Bangladesh Travel Guide for Women

Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country on earth, with around 175 million people in a territory smaller than England and Scotland combined, and it is almost entirely delta. The Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna all reach the sea here, braiding into a landscape where the distinction between land and water is seasonal rather than fixed. That single fact explains most of what follows: why the roads are slow, why the ferries matter, why the monsoon is a planning decision rather than a weather forecast, and why a country of this size holds the largest mangrove forest in the world and the longest natural sea beach.

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It is also one of the least visited countries in Asia relative to its size, which is the honest context for everything on this page. Bangladesh receives a small fraction of the visitors who go to India or Thailand, and the practical consequence is not danger but unfamiliarity: you will be looked at, asked where you are from, and photographed. Foreign women travelling independently are rare enough that the attention is a constant rather than an occasional feature of the trip, and the safety section below treats that as the central fact rather than a footnote.

This guide covers the advisory position precisely, including the one restricted area and the exception the government states itself, then Dhaka, the coast, the Sundarbans, the tea country, what to pack, the monsoon calendar, costs and transport.

Is Bangladesh Safe for Women Travelers

The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to exactly three districts, and it says in the same breath which places are not included. Getting this right matters more than any general statement about safety, so here it is precisely.

UK FCDO: the FCDO advises against ALL BUT ESSENTIAL TRAVEL to the CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS, which it defines as exactly three districts: RANGAMATI, KHAGRACHARI and BANDARBAN. Its reason is that security there is a cause for concern, with regular reports of violence and other criminal activity particularly in more remote areas. AND THE ADVISORY ITSELF NAMES WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED, which is the half most reports of it leave out: "Chittagong City and other districts of Chittagong Division are not included in the travel warning." So the port city of Chittagong, the second largest in the country, is outside the restriction entirely, and so is the rest of the division. A reader who saw "Chittagong Hill Tracts" and assumed the city was covered would have it backwards. ONE REQUIREMENT APPLIES IF YOU GO ANYWAY AND IT IS A PROCESS RATHER THAN A PRECAUTION: you MUST GIVE THE BANGLADESHI AUTHORITIES TEN DAYS' NOTICE before travelling to the Hill Tracts. The FCDO names the two offices to contact, the Chittagong Divisional Commissioner's Office on 031 615 247 and the Chittagong Deputy Commissioner's Office on 031 619 996. Ten days is long enough that it has to be planned from home rather than arranged on arrival.

Everywhere else in Bangladesh carries no advise-against at all. Dhaka, Cox's Bazar, Sylhet, Khulna and the Sundarbans, Rajshahi, Barisal and Chittagong City are all outside any restriction. That is worth stating plainly because the Hill Tracts restriction is sometimes reported as though it covered the whole south east, and it does not.

The harassment warning is the most important line in this advisory and the FCDO does not soften it. It records a risk of sexual assault INCLUDING ATTACKS ON FEMALE FOREIGN NATIONAL VISITORS, and states that female travellers OFTEN experience verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men. Its instructions are to avoid isolated areas when alone AT ANY TIME OF DAY, not merely after dark, and to be particularly vigilant at night. That wording is worth reading carefully, because "often" is a stronger word than these pages usually use and "at any time of day" removes the usual daylight reassurance. In a country that receives very few independent foreign women the attention is close to constant, and the honest framing is that it is overwhelmingly intrusive rather than violent, and that the two warnings sit in the same paragraph for a reason.

Violent crime has increased since the 2024 uprising and the advisory is specific about the method. It reports an increase since July and August 2024, names criminal gangs operating in Dhaka and other cities, and describes thieves working IN PAIRS ON MOTORCYCLES OR ON THE GREEN THREE-WHEELERS KNOWN AS CNGs. The threats it lists are armed robbery, violent crime and rape. Then it gives the single most useful instruction on the page, which is about transport rather than streets: passengers using rickshaws, taxis, buses or trains are vulnerable to violent crime PARTICULARLY AT NIGHT, and you should avoid using public transport if you are travelling alone. That is not hedged and it should shape an itinerary rather than sit in a footnote.

On terrorism the wording is the strong form. The FCDO states that terrorists are VERY LIKELY to try to carry out attacks in Bangladesh, that attacks could be indiscriminate including in places visited by foreign nationals, and it names the categories: public buildings including restaurants and cafes, public transport, crowded areas, religious buildings and political rallies. It records that some groups have targeted people they consider to have views and lifestyles contrary to Islam, including religious minorities, that Islamist extremist groups operate in the country, and that the authorities continue to disrupt planned attacks. Security force presence and restrictions on movement can be imposed at short notice.

Politics reaches the street here in a way that will affect an ordinary itinerary. Bangladesh held national elections on 12 February 2026, and the FCDO records that rallies and demonstrations can turn violent quickly. During demonstrations and the general strikes known as HARTALS there can be arson, violence and vandalism in towns and cities across the country, which can result in fatalities, and there have been improvised explosive device attacks in major cities as well as attacks on police and on minority religious communities. The July and August 2024 uprising brought widespread violence with many deaths and injuries. The instruction is to stay away from protests, rallies and large gatherings and to be alert to quickly changing situations on the streets. A hartal is also a practical problem: shops close and transport stops, so it is worth knowing the word before you arrive.

What this adds up to in practice. Bangladesh is not a country where the sensible response is to stay in your hotel, and it is one where a few specific choices do most of the work. Do not use public transport alone, which is the advisory's own instruction and the single most useful line in it. Dress modestly, covering shoulders and legs, which is expected of both men and women and is the difference between ordinary attention and persistent attention. Avoid isolated areas when alone at any hour, not only at night. Arrange airport transfers in advance rather than taking a tout. Lock a first-class compartment door on an overnight train. And treat a crowd, a rally or a hartal as somewhere to be elsewhere, because the advisory records arson and fatalities at these and they can form quickly.

One nationality point that is not a safety issue and does change what help you can get. If you are a British national of Bangladeshi origin, the Bangladeshi government will consider you a Bangladeshi citizen even if you have never held a Bangladeshi passport and were born outside the country, and the FCDO states plainly that this MAY LIMIT THE HELP THE UK GOVERNMENT CAN OFFER YOU. Given how many British Bangladeshis trace their families to Sylhet specifically, this affects a substantial share of the people most likely to make this trip. Check your position with the Bangladeshi High Commission in the UK before travelling rather than after a problem, and note that the Bangladesh Police Expatriate Help Cell explicitly serves foreign nationals including dual nationals.

Best Time to Visit Bangladesh

November to February is the season, and it is not a close call. This is the cool dry period, with Dhaka in the low twenties, clear skies, low humidity and rivers at navigable levels. It is when the Sundarbans boat trips run most reliably, when the tea country is comfortable to walk in, and when Cox's Bazar is at its best. If you have one window, use this one.

March to May is the pre-monsoon hot season and it is genuinely punishing: temperatures reaching the high thirties with humidity to match, plus the Kalbaishakhi, the sudden and violent pre-monsoon thunderstorms that arrive in the afternoon with damaging wind. It is also the cyclone shoulder.

June to September is the monsoon and in a delta that is a different proposition from rain. The FCDO records widespread flooding and travel disruption, and tells visitors to check access routes, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department and local authority advice before moving. Around a fifth of the country floods in an ordinary year and considerably more in a bad one. Roads close, rail bridges and culverts are left in poor condition, and overland journeys that take six hours in winter can take a day or fail entirely. Travelling then is possible and requires slack in the itinerary as a certainty rather than a contingency.

Cyclones are a real seasonal risk on this coast rather than a remote one. The Bay of Bengal funnels storm surge into a flat, densely populated delta, which is why Bangladesh's cyclone history is among the most severe anywhere. The risk peaks either side of the monsoon, roughly April to May and October to November. The FCDO points at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department and the World Meteorological Organization, and the practical point for a visitor is that Cox's Bazar, the Sundarbans and the southern islands are exactly where a surge would land, so a forecast there is a reason to change plans rather than to watch.

The counter-argument for going in the monsoon, stated honestly. The delta is at its most extraordinary when it is full. Barisal's backwaters, the Sylhet haors and the river journeys are at their best, the landscape is green rather than dusty, and there are almost no other visitors. If you are prepared for disruption as a certainty rather than a risk, and you have slack in the itinerary, it is a defensible choice. It is not the right first trip to Bangladesh.

Dhaka, and Why It Is Not Optional

Dhaka is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and it is the country's whole argument compressed into one place. Around 23 million people in the metropolitan area, a traffic problem that has become internationally famous, and a river port at Sadarghat where several hundred thousand people a day move through on launches. Visitors sometimes plan to pass through it as fast as possible. That is a mistake, and not for sentimental reasons: the city holds the Mughal and colonial architecture, the museums and the river life that explain everything you will see elsewhere.

The things to see are concentrated in Old Dhaka. Ahsan Manzil, the pink palace on the Buriganga shown at the top of this page, was the residence of the Nawab of Dhaka and is now a museum. Lalbagh Fort is an unfinished Mughal complex from the 1670s. The Star Mosque is a small building decorated in broken Chinese porcelain. Sadarghat is the river terminal and is the single most photographed thing in Bangladesh for good reason. Beyond the old city, the Liberation War Museum and the National Martyrs' Memorial at Savar cover the 1971 war of independence, which is not optional context for understanding the country.

Getting around Dhaka is the hard part. The cycle rickshaw is the default for short distances, the CNG, a green three-wheeler, for longer ones, and both need the fare agreed first. The metro, opened in stages from 2022, now runs north to south through the city and is the fastest way to cover distance by a wide margin. Note that the advisory names Dhaka airport specifically for passport theft, harassment and taxi overcharging, so arrange your transfer in advance rather than negotiating on arrival.

Cox's Bazar and the Coast

Cox's Bazar has a claim to the longest natural sand beach in the world, at about 120 kilometres of unbroken shoreline. It is Bangladesh's principal domestic holiday destination, which gives it a character worth knowing in advance: this is a busy, developed, Bangladeshi resort rather than a quiet international one, and the beach is social rather than solitary. Women swim fully clothed here and a foreign woman in a swimsuit will be the only one. A rash top and leggings are the practical answer, and they are also better sun protection.

South along the coast are Inani and Himchari, quieter stretches with rock formations and a waterfall, and the fishing boats drawn up on the sand, as in the photograph above, are the coast's defining image. St Martin's Island, Bangladesh's only coral island, sits off the southern tip and is reached by boat from Teknaf.

Two parts of Cox's Bazar DISTRICT need the advisory read carefully, and they are not the resort. The FCDO singles out the subdistricts of UKHIA and TEKNAF, in the southern part of Cox's Bazar district, which is where most of the Rohingya refugee camps are after hundreds of thousands of people crossed from Myanmar. It reports regular insecurity, protests and violence, records that violence has increased in the camps, and states that there is no sign that foreign nationals are being targeted. It also names TEKNAF as having the highest level of drug-related gang violence in Bangladesh, including murders and shootings between gangs and police, large seizures of the methamphetamine mixture known as yaba, and kidnappings. If you plan to visit Ukhia or Teknaf the advice is to use caution, to consult the local authorities because YOU MAY NEED PERMISSION TO TRAVEL THERE, and to work through humanitarian agencies recognised by the government if you intend to offer assistance. NONE OF THIS COVERS COX'S BAZAR TOWN AND BEACH, which are north of it and carry no restriction. Note that St Martin's Island is reached by boat FROM Teknaf.

The Sundarbans

The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest on earth, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Bangladeshi portion is roughly 60 per cent of it. It is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers: the Royal Bengal tiger population here is the largest single wild population of the subspecies, and it is also the least observable, because the animals are genuinely elusive in dense tidal forest. Go expecting the forest, the channels, the crocodiles, the spotted deer, the kingfishers and the sheer scale, and treat a tiger as a possibility rather than an itinerary.

Access is by boat from Mongla or Khulna, on a multi-day live-aboard trip, and there is no realistic independent option: the forest is a protected reserve, a permit and a licensed guide are required, and armed forest guards accompany trips. Book through an operator. The dry season from November to February is when this works.

An honest note about the photograph you will not find on this page. We illustrate every destination from frames whose captions name the place, and the Bangladeshi Sundarbans is thinly covered: the usable set is a handful of frames by three photographers, with no tiger and no open mangrove channel among them. Rather than show you an Indian-side photograph captioned as Bangladesh, or a generic mangrove, this page shows a Sylhet waterway below and tells you the gap exists. The forest deserves better coverage than stock libraries currently give it.

River and sea ferries carry a list of risks the FCDO sets out item by item, and it is worth reading rather than summarising: dangerous overcrowding PARTICULARLY DURING RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS AND OTHER FESTIVALS, FALSIFIED SAFETY CERTIFICATES on some vessels, missing or inappropriate safety and survival equipment, a lack of communication equipment, and criminal gangs targeting vessels. Bangladesh has had some of the worst ferry disasters anywhere and almost all of them involve overcrowding. The practical conclusions are to avoid travelling by launch around Eid and the major festivals, to take a first-class cabin on the overnight routes where one exists, to look at how loaded a vessel is before boarding rather than after, and to know where the life jackets are.

Recommended Tours and Experiences

Sylhet, the Tea Country and the Haors

The north east is where Bangladesh stops being flat. Sylhet division rises towards the Indian hills of Meghalaya and Assam, and it holds the country's tea industry, its most dramatic wetlands and a distinct culture with its own language variety and a long history of migration to Britain, which is why a great many British Bangladeshis trace their families here specifically rather than to Bangladesh generally.

Srimangal, about four hours from Sylhet city, is the tea capital: terraced gardens, the seven-layer tea that is a local invention, the Lawachara rainforest with its hoolock gibbons, and the Madhabkunda waterfall. Ratargul is a freshwater swamp forest you move through by boat, flooded for much of the year. Jaflong and Bisanakandi sit against the Indian border where rivers come down out of the hills over beds of stones, and are extraordinary in the wet season and stony in the dry. The haors, the vast seasonal wetlands around Tanguar and Hakaluki, flood to the horizon in the monsoon and drain to grassland in winter.

Note that Sylhet is a city and a division, and the two are often conflated. Most of what is described above is in the division rather than the city, which is a working regional centre with shrines, a university and good food rather than a sightseeing destination in itself. The advisory names Sylhet airport alongside Dhaka's for theft and overcharging.

And the Indian border needs respect rather than caution. The FCDO tells visitors to take particular care near the border with India, and the reason is unusually stark: there are regular reports of individuals being killed for illegally crossing the border, and there are occasional skirmishes between Indian and Bangladeshi border guards INCLUDING EXCHANGES OF GUNFIRE. This matters in Sylhet division specifically, because Jaflong, Bisanakandi and the Tanguar haor sit right against the Meghalaya frontier and the attraction at several of them is literally the river coming across it. Stay on the Bangladeshi side of any marked line, go with a local guide who knows where it runs, and do not treat an unfenced riverbed as an unmarked border.

Top Regions and What Each One Requires

Dhaka and the centre. Modest clothing you can move in, closed shoes you do not mind ruining, a mask or buff for the air quality, which is among the worst of any capital in the world in the dry season, and patience with traffic. Budget double the time any map suggests.

Cox's Bazar and the coast. A rash top and leggings rather than a swimsuit, strong sun protection, and sandals plus something closed for the rocks at Inani. The water has rip currents and there are few lifeguards.

The Sundarbans. Booked in advance through an operator, with long sleeves and trousers against mosquitoes, a repellent with DEET, binoculars, and a dry bag. Nights on a boat in winter are colder than the daytime suggests.

Sylhet and the north east. Walking shoes with grip for wet tea-garden paths, a rain shell year-round because this is the wettest part of the country, leech socks if you are walking in Lawachara in the wet, and a waterproof bag for boat trips through Ratargul.

Rajshahi, Barisal and the river towns. These are the quietest part of the country for a visitor and the most dependent on boats. Barisal is the launch city, reached overnight from Dhaka on a river steamer, and Rajshahi is mangoes, silk and the Padma. Both want the same kit as Dhaka plus a dry bag.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts. Not covered by this guide as a destination, for the advisory reason above. If you go regardless, the ten days' notice is a requirement rather than a formality.

What to Pack for Bangladesh: Women's Packing List

Modest clothing is the organising principle, and it is practical rather than only cultural. The advisory asks women to cover shoulders and legs in public, and loose long clothing is also the correct answer to the heat, the sun and the mosquitoes. Lightweight trousers or a long skirt, tunics or long-sleeved shirts, and a scarf that covers your head for a mosque or a shrine. A scarf is the most useful single item you will carry here.

A merino base layer earns its place in a hot country, which surprises people. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women does three things in Bangladesh that cotton does not. It covers your arms without trapping heat, which is what you want for a day in Dhaka or on a boat. It stays wearable for several days without smelling, which matters on a Sundarbans trip with no laundry. And it is the layer that makes a winter night on a river launch or in the Sylhet hills comfortable, because December in the north east is genuinely cool after dark.

A rain shell, and not only in the monsoon. A packable Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket covers the Kalbaishakhi storms in spring, the Sylhet rain at any time of year, and spray on a river boat.

Shoes. Something closed, comfortable and expendable for cities where the pavements flood, plus a waterproof hiking shoe if Lawachara, the tea gardens or Himchari are on your trip. Sandals that can get wet for the coast and for boats.

Sun and insect protection. A wide brim UPF 50 sun hat, and repellent with DEET, used properly. Dengue is endemic and Dhaka has had severe outbreaks, with the mosquito that carries it biting in daylight, so this is a daytime discipline and not an evening one. Long sleeves do more than repellent.

A dry bag and a light. A waterproof dry bag for every boat journey, and a rechargeable headlamp because power cuts are routine rather than exceptional and river boats are unlit.

Water. Tap water is not for drinking anywhere in Bangladesh. An insulated water bottle plus a filter or purification tablets will save a great deal of plastic in a country already carrying a plastic problem.

Documents and small things. A photocopy of your passport photo page and your visa, carried separately from the originals, because officials may ask and the advisory says so explicitly. Bangladeshi taka in cash, since cards work in Dhaka hotels and almost nowhere else. A power bank. And a tolerance for being asked for a photograph, which will happen daily.

Getting Around Bangladesh

The river is the oldest and often the best option. The overnight launch from Dhaka to Barisal is one of the classic journeys in South Asia, and the Rocket paddle steamers that once ran it are part of the country's folklore. Book a first-class cabin. Note the advisory's ferry warnings in the Sundarbans section above: overcrowding at festivals is the specific risk, and avoiding travel on the busiest religious holidays is the practical answer.

Trains are better than their reputation for some routes and carry real risks. The network is extensive, old and slow, and the advisory names frequent fatal accidents, flood-damaged bridges and culverts in dangerous condition, and crime including theft and sexual assault. Where you can lock a first-class compartment door, do, particularly at night. The Dhaka to Sylhet and Dhaka to Chittagong lines are the useful ones.

Buses cover everything and vary enormously. The air-conditioned coaches between major cities are reasonable; local buses are crowded and are where the advisory's warning about violent crime against passengers applies most. Avoid using public transport alone, which the FCDO states directly.

Domestic flights connect Dhaka with Cox's Bazar, Sylhet, Chittagong, Jessore and Saidpur, and for Cox's Bazar in particular a one-hour flight against a ten-hour road journey is worth the money.

Driving yourself is not recommended and if you do, you need a 1949 international driving permit alongside your own licence, obtained before you travel because you cannot buy one outside the UK. Hiring a car with a driver is normal, cheap and far safer.

Costs: What to Budget for Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the least expensive countries in Asia for a traveller and the limiting factor is comfort rather than money. A simple but clean double room outside Dhaka runs very cheaply; mid-range hotels in Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar cost several times that and are still inexpensive by international standards; and the top end exists only in Dhaka. Local food, rice and fish and vegetable curries, costs very little, and the fish is the thing to eat here: hilsa, the national fish, is worth seeking out.

What costs real money are the things with fixed overheads. A Sundarbans live-aboard trip is the single largest line in most itineraries and is not negotiable downwards much, because the permit, the guide, the guards and the boat are the cost. A car with a driver for the tea country is similarly priced on the vehicle rather than the distance. Domestic flights are modestly priced and worth it. Budget the Sundarbans separately and the rest of the country will look almost free by comparison.

Carry cash. ATMs work in cities and are unreliable elsewhere, cards are accepted in Dhaka hotels and restaurants and essentially nowhere in the countryside, and a liquor permit is required to drink alcohol legally in government-licensed bars, which is worth knowing before you look for a drink.

Where to Stay in Bangladesh

Dhaka divides sharply. Gulshan and Banani are the diplomatic and business districts, where the international hotels, the reliable restaurants and most embassies are, and they are the sensible base for a first visit. Old Dhaka is where the sights are and has little good accommodation, so most people stay north and travel south by metro. Uttara is convenient for the airport and nothing else.

Cox's Bazar has a long hotel strip along the beach road, Bangladeshi in character and busy at weekends and holidays. Kolatoli and Sugandha are the main clusters. Book ahead for Eid and for the winter holidays, when domestic demand is enormous.

Sylhet and Srimangal have the country's best small accommodation outside the capital, including tea-estate bungalows and guesthouses set in the gardens, which are worth the modest premium and are the reason to base yourself in Srimangal rather than Sylhet city.

For a woman travelling alone, the advisory's instruction to use hotels with staff at the front desk around the clock applies with particular force here, because the budget end of the market is not set up for independent foreign women and a mid-range hotel with a staffed lobby, a lockable room and an arranged car costs very little more. Homestays and guesthouses in Srimangal are an exception and are often excellent.

Essential Resources for Women in Bangladesh

Emergency numbers: 999 is the national emergency line for police, fire and ambulance and operates in Bengali and English. 333 is the government information line. There is also a dedicated Police Expatriate Help Cell that offers services to foreign nationals including dual nationals, which the FCDO names specifically and which is the right first call for a foreign visitor with a problem that is not an emergency. For violence against women, the government operates the 109 national helpline, and the One-Stop Crisis Centres in major government hospitals provide medical care, police liaison and legal support in one place.

US State Department travel advisory: the Bangladesh advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.

UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/bangladesh, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.

Main hospitals: in Dhaka, Evercare Hospital in Bashundhara and United Hospital in Gulshan are the two private hospitals used by the diplomatic community and are where a serious problem should go; Square Hospital is a third. Outside Dhaka, facilities drop off sharply, and in Cox's Bazar, Sylhet and Chittagong the private clinics handle ordinary complaints while anything serious means getting to Dhaka. For anything major the realistic answer is medical evacuation to Bangkok or Singapore, which is a flight rather than a drive, so insurance that covers EVACUATION rather than only treatment is not optional here. There is no decompression chamber for diving at St Martin's Island.

Official health authority: the Directorate General of Health Services, which is the operational health authority under Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The DGHS site carries the current dengue situation reports, which are worth reading before a monsoon or post-monsoon trip, because Dhaka's outbreaks have been severe and the figures change weekly

US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Dhaka.

Official tourism authority: Beautiful Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Tourism Board's site under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Beautiful Bangladesh is also the practical source for the Sundarbans permit arrangements and the registered operator lists. Note that the Bangladesh Tourism Board's other domains, tourismboard.gov.bd and parjatan.gov.bd, currently fail certificate verification on every address, so this is the one to use

The Chittagong Hill Tracts need ten days' notice. Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban only. Chittagong City is not included.

Do not use public transport alone. It is the advisory's own instruction and the most useful line in it.

Solo women safety assessment: Bangladesh is a demanding country to travel alone in and it is not a dangerous one, and conflating those two things is the most common error made about it. The FCDO advises against travel to exactly three districts, the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban, and states in the same section that Chittagong City and the rest of Chittagong Division are not included. Everywhere a visitor would normally go carries no advise-against at all. WHAT IS REAL AND CONSTANT IS HARASSMENT RATHER THAN VIOLENCE. The advisory records a risk of sexual assault including attacks on female foreign visitors, and says that female travellers OFTEN experience verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men. That word often is doing a lot of work and it is honest: in a country that receives very few independent foreign women, you will be stared at, followed occasionally, and photographed without being asked. The countermeasures are specific rather than general. Do not use public transport alone, which the FCDO states outright and which is the single most effective choice you will make. Avoid isolated areas when alone at ANY time of day, not only after dark. Dress modestly with shoulders and legs covered, which is expected of everyone and materially reduces attention. Use a hotel with a staffed desk around the clock, arrange cars in advance rather than hailing them, and lock a first-class train compartment at night. Carry a photocopy of your passport and visa, because officials ask. THE SECOND REAL RISK IS CROWDS AND POLITICS: terrorists are described as very likely to try to attack, with public transport, crowded areas, religious buildings and political rallies named, and hartals and demonstrations can bring arson and fatalities to city streets at short notice, so a gathering is somewhere to leave rather than observe. The third is the environment: the monsoon from June to September floods the delta and cuts routes, cyclones are a genuine seasonal risk, ferries are overcrowded at religious festivals and some carry falsified safety certificates, and the rail network has frequent fatal accidents. Dengue is endemic and bites in daylight. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal. British nationals of Bangladeshi origin are considered Bangladeshi citizens whether or not they have ever held a Bangladeshi passport, which can limit the consular help available. 999 for emergencies, 109 for violence against women, the Police Expatriate Help Cell for foreign nationals, and Evercare or United in Dhaka for anything serious, with evacuation cover for anything worse.

Our Bangladeshi destination guides, each with its own packing list, safety assessment and emergency numbers. Every one states where it sits relative to the Chittagong Hill Tracts restriction rather than summarising the country, because the advisory's own exception for Chittagong City is the half most reports of it leave out.

• Dhaka packing list for women for one of the densest cities on earth, Old Dhaka, Sadarghat and the metro that bypasses the traffic.
• Cox's Bazar packing list for women for a claim to the longest natural beach in the world, swimming fully clothed and where the southern district advisory actually applies.
• Chittagong packing list for women for the port city the FCDO explicitly excludes from the Hill Tracts warning, the Karnaphuli and the hills behind it.
• Rajshahi packing list for women for silk, mangoes, the terracotta temples at Puthia and the one Bangladeshi city with good air.
• Barisal packing list for women for the river city, the overnight launch from Dhaka and the floating guava markets.
• Sonargaon packing list for women for the medieval capital of Bengal, the abandoned merchant street at Panam City and a day trip.
• Srimangal packing list for women for the tea gardens, Lawachara rainforest, the gibbons and the only accessible hill country.

Reading On

Bangladesh sits between two countries this library covers in depth, and the comparison is useful rather than incidental. For the Indian side of the same delta and the same tea country, read the Kolkata packing list, which is 300km west of Dhaka and shares the language and much of the food, and the Darjeeling packing list for tea country on the other side of the hills. The India travel guide for women covers the regional context, and the Sri Lanka packing list and Nepal packing list cover the other two South Asian countries in the library. For why merino is the layer to carry in a hot, humid country where laundry is awkward, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.

If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.