How to cross the Petrapole/Benapole border between India and Bangladesh

This post is based on our experience crossing the India (Petrapole) to Bangladesh (Benapole) border, in both directions.

From our research (and failed attempt) crossing the Changrabandha border from Bangladesh back to India in March 2024, it seems like foreigners (other than some SAARC country nationals) can only cross by road between India and Bangladesh at the Petrapole/Benapole border.

So, if you ever wondered how to get from India to Bangladesh and back again by road, then read on.

Before you go

Make sure that your nationality is eligible for the Visa on Arrival in Bangladesh before heading to the border. Furthermore, if you’re planning to get the VOA, you can’t take the train that goes from Kolkata to Dhaka. To do that, you need to get yourself a Bangladesh visa ahead of time.

If you’re planning to return to India, then you obviously need a dual/multiple entry visa for India.

There are plenty of money-changers in Petrapole. All the bus companies and other offices change money: know the rate before you exchange.

There’s a half hour time change between India and Bangladesh. The border is open for crossing during the daytime (it’s not 24/7). As with any other border-crossing day, just get an early start.

The route

You can get from Kolkata (India) all the way to Dhaka (Bangladesh) in one very long day. You can book a bus all the way through. However this could be risky if you are planning to get a VOA in Bangladesh, since it takes up to an hour extra to process the visa and the bus might leave from the border without you.

Kolkata to Petrapole

Buses leave from Marquis street (close to Sudder street) starting from five am until noon. Green Line, Shyamoli, and Saint Martin bus company offices are close together and all run buses regularly with four departures – you can go the day before to check on exact timings. We didn’t book anything, we just showed up and got tickets. It cost 350 rupees per person.

The bus takes around three and a half hours and goes all the way to within walking distance of the border.

Or, you can take the local train (20 rupees) going from Sealdah railway station to Bangaon Junction. From there, you can jump in a shared rickshaw to Petrapole, about twenty minutes.

In Petrapole where the buses stop you can change money in any bus company office before walking the short distance to immigration. Do make sure to bring some taka (Bangladesh currency) with you, since you’ll need it immediately on the other side.

Crossing the border

When we crossed the border there were no long queues. It took us about one and a half hours to get through, it will just depend on queues that day, VOAs, if the server is down…and so on.

Departing India, the officer asked if we had confirmed with the Bangladesh side that we could get the VOA. We knew our nationalities were eligible so we just said yes. He stamped our passports and we walked through the usual luggage and customs checks.

On Bangladesh’s side there was a bit of waiting around despite it being only us. The visa on arrival costs 51 USD and you should try to pay it exactly – in cash, of course. You’ll have to fill out a short form with the usual basic questions. There are two things they want:

• A hotel booking for some logical destination in Bangladesh. We were just going to write down a hotel name and phone number, but that was not enough. The official demanded a confirmation. Luckily we had contacted a hotel by WhatsApp and asked the rate, and the officer accepted a screenprint of this WhatsApp conversation. Save yourself the bother and bring a printed (or screenprinted) booking confirmation (even if you just make the booking and cancel it right afterwards).
• A return ticket. The officer requested a return flight/bus/train ticket. We had no such thing and just showed him our India visas, which are multiple entry so that’s fine too. If you don’t have an India visa, then I’d assume you better have proof of onward travel somewhere else.

After the visa formalities we went to the regular passport counter to get stamped, and then walked out of the building with a quick baggage check on the way. Out in the main ‘Arrivals’ area there is a tourist info desk (which has very little info available), and after that, immediately outside, is a very perfunctory customs check.

Too easy! Welcome to Bangladesh!

Benapole to Dhaka (or Khulna)

Right out the door and people started accosting us for buses and taxis. Just head out into the busy street and to the left, you find bus companies with plenty of destinations and departures available. There are tons of buses parked across the road from the company counters. The trip from Benapole to Dhaka takes about six to seven hours.

Driving through Benapole we saw ATMs and hotels and guesthouses you could stay at if you want to break up the journey.

Rather than heading straight to Dhaka, we went from the border to Khulna. That bus took about three hours and cost 300 taka. For us this worked really well – it’s closer and makes for a shorter day. Khulna is nice, and relatively lowkey. From Khulna, we eventually took a launch (riverboat) to Dhaka and that makes a great trip and I think an easier arrival into Dhaka (or Bangladesh, in general).

Coming back – Bangladesh to India

If this is the first time you’re entering India (i.e. you started your trip in Bangladesh) – then you need the sticker visa for India in your passport as you can’t activate the Indian e-visa entering by road the first time. If you’re entering India the first time (this trip) with an e-visa, you need to fly.

It took us twelve hours to travel back to India, from Dhaka to Kolkata. We took a bus from Dhaka’s Gabtoli bus station to Navaron. The trip took six to seven hours and cost 700 taka. From Navaron you can take a rickshaw or a public bus the last ten kilometers to Benapole. The bus will dump you a couple of kilometers from the border itself so you might need one more rickshaw ride.

From Dhaka there are also night busses going directly to Kolkata from Arambagh bus counter. Those take about twelve hours including the border itself.

Processing the border was pretty quick on both sides, apart from long queues at Indian immigration. We got through around five pm and out into the street in Petrapole. None of the bus companies were running to Kolkata. However, local trains run from nearby Bangaon Junction to Sealdah station (Kolkata). First you take a shared rickshaw from Petrapole to Bangaon Junction for fifty rupees per person, about twenty minutes. Straight inside the station you can buy a ticket for twenty rupees and board the train. It’s about two and a half hours to Sealdah.

How NOT to cross the Changrabandha border

From our research (and failed attempt) crossing the Changrabandha border from Bangladesh back to India in March 2024, it seems like foreigners (other than some SAARC country nationals) can only cross by road between India and Bangladesh at the Petrapole/Benapole border.

So don’t be like us and travel all the way north from Rangpur to Changrabandha, only to get turned back. The Bangladesh officers did let us go as far as the BSF immigration post to pester reconfirm with a disgruntled officer on India’s side. It doesn’t matter if you have the sticker visa (or activated e-visa) with dual or multiple entry for India – this border is closed to foreigners no matter what. Our Bangladesh e-Sim ran out of data and we were also out of taka. The only silver lining in all this was that we were close enough to India at this point that my Indian sim started working and we could get online and start our alternate plans.

In case you happen to be there already (I hope not for your sake), night buses run to Dhaka. We spent twelve hours overnight on the bus to Dhaka and then carried on in the morning from Gabtoli station, to Benapole.

One last thing…

There’s a tiny little stadium in the middle of the Petrapole/Benapole border, you’ll walk right through it in either direction. Apparently they do a ‘Beating a retreat’ border closing show here, like they do at the Attari/Wagah border between India and Pakistan. I assume it’s on a much smaller scale since we were in the vicinity around closing time and did not hear any exuberant screaming and chanting ‘Hindustan Zindabad!’ like you get at the Wagah border show. But if I happened to be on either side for the night I’d definitely check that out.

Read More

For more about travelling in these two countries and things to see and do while you’re at it, check out my stories about Bangladesh and India.