Things to do in Rajshahi

Culture · Near Shaheb Bazar, central Rajshahi

Established in 1910 and the oldest museum in Bangladesh, holding sculpture, coins, manuscripts and archaeological material from the Varendra region, now under the University of Rajshahi.

Local tip: Small, serious and almost empty on a weekday — the opposite of a national museum experience. The Hindu and Buddhist stone sculpture from the Pala and Sena periods is the reason to come and is genuinely first-rate.

Nature · Southern edge of the city, along the river

The riverside promenade and gardens along the Padma, where the city walks, eats and watches the sunset over the water toward India.

Local tip: Go at dusk, which is when the whole city is there. In the dry season the river retreats a long way and sandbars appear — a completely different landscape from the monsoon, and both are worth seeing.

Landmark · Puthia, about 30 km east on the Dhaka road

The densest cluster of historic Hindu temples in Bangladesh — a raja's palace and a group of terracotta-ornamented temples around a tank.

Local tip: The terracotta panels are the point and they reward close looking rather than a walk-through. Combine it with Bagha Mosque further east if you are making a day of it; both are easy from the city and neither is ever crowded.

Landmark · Bagha, about 45 km southeast

An early-sixteenth-century mosque famous for the depth and quality of its terracotta ornament, set beside a large tank.

Local tip: One of the finest surviving pieces of pre-Mughal Bengali brick architecture and almost unvisited by foreigners. Morning light on the east facade is the best time.

Neighborhood · Motihar, east of the centre

One of the largest and greenest university campuses in the country — wide lawns, mature trees, the Shaheed Smriti Sangraha Shala and the city's intellectual centre.

Local tip: The campus is effectively Rajshahi's largest park and is open to walk. Early morning is when the city's runners and the students who study outdoors are there, and it is the fastest way to meet English-speaking locals.

Culture · Around the city, with the Sericulture Board complex as the starting point

Reeling, weaving and finishing workshops producing the region's silk, alongside the state sericulture institutions that train and supply them.

Local tip: Buy from a workshop rather than a shop on the main road and you will pay less for better cloth and see it being made. Ask about mulberry cultivation while you are there — the whole chain from leaf to loom exists within a few kilometres of the city, which is unusual anywhere.