Chittagong Getting there & around

Getting there & away

The Dhaka–Chittagong Hwy is probably the busiest, and scariest, highway to hell in the country and is prone to bumper-to-bumper traffic jams (though at least this slows everyone down). At all costs avoid travelling along it at night. Taking the train to Dhaka is far less nerve-racking.

Land

Bus

The largest bus station is Bardarhat (Cox’s Bazar Rd), 4km north of the city centre. To get there, take a local bus (Tk 5) or rickshaw (Tk 10) from Nur Ahmed Rd. From here, buses leave for Cox’s Bazar (Tk 120, four hours) and Bandarban (Tk 50, three hours) every 15 minutes between 6am and 6pm.

Buses leave from Modapur bus station (CDA Ave) for Rangamati (Tk 75 to Tk 80, luxury bus Tk 130, 2½ hours) and Kaptai (Tk 70, two hours, half-hourly 7am to 7pm).

Most Dhaka-bound private bus companies operate out of the old BRTC bus station (Station Rd). There are air-con chair coaches to Dhaka (Tk 450 to Tk 600, five to six hours).

Luxury buses to Cox’s Bazar (Tk 250, four hours, every half hour between 5.30am and 7.30pm) and Sylhet (Tk 650, evening only departures) leave from the Cinema Palace bus station (Nur Ahmed Rd).

Train

The four intercity (IC) trains a day to Dhaka (1st/sulob class Tk 290/125; six hours; depart 7am, 7.15am, 2.30pm and 11pm) go through Comilla (1st/sulob class Tk 140/60). There’s a sleeper option (Tk 660) on night trains. Tickets should be booked two or three days in advance. There’s an IC train to Sylhet (1st/sulob class Tk 490/190, 10 hours, departs 9pm).

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Boat

The Bangladesh Inland Waterway Transport Corporation (BIWTC) terminal is near the end of Sadarghat Rd, a few hundred metres to the west along the river bank. The administrationoffice is clearly marked in English, but tickets are sold from a nondescript building just before the office. Book early if you want a 1st-class cabin.

Launches go to Barisal (1st/2nd/deck class Tk 850/560/120, 18 hours, departs 9am Monday). The same boat stops at Hatiya Island and Sandwip Island.

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Air

GMG Airlines (655 659; gmgairlines.com; CDA Ave) has four or five flights a day to/from Dhaka (Tk 4220, 45 minutes) and to Cox’s Bazar (Tk 3450, 30 minutes) on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

United Airways (650 7671; www.uabdl.com; CDA Ave) has two to four flights daily to Dhaka (Tk 3945), as well as flights to Cox’s Bazar (departs 9.45am Sunday and Thursday).

Best Air, with offices at the airport, also has daily flights between Chittagong and Dhaka for Tk 3390.

It has recently become possible to fly to select international destinations from Chittagong. GMG has flights to Bangkok for US$195.

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