Bangladesh

Bengali (Bangla) is the official language and the one spoken almost everywhere. English is common among hotel staff, guides, and educated younger Bangladeshis in Dhaka and Cox's Bazar, but drops off quickly in smaller towns and villages. Bengali uses its own script, so street signs, bus destinations, and menus outside tourist areas are often untranslated — a phrasebook or translation app helps.

Prepaid SIM cards from Grameenphone, Robi, or Banglalink are inexpensive and available at Dhaka's international airport and at shops around the country. Registering one requires your passport and a fingerprint scan, so buy from an official shop or the airport counter rather than an informal vendor. Internet access is normally unrestricted. The government has occasionally imposed temporary mobile-network or social-media restrictions during periods of political unrest, so check current conditions if you need mobile data for anything time-sensitive.

Tap water is not safe to drink; stick to bottled or filtered water, including for brushing teeth. Pharmacies are widely available in cities and often stay open late, but selection narrows outside major towns, so bring any prescription medication you need. Dengue fever is a real risk, especially during and after the monsoon (June–September) in urban areas, so use mosquito repellent and cover up in the evenings. Talk to a doctor or travel clinic a few weeks before your trip about recommended vaccinations for the region.

Most foreign visitors need a visa to enter Bangladesh, though a number of nationalities can apply for an e-visa online before arrival or get a visa on arrival at Dhaka's international airport. Requirements and the list of eligible nationalities change often, so check well before booking flights, especially if arriving by land instead of by air. Business and longer-stay visas usually require an invitation letter and advance processing through a Bangladeshi embassy or consulate.

Visa and entry requirements change frequently. Verify current requirements with the official immigration authority or your country's embassy before travel.

Bangladesh is a majority-Muslim country with conservative social norms outside upscale hotels. Dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered for both men and women, and women may want to carry a scarf for mosque visits. Remove your shoes before entering a mosque or someone's home. A handshake is common between people of the same gender. Wait for the other person to offer a hand before greeting someone of the opposite gender. Ask before photographing people, and avoid pointing a camera at police, military, or government buildings. Bargaining is expected in markets and with rickshaw drivers, but not in shops with marked prices. Use your right hand for eating and for handing over money or objects. During Ramadan, avoid eating, drinking, or smoking in public during daylight hours out of respect for those fasting.

Public holidays can close shops, offices, and government services for a day or more, and transport gets busier around major ones. Government offices, banks, and much of the formal private sector close for a two-day weekend, Friday and Saturday. Many smaller shops and markets still open on Friday but pause around midday prayers, then reopen later.

• By train: Bangladesh Railway links Dhaka with Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, and Khulna on affordable intercity trains; AC seats are worth the small extra cost on longer routes. Book ahead through Bangladesh Railway e-ticketing, especially around holidays.
• By air: Biman Bangladesh Airlines and private carriers such as US-Bangla and NovoAir fly from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar, Sylhet, Chattogram, and other regional airports — a fast alternative to a long road or rail trip.
• By bus: Private coach companies cover almost every route, including air-conditioned buses between major cities, and reach many towns that trains don't.
• By river: Passenger launches connect Dhaka with towns across the delta, including an overnight boat to Barishal — a slower but memorable way to see the country's waterways.

Bangladesh drives on the left, and city traffic is dense and often chaotic — most visitors are better off hiring a driver than renting a car themselves.

Rice and fish are at the heart of Bangladeshi cooking, especially hilsa (ilish), the national fish, often steamed in a mustard-seed sauce. Curries built on lentils, mustard oil, and a mix of spices accompany most meals. Biryani, especially Dhaka's kacchi biryani with slow-cooked mutton, is the classic choice for special occasions. Breakfast is often paratha (fried flatbread) with a simple vegetable curry, or in rural areas, panta bhat: rice soaked overnight in water, eaten with green chili and fried fish.

Street food is a big part of daily eating: try fuchka (crisp shells filled with spiced potato and tangy water), jhalmuri (puffed rice tossed with mustard oil and spices), and singara, a samosa-like fried pastry. For something sweet, look for roshogolla and sandesh, milk-based sweets sold by the piece at dedicated sweet shops, or mishti doi, a set sweet yogurt. Milky, sweet cha (tea) is drunk throughout the day, and the gardens around Sylhet supply much of the country's own crop. Alcohol is restricted and mostly available only in licensed hotel bars. Most everyday eating happens in small family-run eateries or street stalls rather than formal restaurants.

Dhaka is the capital and usual starting point, packed with Mughal forts, colonial buildings, and the country's densest concentration of museums and markets. Chattogram, the main port city, and Sylhet, ringed by tea gardens and wetlands, are the other major regional hubs. Sreemangal, in the hills near Sylhet, is the best base for visiting tea estates.

On the coast, Cox's Bazar is known for what's often called the world's longest unbroken natural sea beach, while the Sundarbans mangrove forest is one of the last major strongholds of the wild Bengal tiger. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage-listed ecosystem that continues across the border into India, and is best explored on a multi-day boat trip. Khulna is the usual gateway city for Sundarbans trips, and nearby Bagerhat holds the Sixty Dome Mosque, another UNESCO site from the 15th century.

In the southeast, the hills of Bandarban and Rangamati, home to Bangladesh's indigenous hill communities and the vast Kaptai Lake, offer a cooler, greener contrast to the delta lowlands. Rajshahi, in the northwest, is the closest major city to the ancient Buddhist ruins of Paharpur.