during the monsoon season.

❑ What to pack when traveling to Bangladesh:

Every traveler packs differently, but there are a few things you’ll definitely want to have in your bag for Bangladesh.

• > Steripen: A portable UV water purifier, and one of the greatest travel investments I ever made. “Drinking water” in Bangladesh is very often unclean, and finding bottled water can be tricky in remote areas. Save on plastic and keep yourself off the toilet simultaneously. Buy a Steripen.
• > Bradt Travel Guide to Bangladesh: This guide is more recent and better researched than Lonely Planet’s Bangladesh guide. It’s helpful to have a guide with locations and times in a country as challenging as Bangladesh, trust me. Buy the Bradt Travel Guide to Bangladesh.
• > Sunscreen: Normally I advocate for buying sunscreen in the country you’re traveling to, but Bangladesh is lacking in high quality (… or legitimate) products. BYOS – bring your own sunscreen. 
• > Bangla phrasebook: There’s a big language barrier in Bangladesh, and knowing a few phrases of Bangla will get you a long, long way. Buy a pocket Bangla-English phrasebook.
• > Something small from your country: It’s nice to have little gifts from your home country to give to people who host or really help you. For example, Where you live, you can carry postcards with photos.

❑ Entering and exiting Bangladesh:

By air

Dhaka International Airport is the most convenient place to enter the country by air, and the starting point for many tourists in Bangladesh. You can avail a visa on arrival at Dhaka airport.

By land

• > Petrapole-Benapole: For those heading to/from Kolkata, India or anywhere beyond in the Indian mainland. The only land border where visa on arrival is possible. Guide to the Petrapole-Benapole border crossing.
• > Agartala-Akhaura: For those heading to/from Agartala, India. Good if you’re planning on exploring Tripura or Mizoram in Northeast India (one of my favorite parts of India!) or heading east to Myanmar.
• > Changrabanda – Burimari: For those heading to/from Darjeeling, India, or up to Sikkim.
• > Tanabil – Dawki: For those heading to/from Meghalaya or Assam in Northeast India, or wanting to leave from Sylhet in Bangladesh.

By Train

The Maitree Express train runs between Kolkata, India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. I took the Dhaka – Kolkata train to exit Bangladesh, but you can easily enter the country in the other direction, starting from Kolkata station, so long as you have a visa for Bangladesh already.

The whole process (train ride and immigration) takes about 12 hours, and it’s the most scenic and comfortable way to enter/exit Bangladesh in my humble opinion.

❑ Places to visit in Bangladesh:

Now to the meat of the guide! This is by no means an end-all list of the best places to visit in Bangladesh—just a list compiled based on my experience and that of friends. Use it to jump-start your planning process, not limit your itinerary.