Kolkata Holidays

Take a journey around the melting pot of Calcutta’s local communities. Visit the locales of the city’s diverse groups – stop at the colourful Anglo-Indian Bow Barracks and learn about the visit Tiretta Bazaar, the home of Calcutta’s Chinese community where a typical breakfast consists of momos (a South Asian dumpling). Your tour ends at Calcutta’s oldest wholesale market, Burra Bazaar, where you can buy anything from silk saris to delicious street food.

Get to know the city on this tour of its finest attractions. Stop at the elaborate Jain temple and the Kalighat Kali Temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. The grand Victoria Memorial showcases some of the most stunning blends of Renaissance and Mughal style and on your drive you’ll pass Calcutta’s famous landmarks including Howrah Bridge, Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square) and the 18th-Century Fort William.

This excursion starts with a visit to the wholesale market. It's a busy market and your guide will stop amongst the chaos so you can take some photos. At the market, you’ll witness three-ton trucks from which people will be manually unloading packages of vegetables, each weighing around 200kg. Bengalis love their food and a daily visit to the market is one of the most important chores of the day.

Afterwards you will either have lunch or dinner with a family or your guide may invite you to their home for a meal. A typical meal may include a vegetarian dish like shukto which incorporates gourd (similar to squash) banana, papaya, potato and sometimes bitter neem leaves. Then sides like paturi which is ground fish baked in mustard seed sauce and green chilli. It’s a great way to learn about the different Indian flavours as well as interacting with local Bengalis.