After see the high-rise buildings and VIP roads of Dhaka city, none could believe that Bangladesh is a poor country. Dhaka has been developing fast as a modern city. It is the center of industrial, commercial, cultural, educational, and political activities. Motijheel is the main commercial area of the city. Dhaka’s waterfront, Sadarghat, is on the bank of the Buriganga and is crowded with all kinds of river crafts, yachts, country boats, motor launch, and fishermen boats. Colorful rickshaws (tricycle) on the city streets are common attractions for the visitors.

Some of the tourist attractions of Dhaka are:

Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (National Parliament house): It is at Sher-E-Bangla Nagar. The famous architect Louis I Kahn designed it. It may be called an architectural wonder of this region.

National Poet’s Graveyard: Revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam is the national poet of Bangladesh. He died on the 29 August 1976 and was buried here. The graveyard is adjacent to the mosque of Dhaka University.

National Memorial: Located at Savar, 35 km from Dhaka city. It is dedicated to the sacred memory of the millions of unknown martyrs of the 1971 war of liberation.

National Park: Situated at Rajendrapur, 40 km north of Dhaka city.

Sonargaon: About 29 k. from Dhaka. Sonargaon is one of the oldest capitals of Bangladesh. A folk and crafts museum has been established here.

Central Shahid Minar: Symbol of Bengali nationalism. This monument was built to commemorate the martyrs of the historic language movement of February 21,1952.

Some other outstanding tourist attractions are Baitul Mokarram National Mosque, Dhakeswari Temple, Armenian Church, Lalbagh Fort, 1857 Memorial, Bangabandu Memorial museum, Muktijuddha Museum, Ahsan Manjil Museum, Curzon Hall, Old High Court Building, Dhaka Zoo, National Museum, Botanical Garden, Kamlapur Buddist Monastery, Mausoleum of National Leaders, Suhrawardhy Uddyan (park), Banga Bhaban, Baldha Garden, Ramna Green, Science Museum, and Dhaka University campus.

Quick Tips:

People of Bangladesh are quite polite and friendly towards foreigners. They like speaking to foreigners even if they have not been introduced. It is quite common for us (Bangladeshis) to ask personal questions about family, jobs, and income, which visitors from overseas might felt is awkward. However, it should be understood that no harm is meant by such questions - on the other hand, we (Bangladeshis) express a genuine interest in the foreigner’s state of affairs!

There are some modern shopping centers with large department stores in Dhaka city, as some air-conditioned, self-service shops have also appeared. In the local markets, traditional haggling is still rampant.

There are many cyber-cafes in Dhaka city, which provide Internet services, including e-mail, quite cheaply to everyone, including overseas visitors.

Best Way To Get Around:

Dhaka is linked with rest of Bangladesh by road, rail, and river. Some of the cities are also linked by air.

Train services are available from the Kamlapur railway station in Dhaka.

Express and non-stop bus/coach services are available to every town from the Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus terminal in Dhaka.

Motor launch and steamer services are available from the Dhaka river port, Sadarghat.

Rickshaw, baby-taxi, taxi, and auto-rickshaws are available for the inner-travel of Dhaka city.

A 1000-metre long, meandering man-made lake with angling and rowing facilities and the flower gardens inside are added attractions to the natural beauty. Mere walking or lazing under the shade of trees is pleasant. There are twenty picnic spots, and six rest houses of the forest department, with comfortable beds and modern amenities, are available inside the national park.

There is a watchtower, a children’s park, and a mini-zoo inside the park. It has six gates, and gate three may be called the main gate. The entrance fee is only 6 Bangladeshi Taka. In winter, thousands of people come here for picnics.