Both itineraries below are built around actual routes rather than a wish list of every destination — pick the one that matches how much time you have, or use either as a starting frame to adjust.
10 days: Dhaka, Cox's Bazar, Sundarbans
This is the version built for people with limited time who still want the beach and the mangrove forest, the two most distinctive things Bangladesh offers, without trying to also fit in the hills or the tea country.
Days 1–2 — Dhaka. Arrive, adjust to the time zone, and spend a full day in Old Dhaka: Lalbagh Fort, Ahsan Manzil, and the food streets around them. A second half-day for the National Museum or a rickshaw ride through the older neighborhoods rounds this out.
Days 3–5 — Cox's Bazar. A short domestic flight or a longer bus/train combination gets you to the coast. Three days is enough for the beach itself, a day trip to Himchari National Park nearby, and time to rest before the next leg. If the season allows (November–March), a long day trip to Saint Martin's Island fits here instead of a third Cox's Bazar beach day.
Days 6–8 — Sundarbans. Getting into the Sundarbans requires a multi-day boat trip booked through a licensed tour operator, typically departing from Khulna or Mongla. A 2-night, 3-day boat safari is the realistic minimum to actually get into the forest's interior rather than just its edges.
Days 9–10 — Back to Dhaka, departure. Build in a full transit day here rather than a tight connection; boat schedules in the Sundarbans run on tides, not clocks, and a missed connection can otherwise sink your flight home.
2 weeks: add the hills and the tea gardens
With four extra days, the northeast and the Chittagong Hill Tracts become realistic additions, turning this from a “greatest hits” trip into something that shows the range of what Bangladesh actually looks like.
Days 1–2 — Dhaka. Same as above.
Days 3–4 — Sylhet and Sreemangal. Fly into Sylhet, spend a day around Jaflong and the tea estates near the city, then move to Sreemangal for a night — this is where the seven-layer tea and the closer, walkable tea gardens are.
Days 5–7 — Cox's Bazar. Same core beach stay as the 10-day version, now with a full extra day, which is enough to properly add the Saint Martin's Island day trip without cutting the beach time short.
Days 8–10 — Sundarbans. Same 2-night boat safari as above.
Days 11–13 — Bandarban or Rangamati. This is the hardest leg to route well, since the hill tracts sit awkwardly relative to the southern coast and the Sundarbans. Chattogram works as the connecting point — fly or take an overnight train there from Khulna's direction, then a few hours by road into either Bandarban's hill treks or Rangamati's lake. Pick one rather than both; trying to fit both hill destinations into 3 days means seeing neither properly.
Day 14 — Return to Dhaka, departure.
What this leaves out, and why that's fine
Neither version includes the heritage circuit around Naogaon, Bogura, and Rajshahi, or Kushtia and Tangail further west — those cluster together well as their own trip, but they sit in a different direction from everything above and would turn either itinerary into a country-crossing marathon rather than a trip. If ancient ruins and living cultural traditions interest you more than beaches and mangroves, that heritage/culture cluster is worth planning as a separate, dedicated trip rather than bolting onto this one.
For what either version actually costs, see our trip cost breakdown. Check visa requirements well before booking flights — our visa guide covers the current process.