Best places to visit in Bangladesh: top cities, regions and sights

Match the list to how much time you have and when you are flying. The dry season is the only window where the whole country works; outside it, pick Dhaka and Sylhet and accept rain.

Start with Dhaka, because every route passes through it and the old city is the single thing most visitors remember. Give it three nights: one for Old Dhaka on foot and by rickshaw, one for the river at Sadarghat and Ahsan Manzil, one as buffer for traffic or a strike. Go early on a Friday morning when the roads are quietest.

Then choose one long excursion, not two. The Sundarbans is the strongest: a licensed boat trip of two or three nights from Khulna, usually paired with Bagerhat's Sixty Dome Mosque on the way back. The alternative is the north-east: train to Srimangal for tea gardens and Lawachara forest, then Sylhet for shrines, Ratargul swamp forest and Jaflong.

If you have ten days or more, add the ruins circuit from Bogura — Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur and Mahasthangarh — and Rajshahi for the Puthia temple complex. With two weeks, continue to Chattogram and Cox's Bazar. The Hill Tracts beyond Chattogram need a permit and a registered operator; treat them as a separate trip.

Move by domestic flight or train where you can and avoid night buses. Keep a buffer day: hartals, weather and road works all cost time.

Read your own government's travel advice before booking, and check the e-visa route. Cox's Bazar and the south-east have a heavy security presence and restrictions near the Myanmar border; follow local advice and do not travel to the border zone without checking.

Domestic tourism peaks in the winter holidays, so Cox's Bazar and the Sundarbans book out. Outside November–March expect heat, humidity and cyclone-season disruption on the coast.