12-Day Bangladesh Highlights Tour with Sundarbans and Rocket Steamer

• Meet your Bangladesh guide inside the airport upon arrival and transfer to your hotel.

Overnight at Dhaka (Hotel Civic Inn).

• You will be picked up from your hotel, and the tour will start at 08.00 am.

• Visit key tourist attractions in New and Old Dhaka throughout the day, including Dhakeshwari Temple, Lalbagh Fort, Khan Mohammad Mridha Mosque, Armenian Church, Star Mosque, Ahsan Manjil, and Sadarghat River Station.

• Ride a rickshaw through the narrow streets of Old Dhaka, where cars cannot reach.

• Pass through attractive bazaars.

• Enjoy a short boat ride on the Buriganga River in the evening on a wooden boat to feel the rhythm of the lively, vibrant river and enjoy the sunset.

• Embark on the Rocket Steamer at Sadarghat River Station at 18.00 h and take a memorable overnight journey on the Rocket Paddle Steamer to Hularhat.

Overnight at Rocket (Sleeping Cabin).

• Enjoy the riverine beauty of Bangladesh from the Rocket Steamer in the morning.

• Disembark from the Rocket Steamer at Hularhat around 09.00 am.

• Drive toward Bagerhat (1 hr) in an air-conditioned car and visit the Mosque City of Bagerhat, a 15th-century Muslim city once called Khalifatabad. Present-day Bagerhat is a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site.

• Visit most of the remaining mosques from the 15th-century city of Khalifatabad throughout the day, such as the 60 Dome Mosque, 9 Dome Mosque, Rono Bijoypur Mosque, and Singair Mosque.

• Also visit the shrine of Khan Jahan Ali, the saint general of Turkish origin who came to spread Islam in this region and founded this great city, as well as Kodla Moth - a very beautiful Hindu temple from the 17th century.
  Drive to Khulna (1 hr).

Overnight at Khulna (Hotel City Inn).

• Start at 6.00 am and drive to Mongla (1.5 hrs).

• Transfer to the waiting boat upon arrival and head toward the Sundarbans immediately. Breakfast will be served on the boat.

• Reach the forest in 15 minutes.

• Stop at a forest station on the way to complete formalities, then continue toward Kochikhali. Go through many small canals and rivers with small boats where big boats cannot go because of their size and the shallow canals. Taking you through these rewarding narrow canals is the main point of this private tour on a small boat, where you have the best chance to spot a tiger and many animals.

• Halt at Harbaria Eco Park and walk its 30-minute trail for your first experience of the Sundarbans. People on day tours in the Sundarbans usually end up visiting only up to this point, which is never recommended.

• Before sunset, explore a small canal on a noiseless wooden rowboat while searching for wildlife. Animals come to drink water in the evening and morning along the creeks and canals.

• Sit quietly on the boat and float by in a breathtaking environment, listening to singing birds and the calls of many animals.

• Reach Kochikhali in the evening and stop for the night.

Overnight on the boat in a sleeping cabin.

• Ride a noiseless wooden rowboat on a canal in the morning, searching for wildlife.

• Return to the main boat and have breakfast at 07.30 am.

• Start walking toward Jamtola beach, the quietest, nicest, and cleanest beach in Bangladesh. Enjoy the beach for an hour, then walk toward Jamtola tourist spot. (Total trail = 10 km)

• Transfer to the boat, have lunch on board, and rest for an hour.

• Visit Kotka Wildlife Sanctuary, and if it is high tide, enjoy a rewarding boat ride on a canal near the sanctuary.

• Go to the watchtower at Kotka before sunset and sit quietly for half an hour. This is a feeding ground for animals, and lots of deer and other wild animals come here in the evening to eat grass and drink water. You never know what surprises may be waiting for you here.

• After sunset, ride the boat to another suitable forest station for the night, based on the tide.

Overnight on the boat in a sleeping cabin.

• Go for a boat ride on a noiseless wooden rowboat at 06.00 am and explore a canal near the forest station with your local tour guide.

• Return to the main boat at 07.30 h and have breakfast.

• Start your return journey toward Mongla from here through other small rivers and canals.

• Visit a fishing village and Koromjal Crocodile Breeding Center on the way.

• Reach Mongla in the late afternoon and drive to Khulna (1.5 hrs).

Overnight at Khulna (Hotel City Inn).

• After breakfast, transfer to Khulna Railway Station.

• Depart for Dhaka at 08.40 am on 763 Chitra Express.

• Arrive in Dhaka around 17.40 h and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight at Dhaka (Hotel Civic Inn).

• Pick up from your hotel at 06:30 am.

• Drive to Airport Railway Station, board the train, and start your journey at 07:03 am.

• Arrive in Sreemangal around noon, and transfer to your hotel immediately.

• After check-in, freshen up and have your lunch at the cottage dine-in.

• Take some rest and get ready for an adventure to the tea garden (Cha Bagan), lemon and pineapple orchards, rubber garden, and tribal village (Adibasi Gram). If time permits, you could also have a look around nearby.

• Taste the most popular seven-layer tea at Nilkantha Tea Cabin in the evening.

• Eat dinner at your cottage dine-in or downtown in a local restaurant to taste something special.

Overnight at Sreemangal (Nishorgo Eco-Resort).

• Early in the morning, go for a rewarding wildlife trek through Lawachara National Park. Take the 3-hour trail for the opportunity to see wildlife, especially the hoolock gibbons for which this forest is famous.

• Visit the tribal village and enjoy lunch with them.

Overnight at Srimangal (Nisorgo Eco Resort).

• Enjoy a free morning at your leisure.

• Transfer to the railway station and depart for Dhaka at 10.31 am on 718 Jayantika Express (Thu Off) / 09.10 am on 774 Kalani Express.

• Arrive in Dhaka around 16.00 h / 13.55 h and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight at Dhaka (Hotel Civic Inn).

• After breakfast, drive to Sonargaon (37 km, 2 hrs), the old capital of the Bengal region.

• Visit the Folk Arts and Crafts Museum, the medieval-period Goaldi Mosque, a bamboo school for disadvantaged children of the neglected Hindu society, and the abandoned merchant city of Panam Nagar.

• Also visit a char (small river island) on the Meghna River to experience the traditional lifestyle of the farmers.

Overnight at Dhaka (Hotel Civic Inn).

• Pick up from your hotel, transfer to the airport according to your flight schedule, and say goodbye.

• End the tour of Bangladesh's highlights.