Places to visit in Kolkata

164 places across Kolkata and the towns around it, each checked to exist and be open to the public. Every page says how to get there, when to go, how long to allow and whether photography is allowed. Opening hours and ticket prices are only given where they are known.

By interest

Walks

Old North Kolkata Walk: From the five-point crossing to the potters’ ghat
College Street Book Trail: Books, coffee and a hundred-year-old sherbet
Kumartuli Art Trail: Clay, river and the Bagbazar of Ramakrishna
Riverfront Trail: Prinsep Ghat to Howrah Bridge along the Hooghly
Colonial Kolkata Walk: Dalhousie Square, the capital of British India
Bengal Renaissance Trail: Tagore, Vivekananda and the streets that shaped modern Bengal
Many Faiths Walk: A cathedral, two synagogues, an Armenian church and a great mosque
Food Heritage Trail: Chinese breakfast to biryani, by way of ledikeni and rosogolla
Old Chinatown Exploration: Clan temples, brick barracks and a Kali for a Portuguese poet
South Kolkata Cultural Trail: Temple town to the lake
Behala Heritage Trail: Older than Calcutta
Baranagar Riverside Trail: A garden house, a first monastery and a Dutch ghat
Barrackpore Heritage Trail: Rashmoni’s daughter’s temple and Gandhi’s river

North Kolkata

Where the city began

Kumartuli

Kumartuli: The lanes where the city’s gods are made from river clay.
Kumartuli Ghat: The potters’ own ghat on the Hooghly.

Bagbazar

Bagbazar Ghat: A wide northern ghat with a long view down the river.
Mayer Bari (Udbodhan House): The house where Sarada Devi lived, kept as a shrine.
Balaram Mandir: The house where the Ramakrishna Mission was founded in 1897.
Sister Nivedita’s House: The lane house where an Irish woman opened a school for girls in 1898.

Shyambazar

Shyambazar Five-Point Crossing: Netaji on horseback, where five roads meet.
Golbari: The round-fronted corner shop known for dark, slow-cooked kosha mangsho.

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.
Mitra Cafe: A tiny cabin serving cutlets, kabiraji and brain chop since 1920.

Hatibagan

Hatibagan Market: North Kolkata’s pavement market for saris, clothes and everything else.
Star Theatre: The most famous stage of the Bengali public theatre.
Minerva Theatre: An 1893 playhouse on Beadon Street that still stages plays.
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.
Maniktala Market: A clock-tower market famous for its fish.

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.
Marble Palace: A merchant prince’s mansion crammed with European art.
Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: The restored house where Narendranath Datta was born in 1863.
Nakhoda Masjid: The city’s principal mosque, in red sandstone.
Zakaria Street: The kebab-and-haleem street beside Nakhoda Masjid.
Royal Indian Hotel: A 1905 Mughlai restaurant known for mutton chaap and biryani.
Chitpur Road (Rabindra Sarani): The oldest road in the city, lined with trades that survive nowhere else.

College Street

Thanthania Kalibari: A small, very old Kali temple on Bidhan Sarani.
College Street (Boi Para): A kilometre of book stalls between the city’s oldest colleges.
Indian Coffee House: The high-ceilinged hall where Bengal’s writers and students argue over coffee.
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.
Favourite Cabin: A 1918 tea cabin where revolutionaries and poets met.
Asutosh Museum of Indian Art: The first university museum in India, devoted to the art of eastern India.
Maha Bodhi Society Temple: A Buddhist vihara on College Square, built in 1920.

Central Kolkata

The colonial core and its many communities

Bowbazar & Old Chinatown

Tiretta Bazaar Chinese Breakfast: Momos, pork buns and fish-ball soup sold on the pavement at dawn.
Sea Ip Church: A Chinese clan temple from 1905, called a church.
Toong On Church: A red-brick Chinese temple that once housed the city’s first Chinese restaurant.
Bow Barracks: A lane of red-brick blocks, home to an Anglo-Indian community and its Christmas.
Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha: The 1892 monastery that gave Buddhist Temple Street its name.
Firingi Kalibari: The Kali temple linked to a Portuguese-descended poet of Bengali song.
Bhim Chandra Nag: An 1826 sweet shop, home of the ledikeni.

Burrabazar

Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth: The oldest church in the city, built by Armenian merchants in 1724.
Magen David Synagogue: A red-brick synagogue of 1884 with a tall clock spire.
Beth El Synagogue: An 1856 synagogue on Pollock Street.
Portuguese Church: The Catholic cathedral, founded in 1799 for the Portuguese community.
Mullick Ghat Flower Market: A vast wholesale flower market under Howrah Bridge.

Sealdah

Koley Market: The wholesale vegetable market beside Sealdah station.

Entally

Mother House: Where Mother Teresa lived, worked and is buried.
St James’ Church (Jora Girja): The twin-spired Gothic church that Kolkata calls Jora Girja.

BBD Bagh (Dalhousie)

BBD Bagh & Lal Dighi: The tank and square at the centre of the colonial capital.
General Post Office: A domed post office on the site of the first Fort William.
St John’s Church: A 1787 church whose garden holds the tomb of Job Charnock.
St Andrew’s Church: The 1818 Scottish church with a tall white spire.
Old Mission Church: The oldest Protestant church in the city, founded in 1770.
Metcalfe Hall: A colonnaded hall of the 1840s facing the river.
Currency Building: An Italianate banking hall of 1833, rescued from demolition.

Esplanade & New Market

Dacres Lane: The office district’s lunch alley.
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.
Shaheed Minar: A 48-metre column of 1828 at the edge of the Maidan.
Tipu Sultan Mosque: A many-domed mosque built by Tipu Sultan’s son in the 1840s.
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.
Oxford Bookstore: A Park Street bookshop that has been open since 1920.
South Park Street Cemetery: A walled garden of obelisks and pyramids, opened in 1767.
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.
Academy of Fine Arts: Galleries and the stage that is the home of Bengali group theatre.
Nandan & Rabindra Sadan: The state film centre and concert hall, heart of the city’s cultural evening.
The Maidan: The great open ground at the centre of the city.
Maidan Football Grounds: The club grounds where Indian football grew up.
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.

South Kolkata

Lakes, galleries and evening adda

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.
Balwant Singh’s Eating House: A Punjabi dhaba from 1926 that serves tea from before dawn.
Sri Aurobindo Bhavan: The garden house where Sri Aurobindo was born in 1872.

Kalighat

Kalighat Kali Temple: One of the 51 Shakti Peeths, and the shrine the city is said to be named after.
Kalighat Patuapara: The south’s own idol-makers’ lane, near the temple.
Greek Orthodox Church: A Doric temple-fronted church of the 1920s, beside the Kalighat tram depot.
Lake Market: A neighbourhood market with a South Indian flavour.

Alipore

Alipore Zoological Garden: India’s oldest formally established zoo, opened in 1875.
National Library of India: The country’s largest library, in the grounds of Belvedere House.
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.

Kidderpore

Bhukailash Temples: Twin Shiva temples of 1781 beside a tank, hidden in Kidderpore.

Garden Reach & Metiabruz

Sibtainabad Imambara: The tomb of Wajid Ali Shah, the exiled last Nawab of Awadh.

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.
Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture: A cultural institute at Golpark with a library, a museum and evening talks.
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.
Birla Academy of Art & Culture: An art museum and galleries on Southern Avenue.
Lake Kalibari: A much-loved Kali temple on Southern Avenue, founded in 1949.

Dhakuria

Japanese Buddhist Temple: A small white temple by the lake where a drum is beaten at dawn and dusk.
Dakshinapan: An open-air court of state handloom and handicraft emporia.

Tollygunge

Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Statue: Tollygunge’s tribute to the greatest star of Bengali cinema.
Karunamoyee Kali Temple, Tollygunge: A 1760 temple of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family beside Tolly’s Nullah.

Jadavpur

Jadavpur 8B & Coffee House: Student street food and a branch of the Coffee House by the university gate.

Garia

Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary: A 17-acre patch of dense orchard forest at Narendrapur, full of birds and butterflies.
Boral & Tripura Sundari Temple: The village of Pather Panchali, with an old goddess temple.

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.

Behala & Southwest

Older than Calcutta itself

Behala

State Archaeological Museum: West Bengal’s own archaeology museum, on Diamond Harbour Road.

Barisha

Sabarna Sangrahashala: The family museum of the zamindars who once held Calcutta.
Barisha Aatchala: The pillared courtyard where a Durga Puja has been held since 1610.
Dwadash Shiva Temples, Barisha: Twelve Shiva temples in two rows beside a tank.

Thakurpukur & Joka

Gurusaday Museum: A museum of Bengal’s folk art: kantha, scrolls, dolls and terracotta.
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir: A large carved-stone temple on Diamond Harbour Road beyond Joka.

Budge Budge & Achipur

Achipur Chinese Temple: Where India’s Chinese community began, on the river near Budge Budge.
Komagata Maru Memorial: The memorial at Budge Budge to the passengers shot in 1914.

East Kolkata

Chinatown, wetlands and the Bypass

Tangra (Chinatown)

Tangra Chinatown: The Hakka Chinese quarter where Indian Chinese food was shaped.
Chinese Kali Temple: A Kali temple run by Tangra’s Chinese community, with noodles as prasad.
Science City: One of the largest science centres in the subcontinent.
East Kolkata Wetlands: A Ramsar wetland of fish ponds that cleans the city’s waste water.

Beliaghata

Gandhi Bhawan (Hyderi Manzil): The house where Gandhi fasted to stop the riots of 1947.
Subhas Sarobar: East Kolkata’s big lake and park.

Salt Lake

The planned township

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.
Salt Lake Stadium: The giant football stadium that hosts the Kolkata derby.
Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre: The government cultural centre for eastern India, with craft fairs and performances.

New Town & Rajarhat

The newest Kolkata

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.
Rabindra Tirtha: New Town’s cultural centre devoted to Tagore.
Nazrul Tirtha: A striking concrete cultural centre named for Kazi Nazrul Islam.
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.

Dum Dum & Lake Town

The north-eastern suburbs

Lake Town & Bangur

Lake Town Clock Tower: A 30-metre replica of London’s Big Ben on VIP Road.
Sreebhumi Sporting Club Durga Puja: The Lake Town puja famous for giant replica pandals.

Dum Dum

Clive House: One of the oldest buildings around Kolkata, on a mound in Dum Dum.

Baranagar & Dakshineswar

In the footsteps of Ramakrishna

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.
Baranagar Math: The site of the first monastery of the Ramakrishna Order.
Kuthi Ghat: Baranagar’s old riverside ghat, named for the Dutch factory that stood here.
Kripamayee Kali Temple: A nine-spired riverside Kali temple of 1848, older than Dakshineswar.

BT Road to Barrackpore

Old river towns up the east bank

Sodepur

Khadi Pratisthan, Sodepur: The ashram Gandhi called his second home.

Panihati

Mahotsavtala Ghat, Panihati: The riverside banyan where the Chida-Dahi festival has been held for five centuries.

Khardah

Shyamsundar Temple, Khardah: The Vaishnav heart of Khardah, the town of Nityananda.
Twenty-six Shiva Temples, Khardah: Twenty-six aatchala temples round one courtyard near the river.

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.
Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: A museum of Gandhi’s life and his work in Bengal.
Mangal Pandey Park: A riverside garden in memory of the sepoy of 1857.

Hooghly Riverfront & Howrah

The river that made the city

Strand Road & the Ghats

Howrah Bridge: The cantilever bridge that is the city’s emblem.
Hooghly Ferry Crossing: The commuter ferry between Howrah station and the city’s ghats.
Armenian Ghat: A ghat built by an Armenian merchant in 1734.
Millennium Park: A landscaped riverside park along Strand Road.
Babughat: A colonnaded ghat of 1830, built by Rani Rashmoni in her husband’s memory.
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.
Santragachi Jheel: A lake beside a railway station that fills with migratory ducks each winter.
Belur Math: The headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, on the west bank.