Before you start

An International Driving Permit obtained in your home country before departure
Your valid national licence, which the IDP only translates
A local address, for a BRTA licence if you settle long term
An honest look at whether you need a vehicle at all in a city this size

Step-by-step

1
Get the International Driving Permit before you leave home
This is the step people miss and it is national. The BRTA does not issue IDPs and you cannot apply for one from inside Bangladesh — the Automobile Association of Bangladesh issues them, and its process is designed around BRTA licence holders travelling abroad. Arriving without an IDP means arriving unable to drive legally.
In personWho: YouBefore departure
2
Try living without a car for the first month
Khulna is compact and flat, and battery easy-bikes and CNG auto-rickshaws reach everywhere for BDT 20–120. Unlike Dhaka or Chattogram, the in-city case for a private vehicle is weak. Many foreign residents here run a driver and a vehicle only for field travel and use easy-bikes for daily life.
In personWho: YouMonth 1
3
Take the train to Dhaka rather than driving it
The Padma bridge rail link cut the Dhaka–Khulna journey dramatically compared with the old route via Tangail and the Bangabandhu bridge. For a trip to the capital the intercity service is far more comfortable and predictable than the road, and it removes the single most tiring drive in this part of the country.
In personWho: YouAs needed
4
Plan field travel around embankments and the tide, not the map
Roads through Koyra, Dakop, Paikgachha and the coastal unions run on embankments, and a breach or a spring tide closes them without warning — Cyclone Remal damaged around 61 kilometres of embankment across Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat. Ask locally the day before, not the week before, and carry an alternative.
In personWho: You
5
Use the Mongla road and the new rail line deliberately
The 65 km Khulna–Mongla railway opened on 1 November 2023 across the 5.13 km Rupsha rail bridge completed that June, so the port is now reachable by rail as well as road. If your work is at Mongla or its zone, price both — the road carries port truck traffic and the rail does not.
In personWho: You
6
Treat cyclone warnings as a driving decision
Coastal Khulna takes direct landfalls. When the Bangladesh Meteorological Department raises the higher signal numbers, field travel stops — that is the local norm, not caution. Know the signal system and let it override the schedule.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

National driving licence
International Driving Permit, obtained before arrival
Passport with valid visa
Proof of Khulna address, for a BRTA licence

Things most newcomers don’t know

You cannot obtain an International Driving Permit once you are in Bangladesh.

The BRTA does not issue IDPs; the Automobile Association of Bangladesh does, and its process asks for a valid BRTA licence and a national identity card, which an incoming foreign national does not have. The permit must be obtained in your home country before you travel. It is a national rule with no local workaround.

Source: Automobile Association of Bangladesh; BRTA

Khulna is the one large Bangladeshi city where not owning a vehicle is the obvious choice.

The city is compact, flat and served end to end by battery easy-bikes and CNG auto-rickshaws at BDT 20–120 a trip. Dhaka's traffic and Chattogram's port roads make a driver a near-necessity for a professional; Khulna simply does not. People arriving with a Dhaka-shaped expectation negotiate a car allowance they will barely use, and would be better off putting it toward a vehicle and driver for field travel, which is where it is genuinely needed.

Source: community-reported

Field roads here run on embankments, so a cyclone or a spring tide closes them, not slows them.

The coastal upazilas south of the city — Koyra, Dakop, Paikgachha — are reached along embankment roads that also serve as flood defences. Cyclone Remal damaged around 61 kilometres of embankment across Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat in May 2024, and hundreds of villages flooded when they breached. A route that was fine last month may not exist this month. Confirm the day before you travel, with someone at the far end.

Source: Cyclone Remal situation reporting; Bangladesh Water Development Board

The Padma bridge rail link changed the Dhaka relationship, and older advice predates it.

The Khulna–Dhaka journey used to run the long way round via Tangail and the Bangabandhu bridge, a route of over 400 kilometres. The Padma bridge rail link cut it substantially, and the Khulna–Mongla line opened on 1 November 2023 across the new Rupsha rail bridge. Anything written before 2023 describes a much more isolated Khulna than the one that exists now, and that colours a lot of published advice about taking a posting here.

Source: Bangladesh Railway project reporting

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving without an IDP and discovering you cannot obtain one here.
Negotiating a car allowance for a city where easy-bikes cover everything.
Driving to Dhaka rather than taking the train via the Padma bridge.
Planning coastal field travel from a map rather than from a phone call the day before.
Continuing field travel after the higher cyclone signals go up.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.