Bangladesh · Dhaka Division · Dhaka
Dhaka/Central, Dhaka — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Central Dhaka is the historic heart of Dhaka, the old riverside city along the Buriganga below the parkland of Ramna.
About Dhaka/Central
Where to stay in Dhaka/Central
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Choose your ground by era. The northern band around Shahbagh and the University of Dhaka keeps mid-range beds within reach of the museums, and it works well if you want lectures, bookshops and green space rather than commerce at the door. Old Dhaka is louder.
Down by Sadarghat the lanes crowd toward the Buriganga, close to the palaces but short on comfortable rooms, so most visitors sleep near Ramna and ride in for the morning bustle of the ghats.
About Dhaka/Central
What are the main landmarks in Dhaka/Central?
The old city carries the set-piece monuments. Lalbagh Fort holds its unfinished Mughal courtyards above the lanes, while Ahsan Manzil, the pink riverfront palace of the old nawabs, faces the Buriganga a short way east through the bazaars. The Star Mosque glitters nearby.
Dhakeshwari Temple, the national Hindu shrine, stands back from the water on the western side, and up in the civic band the museums and the columned quiet of Ramna edge the University of Dhaka campus toward Shahbagh.
What is the history of Dhaka/Central?
The city began at the river. Mughal governors made this stretch of the Buriganga their seat, raising Lalbagh Fort in the 1670s while the surrounding lanes filled with mosques, bazaars and merchant houses that became Old Dhaka. Trade drew wealthy nawabs.
Their fortune built Ahsan Manzil on the waterfront, and later the colonial planners laid out the open lawns of Ramna and the University of Dhaka to the north, splitting the quarter into a crowded old core and a calmer civic band around Shahbagh.
Where is Dhaka/Central?
Central Dhaka runs from the Buriganga waterfront and the packed lanes of Old Dhaka up through Lalbagh and Dhakeshwari Temple to the open greens of Ramna and Shahbagh in the north.
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Updated July 2026