Passenger ferries along the Buriganga River (Old Ganges).

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Dhaka

Dhaka is not a quiet, retiring place. The city, bursting with nearly 17 million people (most of whom often seem to be stuck in the same traffic jam as you), is a gloriously noisy and chaotic place, bubbling with energy.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Sat Gumbad Mosque

    Sat Gumbad Mosque

    Dhaka

    Dating from 1680, Sat Gumbad Mosque is a white-washed onion-dome mosque, and the finest example of the pure Mughal-style mosque in Dhaka.

  • Lalbagh fort

    Lalbagh Fort

    Dhaka

    The half-completed Lalbagh Fort and its well-tended gardens are an excuse to escape Old Dhaka’s hustle and bustle for an hour or so. The fort is…

  • Ahsan Manzil

    Ahsan Manzil

    Dhaka

    Dating from 1872, the must-see Pink Palace was built on the site of an old French factory by Nawab Abdul Ghani, the city’s wealthiest zamindar (landowner)…

  • Sadarghat

    Sadarghat

    Dhaka

    Running calmly through the centre of Old Dhaka, the Buriganga River is the muddy artery of Dhaka and the very lifeblood of both this city and the nation…

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    Shankharia Bazar

    Dhaka

    Clouds of incense and a bursting paintbox of colours signal a welcome to so-called Hindu Street. Lined on either side with old houses, garlands of lurid…

  • Botanical garden in water and two little frog.

    Botanical Gardens

    Dhaka

    The shady, tranquil botanical gardens, stretch over 40 hectares and contain over 1000 species of local and foreign plants, as well as lots of birdlife…

  • Liberation War Museum

    Liberation War Museum

    Dhaka

    Housed in a beautiful whitewashed colonial-era building, this small museum chronicles the 1971 War of Independence, one of the 20th century’s more deadly…

  • National Assembly Building

    National Assembly Building

    Dhaka

    In 1963 the Pakistanis commissioned Louis Kahn, a world-renowned American architect, to design a regional capitol for East Pakistan. Due to the liberation…

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Articles

Latest stories from Dhaka

History

The best free things to do in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Nov 20, 2019 • 4 min read

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