Family-friendly places

Places that work for a family day out, including the ones children enjoy most.

Bagbazar

Mayer Bari (Udbodhan House): The house where Sarada Devi lived, kept as a shrine.

Sovabazar

Sovabazar Rajbari: The palace of Raja Nabakrishna Deb, and a Durga Puja kept since 1757.
Ahiritola Ghat: A neighbourhood ferry ghat with boats across to Howrah.

Hatibagan

Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy: Sandesh specialists since 1844, sold through a grille in a side lane.

Maniktala

Pareshnath Jain Temple: A garden of four Jain temples glittering with mirror-work and coloured glass.

Belgachia

Belgachia Digambar Jain Temple: A red-and-white Jain temple in a quiet garden near the metro.

Jorasanko & Chitpur

Jorasanko Thakur Bari: The house where Rabindranath Tagore was born and died.
Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: The restored house where Narendranath Datta was born in 1863.
Royal Indian Hotel: A 1905 Mughlai restaurant known for mutton chaap and biryani.

College Street

College Square: A tank ringed by colleges where the city learns to swim.
Paramount: A sherbet shop from 1918 with marble tables and a famous daab sherbet.

Bowbazar & Old Chinatown

Bhim Chandra Nag: An 1826 sweet shop, home of the ledikeni.

Entally

Mother House: Where Mother Teresa lived, worked and is buried.

BBD Bagh (Dalhousie)

General Post Office: A domed post office on the site of the first Fort William.

Esplanade & New Market

New Market (Hogg Market): A Victorian market hall of 1874 with a clock tower.
Nizam’s: The restaurant credited with inventing the kathi roll.
Aminia: A 1929 Mughlai house for Kolkata biryani and mutton pasinda.
K.C. Das: The rosogolla family’s shop at Esplanade.
Kolkata Tram: The last tramway in India, running since 1873.
Kolkata Yellow Taxi: The yellow Ambassador cab, as much a symbol of the city as Howrah Bridge.
Under-the-Hooghly Metro Ride: Ride India’s first metro under a river, from Esplanade to Howrah.

Park Street

Park Street: The city’s dining street, and its Christmas street.
Flurys: The 1927 tea room on Park Street.
Shiraz Golden Restaurant: A 1941 biryani house at the Mullick Bazar crossing.
Indian Museum: India’s oldest and largest museum, founded in 1814.

Maidan & Chowringhee

Victoria Memorial: The white-marble memorial museum and its gardens.
St Paul’s Cathedral: The Gothic Revival cathedral beside the Maidan, consecrated in 1847.
Birla Planetarium: A domed planetarium of 1963, modelled on the Sanchi stupa.
The Maidan: The great open ground at the centre of the city.
Eden Gardens: The cricket ground, and the old garden with a Burmese pagoda beside it.
Nehru Children’s Museum: The Ramayana and Mahabharata told in miniature clay models.

Bhawanipur

Netaji Bhawan: The house from which Subhas Chandra Bose made his great escape.
Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick: A Bhawanipur sweet shop since 1885, known for baked rosogolla and nolen gur sweets.

Kalighat

Kalighat Kali Temple: One of the 51 Shakti Peeths, and the shrine the city is said to be named after.
Lake Market: A neighbourhood market with a South Indian flavour.

Alipore

Alipore Zoological Garden: India’s oldest formally established zoo, opened in 1875.
Alipore Jail Museum: The old central jail, where freedom fighters were held, turned into a museum.
Agri-Horticultural Society Gardens: A walled garden founded by William Carey’s society, known for winter flower shows.

New Alipore

Suruchi Sangha Durga Puja: New Alipore’s award-winning theme puja.

Ballygunge & Gariahat

Birla Mandir: A white-marble temple on Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue, lit at night.
Birla Industrial & Technological Museum: India’s first science museum, with a walk-in coal mine.
Gariahat: South Kolkata’s shopping crossroads for saris and pavement bargains.
Maddox Square: A neighbourhood park famous for the adda at its Durga Puja.

Lake Gardens & Southern Avenue

Rabindra Sarobar: A 73-acre lake ringed by trees: South Kolkata’s morning walk.

Dhakuria

Dakshinapan: An open-air court of state handloom and handicraft emporia.

Patuli

Patuli Floating Market: A market on boats moored in a lake by the Bypass.

Kasba

Bosepukur Sitala Mandir Durga Puja: The Kasba puja that built a pandal from clay tea cups.

Barisha

Barisha Aatchala: The pillared courtyard where a Durga Puja has been held since 1610.

Thakurpukur & Joka

BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir: A large carved-stone temple on Diamond Harbour Road beyond Joka.

Tangra (Chinatown)

Tangra Chinatown: The Hakka Chinese quarter where Indian Chinese food was shaped.
Science City: One of the largest science centres in the subcontinent.

Beliaghata

Subhas Sarobar: East Kolkata’s big lake and park.

Salt Lake (Bidhannagar)

Central Park (Banabitan): Salt Lake’s big wooded park round a lake.
Nicco Park: The city’s original amusement park, open since 1991.
Nalban Boating Complex: A wide lake for boating at the edge of Sector V.
Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre: The government cultural centre for eastern India, with craft fairs and performances.

New Town

Eco Park: A 480-acre park round a lake, with gardens, cycling and replicas of the world’s wonders.
Mother’s Wax Museum: A wax museum opposite Eco Park.
Biswa Bangla Gate: A steel arch over the main road with a viewing gallery in a hanging ring.

Rajarhat

Aquatica: A water park at Kochpukur, Rajarhat.

Lake Town & Bangur

Sreebhumi Sporting Club Durga Puja: The Lake Town puja famous for giant replica pandals.

Dakshineswar

Dakshineswar Kali Temple: Rani Rashmoni’s nine-spired temple on the Hooghly, where Sri Ramakrishna lived.
Adyapeath: A white temple of Adya Ma with three images set one above another.

Baranagar & Cossipore

Cossipore Udyanbati: The garden house where Sri Ramakrishna spent his last months.

Titagarh

Annapurna Temple, Chanak: Dakshineswar’s near-twin, built in 1875 by Rani Rashmoni’s daughter.

Barrackpore

Gandhi Ghat: A riverside memorial where Gandhi’s ashes were immersed.
Mangal Pandey Park: A riverside garden in memory of the sepoy of 1857.

Strand Road & the Ghats

Hooghly Ferry Crossing: The commuter ferry between Howrah station and the city’s ghats.
Millennium Park: A landscaped riverside park along Strand Road.
Prinsep Ghat: A Palladian pavilion by the river, under the Vidyasagar Setu.

Howrah & the West Bank

Rail Museum, Howrah: Old locomotives and a toy train beside Howrah station.
Indian Botanic Garden: A 1787 garden at Shibpur, home of the Great Banyan.
Belur Math: The headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, on the west bank.

More ways to explore Kolkata

Last checked on 2026-10-02. Each place was checked to exist and its position confirmed. Timings, closing days and ticket prices are shown only where known and can change: confirm before you travel.