Chittagong officially Chattogram is the main international seaport and second largest city in. Located on the Bay of Bengal, the city is the headquarters of many Bangladeshi companies, including the Chittagong Stock Exchange. According to the British newspaper the Telegraph, Chittagong is one of the ten fastest growing cities in the world. Karnaphuli River at night Chittagong is one of the great port cities of. It flourished on the and was the eastern terminus of the. It was visited by famous medieval explorers like the Venetians Niccolo de Conti and Caeser Frederick; the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta; and the Chinese admiral Zheng He. The Portuguese, Mughals and British controlled the port in successive periods until the 20th century. It became a major financial center and the largest port in modern-day Bangladesh after the Partition of British India. Today, Chittagong is a fairly large metropolitan area with a population of about 6. As in , its streets are filled with masses of rickshaws. Rolling hills and greenery dot the landscape. The Karnaphuli River is a burgeoning hub of shipping. Chittagong puts in a little more effort than other Bangladeshi cities to keep its streets and sidewalks clean. The city's residents are called Chittagonians. Foreigners will notice a distinct increase in nuisance from beggars in certain intersections, like the Central Railway Station. Beggars come from different parts of Bangladesh because Chittagonians are more prone to charity than people in other parts of the country. The old quarter of the city is home to several historic mosques and Sufi shrines. The Anderkilla Imperial Jame Mosque was built by the Mughals after they conquered Chittagong in 1666. It once formed part of a large hilltop fort. The Sufi Shrine of Bayazid Bostami has a pond full of turtles. The former Portuguese settlement is located in Patherghatta. It is home to the descendants of Portuguese traders, who are known locally as Firingis. The area has several churches, including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chittagong. Chittagong is also the seat of the Bengali Buddhist priesthood. The busiest parts of the city are Station Road, Strand Road, GEC Circle and O. The affluent neighborhoods of Khulshi and Nasirabad are home to the city's middle and upper classes. Chittagong has many influential business families. The city is home to prominent gentlemen's clubs, restaurants and golf courses. The Chittagonian enthusiasm for inviting people to massive feasts is a bit of legend both locally and elsewhere. Known as mezbani these feasts feature a tremendously hot curry, usually of beef. If you're not used to it, approach with caution. You might also be able to find some of the world's best lobsters here, as Chittagong is the center of the Bangladeshi seafood industry. It has flights from , , , , , , and. Domestic services include several daily flights with. The main route out of Chittagong runs north to and Akhaura, from where the routes to Dhaka and Sylhet diverge. The train station is on Station Road just west of Jubilee Road. Chittagong is a terminal station on the metre gauge eastern section of the. The headquarters of this railway are located here. Train journeys are, in general, cheaper than bus journeys. Best bet for a tourist is to make reservations at the station or a travel agency. Trains are popular so book in advance. By bus There are 2 spots in the city where the major private companies operate from and have offices - just to the south of GEC Circle on CDA Ave, and on Station Road near Hotel Golden Inn. Greenline, Silkline and Shohag are the nicest and have frequent services to ৳1200, 6-8 hours and 3-4 hours. Greenline also offers the only direct bus to ৳550, 7-8 hours. Local buses to ৳140, 3-4 hours run frequently throughout the day from Cinema Palace Bus Station, about 1 km north of the Station Rd area. Daily services with Dhaka, Sylhet, Khulna, Cox's Bazaar, Jessore and Kolkata. Daily services with Dhaka, Kolkata, Sylhet, Cox's Bazaar, Khulna and Bogra. Station Road at Batali Road, across from the Old Railway Terminal. Chittagong is the eastern terminus of the , a historic highway that runs through parts of four countries — Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan — all the way to at the western end. By car Chittagong is the focal point of the national highway system in Bangladesh. Cars can be used to travel from the Indian border; but the border with Myanmar remains closed. Auto rickshaw aks tempoo Getting around in Chittagong is always an adventure. Traffic is, by and large, horribly congested and many drivers will think nothing of quoting ten times the going price to a tourist. Agree on prices before setting off. Transport in Chittagong is similar to that of the country's capital Dhaka. There are various bus systems with different routes, taxis, and smaller 'CNG' taxis which are basically tricycle-structured motor vehicles. Also, the traditional manual rickshaws are very common. By foot Walking is also a possibility as the town isn't too confusing, but keep an eye out as the streets can be very busy, especially around Station Rd and Jubilee Rd. If travelling along the Strip, walking is a reasonable option as the hotel-casinos are close to each other. However, note that what may look to be a short walk of only a couple hotel-casinos away may be farther than you expected as the resorts often look closer than they are due to their large size. By bicycle Many locals of lower-classes often use bicycles as a primary form of transport. They can be useful in their ability to squeeze through tight situations, where traffic may prevent a large vehicle from moving. Although, there is little opportunity to buy or rent a bike, plus the roads and traffic are in such bad condition that the chance of an accident is high. By cycle rickshaws Cycle rickshaws are three-wheeled, pedal-powered rickshaws with seats in the back to seat passengers and a driver in the front. Cycle rickshaws don't use meters, so establish a price before getting on. Tk 20-100 is reasonable for most journeys of a few kilometres. By bus All parts of Chittagong are well connected by buses and with tickets ranging from Tk 5-20, are very cheap; but also quite crowded most of the time. Some buses are provided air-conditioned service. As bus stops do not have bus routes written properly, it can be difficult to find your way. Asking other people at the bus stop is often the best way to find out about bus routes to your destination. However, the buses are pretty frequent, running every 15-20 min or so on most routes. Route 1: runs from 22. Route 2: runs from 22. Route 4: runs from New Market Bus Stand to 22. Route 5: runs from New Market Bus Stand to 22. Route 6: runs from 22. Route 7: runs from 22. Route 8: runs from New Market Bus Stand to Oxygen Circle. Route 10: runs from Kalurghat Bus Station to Patenga Sea Beach Road. By taxi Taxi usually with driver is required to see many of the far-flung sites within and around Chittagong. Taxis ply the roads, some yellow and some black, all with or without meters. Black taxis start the meter at Tk 15 while yellow taxis have slightly higher standards in terms of comfort, and start at Tk 20. Black taxis are typically in notoriously poor condition and lack air conditioning. Yellow taxis are required to have air conditioning; the fleet consists mostly of Toyota Corollas, with some Mitsubishis and Hondas. The yellow taxis are also considered far safer, in comparison to black taxis and auto-rickshaws. By auto rickshaws Auto rickshaws also called CNG taxi, or simply CNG are good for shorter trips. Always in a distinctive green livery, auto rickshaws are three-wheeled partially enclosed contraptions that run on CNG and can seat three-four people in the back. In general, they are much cheaper than taxis and can be hailed from the street easily. By local train There are limited demo services on Chittagong's railways, but the facilities are a far cry from the user-friendly railway stations. For the most part, train stations are inconveniently located. There is no passenger service on the Chittagong Railway Station outside rush hour. The Bangladesh Railways website does not accept foreign credit cards. A naval base of the Bangladeshi Navy. Situated in the old city, the multi-domed mosque is an architectural sight to behold. This Hindu temple is dedicated to the Goddess Kali. It was built in the 18th century. With an area of 6 acres of land the zoo is located about three kilometers north-east of the city. Major exhibits are Indian lion, Asian black bear, Indian muntjac, Chital. Jatra Mohon Sen Hall is related to the history in 1930, when an armoury in Chittagong was raided. The hall is named after Bengali politician Jatra Mohan Sengupta. Completed in 1872, it is one of the oldest buildings of the port city. Cultural and historical place whwre most of the cultural activities of Chittagong and related business were established. Situated on the Fairy Hill, this building commands a magnificent bird's eye view of Chittagong city, particularly at night. The Court building was built immediately after the East India Company conquered and declared Chittagong as a separate administrative area in 1773. The building is huge, over 250,000 square feet 23,000 m² and has hundreds of rooms. A coastal area is situated at the Karnafuli river channel. A river side of the Karnaphuli River. Beside the lake there is Mangrove forest which is just before Bay of Bengal. Natural beach with mangrove forest west of Halishahar and south of Kattali. About 16 km from Chittagong. Created in 1924, by building a dam, planned by an English engineer Mr. Foy and built on the initiative of the then Assam-Bengal Railway, amidst panoramic surroundings, this is an ideal spot for outings and picnics, thronged by thousands of visitors. It has been developed into an entertainment and amusement zone. There is an amusement theme park, a lake resort, and a sea world aquatic theme park in the lake area. The zoo is next door. The largest and most important river in Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, is a 667-metre 2,188-ft wide river in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. A river side at the meeting place of the roaring sea and the river Karnaphuli. Sandy beach at the meeting place of the roaring sea and the river Karnaphuli. It looks more beautiful from Naval Academy Road which is beside the Shah Amanat International Airport. About 16-17 km away from Chittagong the beach is situated at the Karnafuli river channel. A well-preserved World War II cemetery in a quiet and picturesque place lie buried over 700 soldiers from Commonwealth countries and Japan. The War Cemetery is located in a hillside sloping place, in the south-western corner of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, beside the Badshah Mia Road of the city. The total area of this cemetery is 8 acres 3. This holy shrine attracts a large number of visitors and pilgrims. At its base there is a large pond with several hundred tortoises floating in the water. According to tradition, these turtles are descendants of evil spirits djinns who were cast into this shape because they incurred the wrath of the great saint who visited the place about 1100 years ago. A very famous saint of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Hazrat Shah Sufi Amanat Khan R came from Bihar Sharif, India. At Chittagong he lived in a cottage and accepted service as a pankha wala hanging fan puller in the Judge's Court. From the circumstantial evidence it appears that he was a great man of the late 18th century. The family that lives in the compound of Hazrat Shah Amanat Khan's R mausoleum and looks after it are Hazrat Shah Sufi Amanat Khan's descendants. They have got in their possession a Persian waqfnama deed of endowment of Anwar Khan, the son of Hazrat Shah Sufi Amanat Khan R. Hazrat Shah Sufi Amanat Khan R lived a very simple life. His daily routine was to attend to his duties in the Court and to engage in prayers. No one knew that he was spiritually endowed nor did he pose to be such. His spiritual greatness was revealed through a Karamat spiritual power with magical elements received from The Almighty Allah which brought him to the limelight and people came to know that he was a Wali saint of the highest rank. When his spiritual attainments became known, he resigned from his job and remained busy with spiritual religious act and meditation. He is ranked among the greatest saints of Chittagong. People visit his mausoleum specially to seek blessings in matters of litigation. Gate Beside Moshjid Goli. The park was created on remembrance of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The first and only tropical garden within the natural forest environment there are plenty of genus and over 4,000 live butterflies. A length of 1. A historical place situated near the Lalkuthi now headquarters of the Metropolitan Police and Lalghar now District Jail. It was converted into a large pond during the initial stage of British rule. A complex within the country's popular architectures in miniature form. A reference library which contents books to support research about iconography, epigraphy, numismatics, architecture, small and folk art and other cultural resources. The largest subscription library in Chittagong. This library has a collection of over 95,244 books. A museum in a small room at the old seamanship class building in Bangladesh Marine Academy. This had been the sight of passionate activity during the independence War in 1971. Shows a mix of tribal artifacts. The Ethnological Museum of Chittagong was established in the first half of 1960s. The museum contains four galleries and a small hall. It is a little dark. Some sections contain mock ups of 'village life' for the different tribal areas with life size dolls. These are reminiscent of the museum in the film Planet of the Apes. The area of Eco Park is about 996 acres 403 ha which is established at forest side of Chandranath Hills of Sitakunda. The shipbreaking yards near the Indian Ocean are Chittagong's international claim to fame, but for the wrong reasons; these are considered one of the most polluted places on Earth with highly dangerous practices and hazardous working conditions. Tourists are not usually welcome, but some travellers have been able to sweet-talk the gate-keeper and get amazing photos of massive ships being dismantled for parts and steel. There are many breaking yards stretching for miles, so start at one end and try your luck until you have success. Keep your wits about you, safety practices leave something to be desired. It's also wise to keep your camera hidden until you're out of view of the officials, lest you be mistaken for a journalist out to do them harm. Bus 6 runs from Station Road, or you could hire an auto-rickshaw. Forty-eight kilometer from Chittagong on the Kaptai Road is one of the biggest paper mills in Asia. If you want to ride the highest hill within the metropolitan area, go to Batali Hill, near the Tiger Pass crossing. Most where only cash accepted. TIC is a cultural Performing art center in Chittagong. It is the theater hall of fine and performing arts. The institute is organized and controlled by the City Corporation of the district. Zilla Shilpakala Academy is the principal state-sponsored Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy affiliated and controlled district cultural center. It is the district academy of fine and performing arts. Events Chittagong continues to grow with annual events and festivals held throughout the city. Banani Complex Sales tax The local sales tax is 15%. Only groceries and prescription drugs are exempt. Like most of the city, Chittagong has not implemented a tax refund mechanism for international travelers. The only retailers that can sell tax-free items to international travelers are the duty-free shops at Shah Amanat International Airport. Hotel gift shops are outrageously expensive and should be avoided except for emergencies. Tu-Sa 10:00-21:00, M 02:00-21:00. Su-Th 09:00-21:00, Sa 02:00-21:00. Tu-Sa 10:00-21:00, M 02:00-21:00. Tu-Sa 10:00—21:00, M 02:30—21:00. The Bangladeshi book industry is huge, producing annually about thousand of books in English, and obviously far more in Bengali and other native languages. Chittagong is the hub of this industry, so small, specialist bookstores abound. Locally produced books can be very inexpensive and many popular Western titles are published and available here for a fraction of their original cost. In general, good places to buy books are in Cheragi Pahar, Andarkilla, Station Road, GEC circle, plus shopping malls in the city. Largest books shop in the city. This can be a problem for foreigners and lead to upset stomachs. If you are a foreigner you should consider sticking with better restaurants and eating in large hotels. Never eat green salad which comes with your meal as you will not know if it has been washed in sanitized water. Just a handful of restaurants in town use sanitized water to wash salad and this is a recipe for explosive diarrhea. Where you eat at one of these establishments you can tease them by demanding a room. One-room stores also have signboards advertising themselves as 'department stores'. Buffet lunch 12:00-16:00; dinner 18:00-23:00. The largest and the latest international standard restaurant in town with a Karaoke corner, seats up to 500 people across 2 floors. Has a huge menu of Continental, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Indonesian and Bangladeshi dishes. Fully air conditioned and tiptop. It provides Bangladeshi and Indian food with a classy environment. International standard, large menu and recommended for foreigners who need a break from an upset stomach. The Meridian has an excellent lunch buffet for around Tk 350. The rest of the menu used to be pretty good but as of late it is better to stick to the buffet. Tk 230-500 per medium pizza. Smart air-conditioned chinese restaurant. Tk 300-400 per person. Fast food place from the international chain of the same name. Selling pizza, burgers, fries plus a variety of dishes to Asian tastes in a fast food format. Sugarbun also sells coffee, cakes, bread and other snacks. ~Tk 175-250 per person. The menu contains no foreign dishes and this is not a place where foreigners typically eat, though it falls at the top end of middle class Bangladeshi restaurants. The place is clean, the food is OK, the service is good. Tea and coffee The teahouses and coffee houses in Chittagong are mostly large, heavily standardized chains. The most common location for various kind of tea is Dalla, besides Agrabad Access Rd. The most common coffee house is Rio Coffee, found in multiple locations across the city, most notably around Naval Avenue Rd. The crowd that frequents these two places is young, hip and trendy. A 4-star business hotel in the commercial district; restaurants and a swimming pool. Four hotels in Chittagong have bar license; Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View, Hotel Agrabad, Silmoon Hotel, Saint Martin Hotel Limited and The Peninsula Chittagong. While all the hotels are expensive for drinks. Like the Peninsula is expensive by far more than Tk 550 for a large can of. If you want to go to a bar, then you can go Hotel Shahjahan at Shadarghat, a well-furnished bar, or there is also a bar at BRTC bus stand adjacent to the foreign liqueur shop. It is possible to buy alcoholic beverages, ranging from local brews to smuggled beer and counterfeit brand alcohol. Local booze is available legally at government licensed shops. There is one in Agrabad on Sheik Mujib Rahman road. Counterfeit branded alcohol is available from illegal traders in Kulshie and other areas. But beware: deaths have been reported from consumption of adulterated liquor, and headaches and illness are more common. Smuggled booze is sometimes available on the sea beach. Aziz Stadium and Chittagong Club Limited in this commercial capital. A 4-star business hotel in the commercial district; restaurants and a swimming pool. The roof of the building has a swimming pool and offers a view of the entire city. Nightclubs and dancing There are three private clubs in Chittagong. The premiere club is the Chittagong Club which is located at number one Empress Road. The Chittagong club has a bar license and serves foreign alcohol in addition to local gin, vodka, and whiskey. The Chittagong Institute is a far smaller club but it does maintain a bar. It is located in Jamal Khan road. The Catholic club opens membership to all persons for a small fee but membership applications are only accepted once a year during December? It maintains a small bar serving local drinks. Note: With some exceptions, hotels and other sleeping establishments will not allow anyone under age 18 to reserve a room. It is highly recommended to research and reserve in advance of arrival. One of the better of the Station Road cheapies, rooms are large, fairly clean and more atmospheric than others in the area with faded old wooden furniture. Prices are a little high but don't even think of asking the stubborn manager for a discount or to throw in a TV. There's a decent restaurant behind the reception desk. Check-in: 12:00, check-out: 12:00. All children are welcome. One child under 5 years stays free of charge when using existing beds. One extra bed or children's cot is permitted in a room. Pets are not allowed. Check-in: 11:00-12:00, check-out: 12:00-12:30. Children cannot be accommodated at the hotel. There is no capacity for extra beds in the room. Pets are not allowed. This property only accepts cash payments. This is a good option, mostly because it's far enough away from Station Rd. Near Hotel Al-Faisal, it's also a good choice. Rooms around Tk 600. Across the street from Sylhet Super, it's another decent choice. This is a very large hotel west of the train station. Typical large 3-star hotel. Nizam Road near the G. Roof top restaurant have trendy with the touch of nature. Aziz Stadium and Chittagong Club Limited in this commercial capital. A 4-star business hotel in the commercial district; restaurants and a swimming pool. The roof of the building has a swimming pool and offers a view of the entire city. Internet Most hotel charge a separate fee for WiFi usage. Internet cafes can be found around the intersection of Station Rd and Jubilee Rd and around GEC Circle and Agrabad. Telephone The country code for Bangladesh is 880. Add 31 to make a call for Chittagong. American Express, Master Card, VISA Card have accepted almost all the ATMs booth in the city. Check ahead to see if your bank has locations in Chittagong. A customers, there are ATMs inside the branch at Agrabad Commercial Area. Fazlul Kader Road, Panchlaish, Chawkbazar. Sa-Th 09:00-18:00, Friday closed. However, there are some areas which are smoke-free but may be very close to smoking areas. Nightclubs and lounges may allow smoking if they do not serve food. For all other standalone restaurants, bars, convenience stores, grocery stores and airport facilities smoking is prohibited. If you would rather save the money and do it yourself, buckets are found in almost all public bathrooms - but perhaps wash it out well first. Instead, look for a hotel with a gym or a pool since many offer day passes. You can always try a morning or evening walk in the parks. Mr Syed Mahmudul Huq, Honorary Consul. The Maltese consulate in Chittagong is one of 217 Maltese diplomatic and consular representations abroad. Consul of Sri Lanka, Seatex Limited, Plot No. Mr Salahuddin Kasem Khan, Honorary Consul General updated Mar 2018 Chittagong is also a great base for exploration of the famous hill districts.