Prince Muhammad Azam, a son of Aurangzeb, began the fort in 1678, and the governor Shaista Khan carried the work on until his daughter Pari Bibi died here in 1684, after which he left it unfinished. What stands today is a walled garden with three main buildings: a three-domed mosque, the two-storey Diwan-i-Aam with its bath house, and Pari Bibi's tomb. Come early in the morning, before school groups and the midday heat arrive.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry roughly ৳20–30 for Bangladeshis, more for foreign visitors; rickshaw from Azimpur about ৳50
How to get to Lalbagh Fort
In Old Dhaka, about 4 km south-west of Shahbag. A rickshaw from Azimpur or Nilkhet takes 10–15 minutes; ride-hailing cars and auto-rickshaws drop at the gate.
Closed on Sundays, and open only in the afternoon on Mondays.
More to see in Dhaka
Photo: Mahbub Hossain Shaheed (mahosha), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Ahsan Manzil আহসান মঞ্জিল
The pink, domed palace of the Nawabs of Dhaka on the Buriganga riverfront, now a museum of the family's rooms and portraits.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry roughly ৳20–40 for Bangladeshis, more for foreign visitors; a boat across the river about ৳20–50 a person
Photo: Saiful Aopu & Nahid Sultan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons National Parliament House জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন
Louis Kahn's concrete-and-marble parliament, wrapped by a lake on a campus of about 200 acres, is one of the great buildings of its century.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- About an hour
- Cost
- Free to view from outside; rickshaw from Farmgate about ৳30–50
Photo: Azim Khan Ronnie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons National Martyrs' Memorial জাতীয় স্মৃতিসৌধ
Seven pairs of concrete triangles rising to a single peak at Savar, in memory of those who died in the 1971 Liberation War.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry free; bus from Gabtoli about ৳50 each way
Photo: Dip Loho, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Dhamrai old town ধামরাই
A small trading town known for its wooden Jagannath chariot and for families who still cast brass and bell metal by the lost-wax method.
- Best time
- June–July for the Rath Yatra, or November to February
- Give it
- Half a day
- Cost
- No entry fees; bus from Gabtoli under ৳100 each way; rickshaw in town about ৳30–50
Photo: Asivechowdhury, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Kalakopa zamindar houses কলাকোপার জমিদার বাড়ি
A cluster of 19th-century merchant and zamindar mansions on the Ichamati river in Nawabganj, with the odd temple-house of Khelaram Data.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- Half a day
- Cost
- No entry fees; bus from Dhaka about ৳100 each way; rickshaw around the houses about ৳150–200