Chattogram to Cox's Bazar by car with a driver

The route runs south from Chattogram through Patiya, Chakaria and Ramu. The busiest section is around Chakaria, and the last stretch into Cox's Bazar can be slow in peak season.

Four to five hours is normal. In the Eid and winter holiday peaks, allow more.

This is a long enough journey with children that vehicle choice matters. A microbus or 7-seat MPV with proper luggage space is worth the difference over a saloon.

Tell us your hotel and its area, not just Cox's Bazar — accommodation is spread along a long stretch of coast. See Cox's Bazar.

Most people book this route to reach a hotel, and then discover that the best of the coast is south of the town rather than in it. The Marine Drive road runs along the shoreline towards Himchari, Inani and on towards Teknaf, with the sea on one side and hills on the other for most of its length.

There is no useful public transport along it. A car and driver for a half day or a full day is the practical way to see it, and the light late in the afternoon is the reason to time it that way rather than going in the middle of the day.

If that is part of your plan, say so when you book the transfer. Keeping the same vehicle and driver for the days you are on the coast is usually simpler and better value than arranging separately once you have arrived — see tourist transport.

For a sense of the shape of it: the first hour out of Chattogram is the easiest, the middle around Chakaria is the slowest, and the final approach into Cox's Bazar is entirely dependent on the season. Outside peak the last stretch is quick; during Eid and the winter holidays it is the part of the journey that turns four hours into five or six.