How to get from Dhaka to Sylhet by bus

Do you want to get from Dhaka to Sylhet by bus? Find out our experiences below!

Don’t forget to check out our 2 week Bangladesh itinerary.

Why is it hard to book a bus in Dhaka, Bangladesh?

Bangladesh must be the least touristy country we’ve ever visited. The lack of English or even any Latin script makes it even harder to get from one city to another. Even in their capital. Luckily the people in Bangladesh are really friendly and most of them will try to help you out.

Which bus company to choose from Dhaka to Sylhet?

There are several bus companies in Dhaka and most of them offer the same routes. For example from Dhaka to Sylhet, there are 3 companies each offering the same journey.

• Ena Transport (Pvt.) Ltd
• Hanif enterprise
• Shyamoli NR travels

How do you know which one to take? We used the Shohoz site to check the review scores. We would then buy the tickets from a ticket office nearby. Why didn’t we buy it online? Because we couldn’t figure out the closest bus departure, based on the names of the stops. If you buy a ticket in an office the bus will start at that ticket office.

Where did we buy our ticket from Dhaka to Sylhet?

As we intended to take a train from Dhaka to Sylhet we stayed close to the train station in Hotel Shalimar Int’l. In the 100 meters between our hotel and the train station, there were more than a dozen ticket offices all lined up. As the Shyamoli buses had the best review scores online we entered their office. As you can see in the picture above they don’t even have their company name on their office. Good thing they have pictures…

Ticket price from Dhaka to Sylhet

We paid 940 BDT for 2 non-AC bus tickets from Sylhet to Dhaka. That’s around €5/6USD per person.

Duration

Our bus left at 10 am. The guy who sold us the ticket told us (wrote in Bengali on our ticket as he couldn’t speak English) that we had to be at the ticket office at 9:40 am. The entire trip was 5 or 6 hours, but that will greatly depend on the traffic and your driver.

The bus drivers in Bangladesh

We were ‘lucky’ we had a crazy driver. That means if you want to waste the least amount of time possible on the bus. If you easily get sick on a bus you’re not going to like those bus rides in Bangladesh. Luckily they put foreigners on the first rows of the bus when possible. Perhaps as a nice gesture to the other passengers, as they rarely see white people in Bangladesh. Luckily that also means you won’t see it if they stare at you for 3 hours on end 😉

I think our driver must’ve driven more on the righthand side of the road, than on the left (where he should’ve been). Even the average Indian or Vietnamese driver is a real gentleman compared to our first bus driver.

Other options

There are 2 more options to reach Sylhet from Dhaka. They will both be faster, but more expensive.

Taking a plane from Sylhet to Dhaka.

There are plenty flights from Dhaka to Sylhet every day. Prices average around 75$ but go as low as $40 if you book them early enough.

The flights take a mere 45 minutes, but you’ll also have to be there on time, pass security and wait for your luggage when you arrive so count at least 3-4 hours.

Taking a train from Sylhet to Dhaka

Taking a train in Bangladesh is a real experience. Unfortunately, we were never able to get on any train. Prices for the train ticket range from 80 Taka (2nd class general) to 1099 Taka (AC birth) [1 USD ~ 84 BDT].