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Capital of British India until 1911, Kolkata still wears its imperial past openly, in marble memorials, Gothic churches and faded mansions along streets busy with trams, rickshaws and yellow taxis. Renamed from Calcutta in 2001, it is the capital of West Bengal and the cultural heart of eastern India.
This is the city of Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray and generations of poets, and its love of words shows on College Street, lined with bookstalls. Victoria Memorial rises from its gardens beside the Maidan, the Indian Museum is the oldest in the country, and the Howrah Bridge carries a ceaseless stream of people and traffic over the Hooghly River.
Faith runs deep, from the Kali temples at Kalighat and Dakshineswar to the Mother House of Mother Teresa. Bengali food is a highlight, especially fish curries, kathi rolls and sweets such as rosogolla and mishti doi. Durga Puja in autumn is the city's great festival, when elaborate pandals transform every neighbourhood.
Completed in 1921 in memory of Queen Victoria, the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata is a vast white marble hall in landscaped gardens beside the Maidan, blending European classical and Mughal design. Galleries trace the city's history through paintings and documents. Mornings in the gardens are lovely.
Opened in 1943, Howrah Bridge is a massive steel cantilever bridge over the Hooghly linking Kolkata with Howrah station, carrying an endless flow of people, buses and handcarts. Officially named Rabindra Setu, it is the city's most famous symbol. Walk across, or view it from a river ferry.
Prinsep Ghat is a Palladian memorial built in the 1840s to honour the scholar James Prinsep on the bank of the Hooghly in Kolkata, beneath the cables of Vidyasagar Setu. Its promenade is a favourite evening walk, with snack sellers, boat rides and views of the lit bridge. Arrive before sunset.
Mother House on AJC Bose Road, headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, holds the simple tomb of Mother Teresa, who lived and worked here for decades. A small museum shows her sandals and letters, and her tiny bedroom is upstairs. It is a working religious house, so check visiting hours.
Founded in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni on the east bank of the Hooghly, the Dakshineswar Kali Temple is dedicated to Bhavatarini, a form of Kali, and linked with the mystic Ramakrishna, who served as a priest here. Its nine-spired temple faces twelve Shiva shrines. Expect queues on festival days.
Kalighat Kali Temple is one of the most important Kali temples in India, revered as a Shakti Peetha and often linked to the origin of Kolkata's name. Its image of the goddess with a long golden tongue draws big crowds, and the lanes around are full of offering stalls. Go early and ignore touts.
Founded in 1814 on Chowringhee, the Indian Museum in Kolkata is the oldest and one of the largest museums in India, with carved railings from the Bharhut stupa, Gandhara sculpture, an Egyptian mummy, fossils and coins. The colonnaded building is a sight in itself. A half day covers the highlights.
Jorasanko Thakur Bari in north Kolkata is the family mansion where Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861 and died in 1941, now a museum within Rabindra Bharati University. Rooms show his paintings, manuscripts and belongings, with galleries on the Tagore family and the Bengal Renaissance.
College Street in Kolkata, known as Boi Para, is lined with bookstalls and shops selling everything from textbooks to rare editions near Presidency University and the University of Calcutta. Take a break at the Indian Coffee House, long loved by writers and students. Bargaining is normal here.
At the foot of Howrah Bridge, Mallick Ghat Flower Market is a sprawling wholesale market where sellers string heaps of marigolds into garlands for temples, weddings and festivals. Mornings are busiest and most photogenic. The ghat steps lead down to the Hooghly, with the steel bridge towering above.
Kumartuli is the old potters' quarter of north Kolkata by the river, where generations of artisans sculpt the clay images of gods used in the city's festivals. In the weeks before Durga Puja its lanes fill with huge straw-and-clay figures at every stage. Ask before photographing artisans at work.
Once famous for jazz clubs, Park Street is still the centre of Kolkata's dining scene, lined with long-running restaurants, bars and the historic Flurys tearoom. It is most festive at Christmas, when lights are strung across the road. The old South Park Street Cemetery nearby is a fine detour.
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