Munshiganj, Dhaka
The Padma riverside at the northern end of the Padma Bridge, famous for its fried-hilsa restaurants and wide views of the great river.
For decades Mawa ghat was where travellers from Dhaka boarded ferries, launches and speedboats across the Padma to the south-west. The waiting crowds created a famous food culture: riverside restaurants frying fresh hilsa straight from the boats.
In 2022 the Padma Bridge opened, carrying road and rail across the river from Mawa to Janjira. The ferry crowds have thinned, but the bridge itself has become a sight, and people still come from Dhaka for the river views and the hilsa.
Standing on the bank, the Padma is so wide that on a hazy day the far shore disappears — one of the great river views of Bangladesh, an hour from the capital.
Take a late-morning bus from Jatrabari along the Dhaka–Mawa expressway.
Walk the riverside restaurants, pick a fish and agree the price.
Eat fried hilsa with rice, roe and begun bhaji looking out over the Padma.
Walk the bank for views of the Padma Bridge, then head back to Dhaka before evening.
August to October for hilsa; November to February for calm, clear days by the river
Mawa is on the Dhaka–Mawa expressway, about an hour by bus from Jatrabari in Dhaka. From Munshiganj town, go by CNG or local bus via Sreenagar, about an hour; ask for Mawa ghat.
Walk along the riverbank between the restaurants. Small boats and trawlers may offer short river trips; check safety and agree the price first.
