The colonnaded Prinsep Ghat memorial lit up at night beside the Hooghly River, Kolkata

A first few days in Kolkata: the river, the old neighbourhoods and the food

How to approach Kolkata on a first visit: the Victoria Memorial and the Maidan, the Hooghly at dusk, north Kolkata’s lanes and temples, Durga Puja season and what to eat.

Mahek Jatana

31 October 2026

2 minutes

Kolkata, the capital of British India until 1911, is a city of grand colonial buildings and crowded markets, of writers and film-makers, and of some of the best food in India. It can be overwhelming at first. The trick is to take it a neighbourhood at a time, walk in the cooler mornings and evenings, and leave room to sit down for tea.

Central Kolkata and the Maidan

The Victoria Memorial, a marble museum built between 1906 and 1921, stands at the southern end of the Maidan, the city’s great open park. Spend a morning here, then walk north through the Maidan towards the old administrative quarter around Dalhousie Square, with its 19th-century office buildings.

The white marble Victoria Memorial in Kolkata under a pale sky, seen across its lawns — Victoria Memorial, Kolkata. Photo: Mehraz Morshed / WordPress Photo Directory (CC0)

The river

The Hooghly is the city’s other face. Prinsep Ghat, a colonnaded memorial on the riverbank, is a favourite place at dusk, with the bridges lit up behind it. A short ferry ride across the river is one of the cheapest and most memorable ways to see Kolkata.

North Kolkata

North of the centre, older Kolkata unfolds in lanes of mansions and courtyards. Kumartuli is the neighbourhood where clay images of the goddess Durga and other deities are made, busiest in the weeks before the festival. Further upriver, the Dakshineswar Kali Temple rises beside a large pond.

Spires of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple reflected in a still pond, framed by palm leaves, Kolkata — Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Kolkata. Photo: Bigul Malayi / WordPress Photo Directory (CC0)

Durga Puja

Kolkata’s Durga Puja, which falls in September or October, was added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021. For several days the city fills with pandals, elaborate temporary structures housing images of the goddess, and with crowds that move from one to the next late into the night. It is extraordinary, but plan ahead: hotels fill, roads close and travel slows to a crawl.

What to eat

Fish in mustard (shorshe) and macher jhol with rice.
Kathi rolls and phuchka from street stalls (choose busy ones).
Sweets: rosogolla, sandesh and mishti doi.

Practicalities

Use the Kolkata Metro and app cabs to cover longer distances.
October to March is the most comfortable time; summers are hot and humid, and the monsoon is heavy.
Day trips: the terracotta temples of Bishnupur or Tagore’s Santiniketan. See our West Bengal guide.

Sources and image credits

Facts that can change were checked on 31 October 2026:

Photography: Bigul Malayi via the WordPress Photo Directory (CC0); Mehraz Morshed via the WordPress Photo Directory (CC0). Stock images, not the author’s own.

Festival dates, museum arrangements and transport change. Check current details before you go, especially around Durga Puja.