Kolkata City Guide – 3 Days Comprehensive Guide to City of Joy

Last updated on March 6th, 2022 at 08:37 am

Reading Time: 9 minutes

What if I tell you this was my first time on a plane in almost 23 years on earth?

Yeah, I can assume some of your faces like this ? and some like this ? and some thinking, “even my 16 years old son got 5 times now”.

Okay, Okay, let’s come back to the topic we will talk about today.

Any Guesses? YEAH! “Kolkata City.”

Without wasting much time, let’s land straight to Kolkata City.

You – Hey buddy, look at that yellow, and there’s too.

Me– Yeah, this place is painted yellow on the road when you see a taxi altogether.

Find the hidden gems of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio and many more around the country but first discover your home country.

How did Kolkata happen?

I was thinking about going to an offbeat before booking my first-time flight wait.

It’s not only my first time on the flight but my Dadas too. Yes, and it toSo yes him 75 years for his first one, and I decided to take him along because the carrier of my Dada started from here when the first time he came in town was Kolkata city.

The Kolkata Day

We started very early in the morning because we had our flight at 9:30 a.m and reached IGI Airport almost 2-2:30 hrs early.

Can you imagine?

Okay, I know it’s very early but what to do excitement at its best and don’t want to miss a chance to see the whole Airport.

i.e., waited, waited, and waited until I saw the gates open for the people traveling to Kolkata city.

Yeah, first time flight and that too window seat ?.

How to Reach Kolkata from Delhi

By Flight

The best way to reach Kolkata is by flight from Delhi. It takes around 2-3hr to get and is the easiest and fastest way to cover almost 1500km.

1. Delhi➡️Kolkata (flight)

By Train

Kolkata can be reached by train too. If you have enough time and want to save a few bucks, then the train is a good option. It will be going to take around 20hrs to reach.

1. Delhi➡️Kolkata (train)

I reached Kolkata by flight at 11:40 a.m. and had left Delhi at 9:30. am. I have already booked my Room at Bhowanipore, from booking.com, approx. 25kms from Airport.

Bhowanipore 

Since our hotel is almost about 25kms away from the Kolkata Aiport.

So, we booked a cab that dropped us at the gate and took around Rs 400- Rs 500.

Bhowanipore looked like the old Kolkata with dark contrast in the backdrop and streets full of yellow taxis.

After reaching the room, the first thing we did was left our bag and go for exploration, straight away!
Exploration right after is my first thing, and I insisted Dada too, and we are off straight away.

The hot sun kept pointing at our heads and made us full of sweat.

Best Month to Visit Kolkata

If you plan to go to Kolkata city in summer, then I insist on staying in Delhi only because it’s much hotter than Delhi in summer some days.

In Summers ( May – October )

It’s boiling in summers, and as soon as you step out, sweat will make you tired and lazy. The temperature ranges from 29 degrees – to 42 degrees in summers.

* Monsoon is something that you can enjoy in Kolkata. If you plan to go anywhere, you must consider Kolkata city.

In Winters ( November – April )

So, it’s like the Delhi winters. I know Delhi people got this one and not daydreaming of something magical in winters. The temperature ranges from 15 degrees – to 27 degrees.

Everyone ran to mountains to re-live the magic of snow; even the snow started disappearing quickly.

Also Read, Kalpa Valley Trip – A Guide to the Heritage Village of Kinnaur Valley

Tourist Attraction in Kolkata

Day – 1 Victoria Memorial

The 1st-day plan was to see nearby places.

i.e., we are staying at Bhawanipore, and Victoria Memorial is about 2-3 km and at a walkable distance.

Note – I have not decided that I will visit this; the second I will see that. We plan to cover from nearest to farthest.

So, the first place we added to our list is Victoria Memorial which is about 2 km from the hotel. It is built to commemorate Queen Victoria. The hall is well maintained, and it’s beautiful both from outside and inside, with a garden all around enhancing its overall beauty.

There are various entry gates for Victoria Memorial, and the museum entry price is Rs. 20 per person.

Note – Don’t try to touch anything inside of your hands. Instead, connect with your eyes.

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Howrah Bridge

As soon as we stepped out of the Victoria Memorial. We saw a yellow taxi and thought, why not feel the vibe of sitting in this yellow heart.

But, to go where?

To go at the pride of Kolkata – The Howrah Bridge.

The driver charged around Rs 200 to drop and back to our hotel.

And finally, we reached the World’s Busiest Bridge.

We wanted to get down at the iconic Bridge –

Me – Please stop on the Bridge itself.

Driver – Sorry, I cannot because no driver can stop at Howrah Bridge because we will be penalized if we do.

i.e., There is no stopping in between as the traffic will be on a continuous roll. So, the driver stopped after the Bridge.

Note – Before stepping on the Bridge, if you are coming from the south end of Howrah Bridge, a Malik Ghat flower market is very famous towards your left.

We spent some time admiring the beauty of the iconic Howrah bridge of Kolkata city, a good time of 1 -2 hr.

Our driver took us back to our hotel as it was our first day and the heat made us very tired.

At night, after having some rest, we go back again on the streets of Kolkata city to have our dinner and –

Can you guess what we ate?

Hint – it’s a famous Bengali sweet.

Okay, it’s called Mishti Doi. Ahh, now you remembered right. So the day ended in Kolkata on a sweet note.

Also see, Kalpa Valley Photo Blog

Day – 2

The Next Morning started with some rain.

Hence, I have noticed that Kolkata people started their work early and were always disciplined. The youngsters here are passionate about Football, in the evening at every alternate street you can witness some children playing Football here in the old city of Kolkata.

Today, we plan to take the Kolkata metro.

But where to?

We have decided to go Indian Museum from Kolkata Metro.

The Museum is in Park Street (Jawaharlal Nehru Road), and we took a Metro from Nehru Bhawan station, which was just 2 stations away from Park Street, and the cost was around Rs. 10 – Rs. 15 for a token to reach our destination.

The Meto looks very old-fashioned and resembles our Indian Railways, to be honest.

Indian Museum of Kolkata

We reached the Indian Museum at around 9 a.m and the opening time of the Museum is 10 a.m., and probably we have to wait till the doors opened.

The Museum looks surreal! Like some Hollywood set for me, I never saw a museum founded in 1814, which is the earliest and most prominent in the Indian subcontinent.

The price is Rs 20 per adult and Rs. 500 per adult for foreigners. You can check the timings of the Museum here.

The Museum has the collection of Arts globally covered –

1. Coin Gallery
2. Mammal Gallery
3. Paintings Gallery
4. Textile Gallery etc. I have never seen a museum like this before.

We had a good time, like a 2hr – 3h.

Since the Indian Museum is in Park Street, why not explore, mind asked?

Yes, we did.

Park Street Kolkata

That’s for Kolkata is like a Connaught place for Delhi, you will find everything from eateries to clothing in this area with the pubs and clubs. Happening place in Kolkata city and is mainly preferred for shopping.

You can also find hotels here if you want to make most of your Kolkata city trip, then stay options in these areas are also available –

1. Esplanade
2. Bhowanipore (most welcome). Also, these areas have popular attractions among tourists.
3. New Town

Eden Gardens

I have seen Eden Gardens from Outside because there is no permit to go in. However, watching a cricket stadium from inside is still on the list to do.

Princep Ghat

Located between the Watergate and the St. George’s Gate of the Fort Williams and near to the New Bridge of Kolkata.

Near the riverside is a blissful moment since it’s heating, so we found only a few people hanging out there.

From New Bridge or say from Princep ghat I walked along many Ghats like Babu ghat in between and reached Howrah bridge and my phone showed that I have walked for approx. 4km, and on that particular day, a total of 12kms, which I talked about in my previous post. So testing your feet is the best way to see the unseen.

And, we walked from Princep ghat till Howrah Bridge, crossing babu ghat and flower market.

It’s one more round of the iconic Howrah bridge of Kolkata.

Going a bit further from the Howrah bridge, the Howrah railway station comes.

Day – 3

It was again raining in the morning; that’s why I listed this place as my favorite in the monsoon.

We booked the cab and set our destination for the last day to Eco Park. But it opens at 2:30 p.m. So, in summer, we decided to talk for a walk in the New town of Kolkata city.

City Centre 2 Kolkata 

City Centre 2 is a mall in the New Town. Eco Park is about 20 km away from the city center 2 mall, and we have our breakfast before leaving for Eco-park.

After spending 2hr, we took a battery rickshaw and reached our destination, but again we went much before time, and I sat by the roadside itself until the gate opened because it’s an open road and very few vehicles pass by.

Again monsoon, it started raining and that too heavily this time.

Eco Park

As soon as the gates opened, people rushed like anything to India’s largest Park.

Note – The prices for tickets for entering Eco Pak are Rs. 30

The timings for Summers are –

1. Opening at 2:30 p.m. and closing in the night at 8:30 p.m.

The timings For Winters are –

1. Opening at noon and closing in the night at 7 p.m.

When I entered, I genuinely didn’t know where to go. Since it has 3-4 directions, I checked on the map inside the Park and decided to go on Island after touring the whole Park.

A little bit about Eco Park

Yes, you heard it right. The Eco-park of Kolkata has an Island inside the Park. The Park is spread along 480 acres and 104 acres of the water body, and inside there’s an island.

The Park is so huge that it took us 3hrs to take a complete one round, exploring step by step.

To reach this hidden Island, you need a boat ride to get because it’s in the middle of the water. The ride will be going to cost on a 30min – 2hr basis.

For 30 min it will be around Rs 200 – Rs 250.

the Park is so neat and clean, and well-developed, and its fantastic location will make you fall in love with this Park of Kolkata’s new town city.

Also Read, Pushkar City Guide – Things to do when you are around

After Exploring the whole Park, it’s now time to leave and catch the flight from Kolkata Airport (Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport).

Kolkata turned out to be a memorable one. I hadn’t expected these moments from my Kolkata trip.

But as we say, “every city has some surprises for you,” And that’s it from the city of joy – The Kolkata city.

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