Two days is the bare minimum for Kolkata, colonial core and Maidan on day one, Kalighat and the Indian Museum on day two, no day trips and no North Kolkata. If you can add a third day, our 3-day through 7-day itineraries build straight on this one, longest first at 7 days . Book these before you go: Park Street area hotel rates on Booking.com : the closest base to Victoria Memorial and the Metro’s Park Street station A Kolkata heritage walking tour on GetYourGuide : colonial-era architecture plus Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge, worth booking if you’d rather not navigate day one solo A Kolkata food tour on Viator : phuchka, kathi rolls and Bengali sweets with someone who knows which stalls are worth the queue Day Focus 1 Victoria Memorial, the Maidan, Howrah Bridge at sunset, Park Street dinner 2 Kalighat and the Motherhouse, the Indian Museum, New Market street food Day 1: Victoria Memorial, the Maidan and Howrah Bridge Land at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International and take the Yellow Line metro from Jai Hind station if your bags allow it, a few tens of rupees to Esplanade via the Noapara interchange.

Three days is our 2-day plan plus a third day in North Kolkata, College Street’s book market, the Indian Coffee House and the Kumartuli idol-makers, still no day trips. Longer stays build straight on this one, through 7 days . Book these before you go: Park Street area hotel rates on Booking.com : closest base to Victoria Memorial and the Metro A Kolkata heritage walking tour on GetYourGuide : colonial architecture, Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge in roughly 3 hours A Kolkata food tour on Viator : phuchka, kathi rolls and Bengali sweets with someone who knows the stalls Day Focus 1 Victoria Memorial, the Maidan, Howrah Bridge at sunset, Park Street dinner 2 Kalighat and the Motherhouse, the Indian Museum, New Market street food 3 College Street, the Indian Coffee House, the Marble Palace, Kumartuli Day 1: Victoria Memorial, the Maidan and Howrah Bridge Land at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International and take the Yellow Line metro from Jai Hind station if your bags allow it, a few tens of rupees to Esplanade via the Noapara interchange.

Four days is our 3-day plan plus Dakshineswar and Belur Math, the temple pair locals actually cross the Hooghly to see together, still no day trips out of the city. Longer stays build straight on this one, through 7 days . Book these before you go: Park Street area hotel rates on Booking.com : closest base to Victoria Memorial and the Metro A Kolkata heritage walking tour on GetYourGuide : colonial architecture, Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge in roughly 3 hours A Kolkata food tour on Viator : phuchka, kathi rolls and Bengali sweets with someone who knows the stalls Day Focus 1 Victoria Memorial, the Maidan, Howrah Bridge at sunset, Park Street dinner 2 Kalighat and the Motherhouse, the Indian Museum, New Market street food 3 College Street, the Indian Coffee House, the Marble Palace, Kumartuli 4 Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Belur Math, Eden Gardens, Millennium Park sunset Day 1: Victoria Memorial, the Maidan and Howrah Bridge Land at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International and take the Yellow Line metro from Jai Hind station if your bags allow it, a few tens of rupees to Esplanade via the Noapara interchange.

Five days is our 4-day plan plus a slower fifth day in South Kolkata, Gariahat Market and Tangra’s Indian-Chinese food scene, still no day trips out of the city. Longer stays build straight on this one, through 7 days . Book these before you go: Park Street area hotel rates on Booking.com : closest base to Victoria Memorial and the Metro A Kolkata heritage walking tour on GetYourGuide : colonial architecture, Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge in roughly 3 hours A Kolkata food tour on Viator : phuchka, kathi rolls and Bengali sweets with someone who knows the stalls Day Focus 1 Victoria Memorial, the Maidan, Howrah Bridge at sunset, Park Street dinner 2 Kalighat and the Motherhouse, the Indian Museum, New Market street food 3 College Street, the Indian Coffee House, the Marble Palace, Kumartuli 4 Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Belur Math, Eden Gardens, Millennium Park sunset 5 Ballygunge and Bhawanipore, Gariahat Market, a Tangra Chinatown dinner Day 1: Victoria Memorial, the Maidan and Howrah Bridge Land at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International and take the Yellow Line metro from Jai Hind station if your bags allow it, a few tens of rupees to Esplanade via the Noapara interchange.

Six days is our 5-day plan plus Jorasanko Thakur Bari and a second, quieter para wander along the Hooghly, still no day trips out of the city. Longer stays build straight on this one, through 7 days . Book these before you go: Park Street area hotel rates on Booking.com : closest base to Victoria Memorial and the Metro A Kolkata heritage walking tour on GetYourGuide : colonial architecture, Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge in roughly 3 hours A Kolkata food tour on Viator : phuchka, kathi rolls and Bengali sweets with someone who knows the stalls Day Focus 1 Victoria Memorial, the Maidan, Howrah Bridge at sunset, Park Street dinner 2 Kalighat and the Motherhouse, the Indian Museum, New Market street food 3 College Street, the Indian Coffee House, the Marble Palace, Kumartuli 4 Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Belur Math, Eden Gardens, Millennium Park sunset 5 Ballygunge and Bhawanipore, Gariahat Market, a Tangra Chinatown dinner 6 Jorasanko Thakur Bari, Academy of Fine Arts or Nandan, Bagbazar ghats Day 1: Victoria Memorial, the Maidan and Howrah Bridge Land at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International and take the Yellow Line metro from Jai Hind station if your bags allow it, a few tens of rupees to Esplanade via the Noapara interchange.

Seven days is our 6-day plan plus a full shopping day and a departure built around Kolkata’s traffic rather than against it, still no day trips out of the city. If you want the Sundarbans, Shantiniketan or a Murshidabad overnight worked into a longer trip, that’s what our Kolkata India guide and its own itineraries cover, not this one. Book these before you go: Park Street area hotel rates on Booking.

Two days based in Kolkata is not enough time for the Sundarbans, Shantiniketan or Murshidabad, and pretending otherwise wastes both days on transit. This plan sticks to what genuinely fits: the free Dakshineswar and Belur Math pairing, then Chandannagar’s old French Strand. Need more days? See the 3-day , 4-day , 5-day , 6-day and 7-day versions of this same base itinerary. Book these before you go: a Park Street or New Market hotel on Agoda or Booking.

Three days based in Kolkata is enough to add Shantiniketan to the shorter 2-day plan, without touching Murshidabad or the Sundarbans, both of which need more time than this trip has. Days 1 and 2 are unchanged from the 2-day itinerary ; day 3 is new. Longer trip? See the 4-day , 5-day , 6-day and 7-day versions of this same base itinerary. Book these before you go: a Park Street or New Market hotel on Agoda or Booking.

Four days based in Kolkata is a genuine turning point in this family of itineraries: instead of stretching for Murshidabad’s 3h20min train on a day that cannot afford it, day 4 stays in the city for North Kolkata, its own kind of day trip. Days 1-3 are unchanged from the 3-day itinerary . Longer trip? See the 5-day , 6-day and 7-day versions. Book these before you go: a Park Street or New Market hotel on Agoda or Booking.

Five days based in Kolkata is where Murshidabad finally fits, the furthest of these gateway trips at 194km and about 3h20min each way by train. Days 1-4 are unchanged from the 4-day itinerary ; day 5 adds the Nawabs’ old capital. Longer trip? See the 6-day and 7-day versions, both of which add the Sundarbans. Book these before you go: a Park Street or New Market hotel on Agoda or Booking.

Six days based in Kolkata is enough to squeeze in the Sundarbans, but only the rushed single-day version, which every honest source, including this one, will tell you undersells the place. Days 1-5 are unchanged from the 5-day itinerary ; day 6 is a compromise, not the version we would actually recommend. If you can find one more day, the 7-day itinerary replaces this day with the proper overnight trip.

Seven days based in Kolkata is the version of this itinerary we would actually pick. Days 1-5 are unchanged from the 5-day itinerary ; days 6 and 7 replace the 6-day itinerary ’s rushed single-day Sundarbans trip with a genuine overnight, one night at a forest lodge instead of a dark-to-dark bus errand. It is still shorter than the standard 2-night package, but it is a different trip from the single-day version, not just a longer one.

Kolkata is not just a city to see, it is also the only sane base for five trips most visitors never plan properly: the Sundarbans, Shantiniketan, Chandannagar, Murshidabad, and the Dakshineswar-Belur Math pairing at the city’s own edge. Here is the part tour brochures skip: four of those five genuinely work as a single day out of Kolkata. The fifth, the Sundarbans, does not, no matter what a same-day tour operator sells you.

Two myths get repeated about Kolkata before anyone lands: that Mother Teresa’s Motherhouse charges an entry fee, and that a day here is enough. Neither holds up. The Motherhouse is free with no ticket of any kind, and this city rewards three full days minimum before it even starts to open up. Here are the 9 things worth your time, 3 worth skipping, and the numbers that actually matter. Essentials Kolkata Days needed 3 minimum for the city alone, 5+ to add North Kolkata slowly Best months October-March, with Durga Puja (mid-October) as the peak within the peak Daily budget Budget INR 1,500-2,500 ($16-27) / Mid-range INR 4,000-7,000 ($42-73) / Luxury INR 12,000+ Book first A Park Street area hotel room, before Durga Puja week if you can help it The 9 things actually worth your time in Kolkata Victoria Memorial’s museum galleries, not just the outside photo Howrah Bridge at sunset from Prinsep Ghat, not a tripod on the span Mother Teresa’s Motherhouse and Kalighat Kali Temple together The Indian Museum, India’s oldest and largest under one roof College Street’s book market with the Indian Coffee House upstairs Kumartuli, the potters’ quarter that builds the city’s Durga idols Dakshineswar Kali Temple paired with Belur Math across the river Park Street’s heritage institutions, then a Tangra Chinatown dinner An unplanned hour in any North Kolkata para, no itinerary required Skip these 3 A hand-pulled rickshaw ride as a photo op Roughly 3,500 to 5,000-plus licensed pullers still work North Kolkata’s lanes, mostly hauling school kids and monsoon-flooded deliveries cars can’t reach, not tourists.