4 Ways to Make Your Stay in Kolkata Amazing

How would you make your stay just amazing at any place during a sojourn? For me, there are a few things to consider, what can I buy, what can I eat, what can I see and what can I do? Frankly, Kolkata offers so much for each one of those questions that Kolkata stay is always amazing, even after a few trips, ONLY IF you know the right answers to those questions. That will be the purpose of my endeavour here. Let me teach you how to exploit the offerings of Kolkata more than your friend could.

What can I buy?

Kolkata is the king for cheap shopping in India. Clothes, shoes, handicrafts, accessories (especially the Indian ones like churee or bangles), books, even the hotels near new market Kolkata are cheap. However, you need to know where to go for each. Barabazar is basically where you go for clothes and not the showrooms and outlets of big brands. Try Chitpur for males and JL Bajaj street for females. The shops are overrun with stocks so choose as much as you want. Bagri Market is for cosmetics and beauty products and expect 40%-50% discount on printed price here. New Market is the perennial presence and you shouldn't miss those either. For shoes, you can try almost any shoe shop, Sreeleathers, Khadim, Bata, all originated from Kolkata. Scan the College Street book market for rare, old and out of print books and every chance that you will find that here. There are several handicrafts markets, scattered all around the city as well.

What can I eat?

Kolkata offers so many simply awesome foods to choose from. Bengali cuisine is naturally good but what's surprising is that the Mughlai cuisine is amazing as well. Wake up; go for a breakfast of Luchi, alur dam, rosogolla. Go for biriyani and korma or Bengali style rice, fish, daal. End the lunch with Firni for Mughlai taste or Mishti doi for bengali style. During the lazy afternoon, try jhaalmuri with chai. Evenings with pakodas are incomparable! Sit down for a hearty dinner with kosha maangsho (meat curry) with pulao. This is heaven for connoisseurs of food.

Then there are bengali sweets, like Mishti doi, Rosogolla, Sandesh, Chamcham, Kalakand, Ladycany, etc. The diabetes version of each of these sweets are available as well.

What can I see?

Kolkata is full of historical buildings and places, along with several intellectual properties and memorials to visit. Start with Victoria memorial, the ubiquitous mention on even Yatra blog on Kolkata, I suppose. Go to Howrah bridge to see why it is praised so much. Check out New Market for a nowhere-else shopping experience. Buy rare books at College Street 2nd hand book market. Visit Dakshineswar Temple and remember the teachings of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. Watch Writer’s Building (sadly, entry restricted) from outside where British established their administrative head office.

Check out the residence of Rabindranath Tagore (Thakur) where he created many of his masterpieces, visit the zoo, one of the oldest in India, see where Netaji Subhash Bose lived before he took on the British, visit Birla Planetarium, check out Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charities where only humanity matters, enjoy a river cruise on Ganga, ride Asia’s first underground metro rail (even before Japan!), go to Eden Gardens the Mecca of Cricket, pay a visit to the spooky mummy at the national museum, visit the lovers’ spot of Kolkata Millennium Park. The options are so varied and endless that you would rediscover the city even after 3 visits. Some of the packaged tours from Yatra would help you to cover some of them.

What can I do?

Kolkata has something to offer for every personality type. If you are the adventurous type, go to ice skating ring at CIT Road or the water park or Nicco park in Salt Lake. If you are the typical bengali, visit Coffee house at College Street for intellectual interactions or Nandan for international and critically acclaimed films. Pay a visit to Mahafezkhana where all the historical documents are kept or read a rare book at national library and Asiatic library. If you are an explorer, check the lanes of central and north Kolkata to find out some hidden gems of eateries or some really nostalgic place. If you are simply the gossiping type, sit on the maidaan and idly pass your day away.

Do you realise how many different combinations can be produced using all these options from four quarters? That is why Kolkata is the city of joy, which is exactly why Kolkata would never grow old and tiring on you. Hotels in Kolkata are mostly budget hotels so accommodation is not a problem either.