Kolkata
A Company trading post of 1690 on three river villages became a colonial capital, a printing and reform powerhouse, and then a city that kept the buildings and changed the argument.
1690
Company post
Job Charnock settles the riverbank.
1772
Capital
Seat of British India for 139 years.
1828
Renaissance
Bengal's reform movement takes hold.
1911
Capital moves
The court departs for Delhi.
3 days in Kolkata
Day 1 — The Maidan and Park Street
- Morning
- Victoria Memorial when the galleries open at 10am: the Calcutta Gallery's paintings and maps of the early city, then a loop of the gardens. Walk across to St Paul's Cathedral, finished in 1847, with its Burne-Jones west window.Victoria Memorial
- Lunch
- Flurys on Park Street, the 1927 tearoom, for an English breakfast or rum balls and pastries.Flurys
- Afternoon
- South Park Street Cemetery, opened in 1767, a ten-minute walk down the same street — moss-covered pyramids, obelisks and the grave of William Jones, founder of the Asiatic Society.South Park Street Cemetery
- Dinner
- Park Street's old restaurants: chelo kebab at Peter Cat or deviled crab and sizzlers at Mocambo.Peter Cat · Mocambo
- Evening
- Sunset at Prinsep Ghat, the 1843 Palladian memorial on the river, with Vidyasagar Setu lit up behind it. End with live music at Trincas.Prinsep Ghat · Trincas
Good to knowVictoria Memorial's galleries and the Indian Museum are closed on Mondays. Peter Cat takes no reservations, so arrive before 7:30pm or expect a queue.
Day 2 — North Kolkata and the Tagores
- Morning
- Dawn at Mullick Ghat flower market under Howrah Bridge, then on to Kumartuli, where idol-makers shape clay gods by hand in the riverside lanes. Stop at Shovabazar Rajbari, the 1757 mansion whose Durga Puja Clive attended.Mullick Ghat flower market · Kumartuli · Shovabazar Rajbari
- Lunch
- Kosha mangsho and luchi at Golbari in Shyambazar, or fish kabiraji at Mitra Cafe, open since 1910.Golbari · Mitra Cafe
- Afternoon
- Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the Tagore family house where Rabindranath was born and died, now a museum of the Bengal Renaissance. Then the Marble Palace's statues, chandeliers and European paintings nearby.Jorasanko Thakur Bari · Marble Palace
- Dinner
- Mutton biryani with the Kolkata potato at Arsalan in Park Circus.Arsalan
- Evening
- Sandesh at Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy on the way home, if it is still open.
Good to knowKumartuli is busiest — and most rewarding — in the six weeks before Durga Puja (September–October). The Marble Palace is closed on Mondays and Thursdays and does not allow photography. Visiting during Puja? See the Durga Puja pandal-hopping card.
Day 3 — Dalhousie and College Street
- Morning
- A walk around Dalhousie Square (BBD Bagh): the red Writers' Building, the GPO on the site of the old Fort William, and St John's Church, 1787, with Job Charnock's mausoleum in its graveyard.Dalhousie Square · St John's Church
- Lunch
- Coffee, mutton cutlet and adda at the Indian Coffee House on College Street, in the first-floor hall it has occupied since 1942.Indian Coffee House
- Afternoon
- The College Street book market around Presidency University and Calcutta University, then a sherbet at Paramount, serving since 1918, and Lady Kenny sweets at Bhim Chandra Nag in Bowbazar, founded 1826.College Street book market · Paramount · Bhim Chandra Nag
- Dinner
- Bengali dishes at Bhojohori Manna — chingri malai curry, bhetki paturi and mochar ghonto.Bhojohori Manna
- Evening
- A ride on the heritage tram from Esplanade, if it is running, or a walk past the lit-up Esplanade and Metro cinema.
Good to knowMost College Street bookstalls are shut on Sundays. The tram network is being cut back, so check whether the Esplanade heritage service is running before you go.