Dhaka

One Dhaka district a day, starting with Old Dhaka

Allow two to three days for Dhaka and cover one district a day, because traffic is slow. Spend day one in Old Dhaka at Lalbagh Fort, the Star Mosque, Dhakeshwari Temple and Ahsan Manzil, day two around Dhaka University, the National Museum and the Parliament House, and day three at Sonargaon.

Plan Dhaka by travel time: the average car crawls along at under 7 km/h. Take the city one district per day and let the weekly closing days decide the order.

• Day one, Old Dhaka: begin at Lalbagh Fort, built in 1678, which opens 10:00 to 17:00 from Sunday to Friday and stays shut on Saturdays. Ask your rickshaw driver for Lalbagh Kella, because the lanes around it are a maze. Then walk on to the Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection (1781), the Star Mosque on Armanitola Road and the 12th-century Dhakeshwari Temple. End at Ahsan Manzil, the pink riverside palace of the Nawabs. It closes on Thursdays and opens only in the afternoon on Fridays. From Sadarghat, hire a boat for an hour on the Buriganga before dusk.
• Day two, the centre: the University of Dhaka campus holds Curzon Hall and the Central Shaheed Minar, the national memorial to the Language Movement. Ramna Green and the National Museum at Shahbagh are close by. In the afternoon cross to Louis Kahn's National Parliament House and finish by the lake at Hatirjheel, crossed by a tangle of bridges and viaducts.
• Day three, out of town: Sonargaon lies about 29 km away. Leave very early and you can add Hajiganj on the same day. Otherwise give the evening to Gulshan and Banani, the embassy quarter with most of the international restaurants.

Arrange two things early. Train seats out of the city sell out, and the online booking system takes only Bangladeshi cards; buy at Kamalapur or through an agency on arrival. For an overnight launch south, ask your hotel to reserve a cabin a few days ahead. Choose a hotel in the district you will use most, because crossing town twice daily wastes half the day.

From Airport station, trains run south to Kamalapur, and the fast Sonar Bangla to Chattogram stops on its way out. From Sadarghat, fast catamarans reach Barishal in about 6 hours, leaving at 08:00.

Dry winters, the Ekushey Book Fair and Pohela Boishakh

Visit Dhaka between November and February, when days are dry and mild, with January afternoons around 25°C. February brings the Ekushey Book Fair and 21 February memorial, 14 April brings Pohela Boishakh, and about 87% of the year's rain falls from May to October, flooding low streets. Ramadan and Eid also change the city's rhythm.

The dry months are the comfortable ones. January is the coolest month, with afternoons around 25°C and nights near 12°C, though the clear winter weather is also when the city's air is at its worst. By April the afternoon average reaches 33°C, and the humidity makes it feel worse.

February has a character of its own. The Ekushey Book Fair takes over the Bangla Academy grounds and Suhrawardy Udyan from the first of the month to the last, with hundreds of publishers' stalls and millions of visitors. It honours those killed on 21 February 1952 in the struggle for Bengali as a state language, and on that date the Shaheed Minar, the national memorial to the movement, is the focus of the city.

Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year on 14 April, starts with a dawn procession on the Dhaka University campus, organised by the Faculty of Fine Arts. UNESCO recognised the procession in 2016. Its name has changed several times, most recently in 2026 to Boishakhi Shobhajatra.

Roughly 87% of the year's rain falls between May and October, and July, the wettest, averages about 373 mm. Low streets turn into canals after a downpour. In some neighbourhoods rickshaws are then the only thing still moving, and crossing town takes far longer than in winter.

Religious dates change the city as much as the weather. During Ramadan the old town comes alive in the late afternoon, when Chowkbazar becomes one huge iftar market. At Eid the opposite happens. Millions leave for their home villages, roads are briefly empty, and most shops and restaurants close for several days.

Kacchi biryani, nihari and Chowkbazar iftar in Dhaka

Dhaka cooks the Mughal side of Bengali food, and kacchi biryani, mutton layered with rice and potatoes, is the dish to order, at places such as Fakhruddin's or Haji Biriyani in the old town. Eat nihari for breakfast with bakarkhani bread, try faluda and rasogolla, and in Ramadan visit the Chowkbazar iftar bazaar.

Dhaka cooks the Mughal side of Bengali food, and biryani is the heart of it. Kacchi biryani layers mutton with rice and potatoes, a dish credited to the city's chefs who cooked for the Nawabs. Fakhruddin's is among the longest-running places that serve it. Haji Biriyani in the old town has been cooking since 1939, and Hajjee Beryani on Kazi Alauddin Road makes a limited batch that can sell out. Borhani is the drink served with it. Ask too for tehari, the beef version. The local murag pulao is chicken rice cooked with turmeric and cream.

Breakfast is another Mughal habit. Nihari beef stew is eaten in the morning here, with Bengali breads. Then there is bakarkhani, the bakery bread once served at Mughal courts and still sold in every corner of the old city. Hotel Al-Razzaque in Nazira Bazar serves cheap Bangladeshi meals to a local crowd. For dessert, Beauty Laccha Faluda near Shankhari Bazar is the address for faluda. In the evening, Star Kabab is the chain locals pick for seekh kebab and chicken tikka with paratha.

In Ramadan the lanes of Chowkbazar turn into an iftar bazaar. Look for shahi jilapi, a coil of fried batter far thicker than the Indian kind, and the milk sweets. Rasogolla and pantua are soft curd balls drenched in syrup, sold in white and red versions.

Hygiene at street stalls is patchy. Follow the locals to the stalls with a queue; an empty stall or cart is empty for a reason. Gulshan and Banani are where to find Thai or Korean food, and Italian is popular there too. Reservations are rarely needed. Bars are scarce; most drinking happens in members' clubs, where a member must sign you in. In the markets, check what the fixed-price shops charge and aim about 10% below that when you bargain.