Offbeat West Bengal
Quieter destinations that most travellers pass by: villages, small heritage towns and lesser-known forests.
- Chandraketugarh: A buried city more than two thousand years old. (about 40 km from Kolkata, nearest station Harua Road)
- Antpur: Terracotta, and the vow of Vivekananda. (about 50 km from Kolkata, nearest station Haripal)
- Deulti & Samtaber: Sarat Chandra’s house by the Rupnarayan. (about 60 km from Kolkata, nearest station Deulti)
- Guptipara: Where Bengal’s community puja began. (about 80 km from Kolkata, nearest station Guptipara)
- Parmadan Forest: A riverside deer forest named for Bibhutibhushan. (about 100 km from Kolkata, nearest station Bongaon Junction)
- Tamluk & Mahishadal: An ancient port and a rajbari with a museum. (about 100 km from Kolkata, nearest station Tamluk or Mahishadal)
- Mousuni Island: Tents on a quiet delta beach. (about 125 km from Kolkata, nearest station Namkhana)
- Naya, Pingla: The village of singing scroll painters. (about 130 km from Kolkata, nearest station Balichak)
- Purbasthali (Chupi Char): An oxbow lake full of winter birds. (about 130 km from Kolkata, nearest station Purbasthali)
- Jhargram & Kankrajhore: Sal forests and a royal town in the west. (about 170 km from Kolkata, nearest station Jhargram)
- Gongoni: A red-earth gorge on the Shilabati. (about 170 km from Kolkata, nearest station Garbeta)
- Mughalmari & Kurumbera: A sixth-century monastery and a fifteenth-century fort. (about 180 km from Kolkata, nearest station Dantan or Kharagpur)
- Jaydev Kenduli: The Baul fair on the Ajay. (about 180 km from Kolkata, nearest station Bolpur Shantiniketan or Durgapur)
- Susunia & Bikna: A forested hill, an ancient inscription and a dokra village. (about 220 km from Kolkata, nearest station Chhatna or Bankura)
- Bakreshwar: Hot springs and a Shiva temple. (about 220 km from Kolkata, nearest station Siuri)
- Azimganj & Jiaganj: Twin river towns of merchant mansions and Jain temples. (about 230 km from Kolkata, nearest station Azimganj Junction or Jiaganj)
- Garh Panchkot & Joychandi: A ruined fort under a hill, and Ray’s rocky skyline. (about 250 km from Kolkata, nearest station Asansol, Adra or Joychandi Pahar)
- Purulia: Chhau dance, red earth and the Ayodhya hills. (about 300 km from Kolkata, nearest station Purulia Junction)
- Malda: Gaur & Pandua: Ruined medieval capitals of Bengal. (about 330 km from Kolkata, nearest station Malda Town)
- Kulik Bird Sanctuary: One of Asia’s great stork colonies. (about 400 km from Kolkata, nearest station Raiganj)
- Tinchuley, Takdah & Lamahatta: Homestay villages among tea and pine. (about 640 km from Kolkata, nearest station New Jalpaiguri)
- Samsing & Suntalekhola: Tea gardens climbing into forest. (about 640 km from Kolkata, nearest station New Mal Junction)
- Sandakphu & Singalila: West Bengal's highest point (about 3,600 m). (about 650 km from Kolkata, nearest station New Jalpaiguri)
- Lava, Lolegaon & Rishop: Forest villages with homestays and mountain views. (about 660 km from Kolkata, nearest station New Jalpaiguri or New Mal Junction)
- Chilapata Forest: Dense forest with a ruined fort inside it. (about 690 km from Kolkata, nearest station Hasimara)
- Buxa Tiger Reserve & Jayanti: Forest, a hill-top fort and a river on the Bhutan border. (about 700 km from Kolkata, nearest station Alipurduar Junction)
- Cooch Behar: A princely state and its European-style palace. (about 700 km from Kolkata, nearest station New Cooch Behar)
Distances are approximate road figures from central Kolkata.