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Dhaka Travel Guide
Buy Bangladeshi TakaDhaka at a glance
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is a dense, loud megacity on the Buriganga river, and most of its history is packed into Old Dhaka, the Mughal-era town by the water, where the Urban Study Group has listed about 2,200 heritage buildings. Three to four days covers Old Dhaka's palace, fort and temples at an unhurried pace; the traffic sets the pace more than the sights do. At Sadarghat, Bangladesh's busiest river passenger port, small wooden boats ferry people across the Buriganga all day.
Indians pay the SAARC rate at the main sights, well below the foreigner price. Ahsan Manzil, the pink palace of the Nawabs of Dhaka and the picture on the back of the 50-taka note issued in 2025, costs BDT 300 (other foreigners BDT 500); tickets are also sold online at ahsanmanzilticket.gov.bd, with a 4% charge. Lalbagh Fort charges SAARC visitors BDT 100 (other foreigners BDT 200), and the Bangladesh National Museum in Shahbag BDT 300. Ahsan Manzil and the museum close on Thursdays; Lalbagh closes on Sundays and opens only from 2 pm on Mondays.
Nonstop flights reach Dhaka from Kolkata in about an hour (Biman, US-Bangla and IndiGo), and from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad; Dhaka's clocks are 30 minutes ahead of India's. The Maitree Express from Kolkata has been suspended since July 2024: railway officials discussed a restart in September 2026, but no date had been set by 9 October. Buses run between Kolkata and Dhaka through the Petrapole-Benapole border in about 13 and a half hours.
Indian passport holders need a visa before they travel, from a Bangladesh mission or visa centre in India: there is no visa fee for Indians, and no visa on arrival for Indian tourists. Durga Puja holidays fall on 20 and 21 October 2026, and Eid closures can last a week, so check dates before you plan museum days.
What to see and do
Ahsan Manzil, Lalbagh Fort and Dhakeshwari Temple are close together in Old Dhaka, but its lanes are slow: give them a full day and move between them by rickshaw.
Ahsan Manzil
The 19th-century riverside palace of the Nawabs of Dhaka, now a museum. BDT 300 at the SAARC rate; open Saturday to Wednesday 10:30 am to 4:30 pm (last tickets at 4) and Friday 3 to 7 pm, closed on Thursdays.
Lalbagh Fort
An unfinished 17th-century Mughal fort, with the Tomb of Pari Bibi, an audience hall and a mosque inside its walls. BDT 100 at the SAARC rate; closed on Sundays, and on Mondays open only from 2 to 5 pm.
Dhakeshwari Temple
Bangladesh's national temple, so declared in 1996. Tradition dates it to the 12th century, though most of today's buildings are much later. Dress modestly and take your shoes off at the shrines.
Old Dhaka by rickshaw
The lanes around Shankhari Bazar and Chawkbazar are too narrow and too busy for cars. Hire a cycle-rickshaw, agree the fare first, and stop for the biryani and kebabs Old Dhaka is known for.
Paying in Dhaka
For the taka itself, entry rules for Indians, how much cash you can bring in and how cards and ATMs work, see the Bangladesh travel guide, and the Bangladeshi taka page for its rate against the rupee.
Cards work at the big hotels, malls and upmarket restaurants in Gulshan and Banani. Cash runs everything else: rickshaws, CNG auto-rickshaws, Old Dhaka's food stalls and most shops. You can bring in only BDT 10,000 in taka, so plan to draw the rest from bank ATMs after you land, and keep small notes for rickshaws.
What Dhaka actually costs
Set the length and style of your trip to see what to budget, in Bangladeshi taka and Indian rupees.
Indicative, excluding international flights and accommodation, per person per day. Converted at the verified mid-market rate on 9 October 2026, BDT 100 ≈ ₹78, not a Matrix board rate.
Budget roughly ₹1,570 to ₹6,270 per person per day on the ground, excluding flights and accommodation.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ahsan Manzil, SAARC rate / other foreigners | BDT 300 / 500 |
| Lalbagh Fort, SAARC rate / other foreigners | BDT 100 / 200 |
| Bangladesh National Museum, SAARC rate | BDT 300 |
| Dhaka Metro, single journey | BDT 20-100 |
| Local meal or street food | BDT 100-300 |
| Casual restaurant meal | BDT 300-700 |
Getting around
Dhaka Metro Line 6 runs north to south from Uttara North to Motijheel, 16 stations, from about 6:30 am to 10:30 pm, and from 3 pm on Fridays. Fares are BDT 20 to 100 by distance: buy a single-journey ticket from the machines or the counter, valid for 60 minutes from entry. The extension to Kamalapur station is due in 2027.
Uber and Pathao both work, including from the airport, whose new Terminal 3 is not yet open. Traffic, not distance, decides journey times: group your sights by area and leave long gaps before flights. In Old Dhaka, cycle-rickshaws are the way to get around.
Common mistakes in Dhaka
Expecting a visa on arrival
Bangladesh's visa on arrival is not open to Indian tourists. Get the visa in India before you fly; there is no visa fee, only a service charge at the outsourced centres.
Turning up on the wrong day
Ahsan Manzil and the National Museum close on Thursdays; Lalbagh Fort closes on Sundays and opens only from 2 pm on Mondays. Check before you cross the city.
Paying the foreigner price
Indians are SAARC nationals and pay less at Ahsan Manzil, Lalbagh Fort and the National Museum. Ask for the SAARC rate and carry your passport.
Underestimating the traffic
A few kilometres can take an hour. Group sights by area, use the Metro where it runs, and leave plenty of time for the airport.
Dhaka FAQs
The Bangladeshi taka (BDT, ৳). On 9 October 2026 one taka was ₹0.78 at the mid-market rate, so BDT 1,000 is about ₹780 and an Ahsan Manzil ticket at the SAARC rate (BDT 300) about ₹240.
Yes, arranged before you travel: Bangladesh's visa on arrival is not open to Indian tourists. Fill in the online form at visa.gov.bd, print it, and submit it with your passport at a Bangladesh mission in India (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati or Agartala) or a Bangladesh Visa Application Centre in eastern India. Indians pay no visa fee; the outsourced centres charge a service fee of about ₹825.
BDT 300 at the SAARC rate, against BDT 500 for other foreigners. It opens Saturday to Wednesday 10:30 am to 4:30 pm and Friday 3 to 7 pm, and closes on Thursdays.
No. The Maitree Express has been suspended since July 2024. Railway officials discussed a restart in September 2026, but no date had been announced by 9 October 2026. Fly, or take a Kolkata-Dhaka bus through the Petrapole-Benapole border, about 13 and a half hours.
Yes. Single-journey tickets from the station machines or counter cost BDT 20 to 100. Line 6 runs from Uttara North to Motijheel, from about 6:30 am, and from 3 pm on Fridays.
Up to BDT 10,000 in taka. Foreign currency above USD 10,000 must be declared on arrival, and Indian residents can take up to ₹25,000 in rupee notes out of India.
November to February, when it is dry and cool enough to walk Old Dhaka. The monsoon runs from June to September.
More guides in Bangladesh
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