Holiday in Kolkata

What makes Kolkata special as a destination?

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) was the capital of British India until 1911 and remains the intellectual and artistic capital of the country. The city on the Hooghly River has produced more Nobel laureates than any other city in India — Rabindranath Tagore, Amartya Sen, and Mother Teresa have all worked here. The Howrah Bridge (1943) is the landmark: a cantilever steel bridge without screws, over which millions of people, rickshaws, and buses flow daily — one of the busiest bridge structures in the world. The Victoria Memorial, an imposing marble structure in Victorian style, recalls the colonial era and houses a museum with paintings and artifacts from the British Raj. The Kumartuli district, where hundreds of artists shape clay idols year-round, is unique: during the Durga Puja festival (October), thousands of these figures are displayed in beautifully decorated pandals (temporary temples) and then ritually immersed in the river. Durga Puja is the soul of Kolkata and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021. College Street with its huge book market, the coffee house culture at the Indian Coffee House, and the film tradition of Satyajit Ray make Kolkata a place where India's intellectuals feel at home. Park Street with its restaurants and clubs is the center of nightlife.