Book Flights to Kolkata

Head to the Victoria Memorial

The white marble Victoria Memorial is often described as the pride and joy of Kolkata. Built in the early 20^th century by British colonialists to celebrate the life of Queen Victoria, the building’s Italianate statues and Mughal domes make it an architectural feast for the eyes.

Today, it’s a museum, with 25 galleries displaying weapons, sculptures, paintings, maps, coins, stamps and textiles from Kolkata’s colonial period. At night, the building is illuminated, giving it, and the gardens that surround it, a magical atmosphere.

The scents of Mallick Ghat flower market

Immerse yourself in the heart of city life at the Mallick Ghat flower market, sitting on the banks of the Hooghly River, a fixture in Kolkata for over a century.

The largest wholesale flower market in eastern India, the market has an enthralling, chaotic routine that begins around 4am each morning – continuing throughout the rest of the day.

Traders, some of whom live in makeshift shacks near their riverside stalls, compete to sell marigolds, lotus flowers and red and yellow roses in the shadow of the Howrah Bridge.

Catch a cricket match

There are few more thrilling experiences than taking your place in a sold-out test match crowd at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens cricket ground.

This ground holds over 60,000 spectators and has hosted countless fixtures during its long and proud history, including the final of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. The atmosphere generated by the city’s loud and passionate fans means that a player’s cricketing education is said not to be fully complete until they take to the crease at Eden Gardens, one of the game’s greatest stages.

Can’t secure a ticket? You’re sure to see locals playing in any space large enough, as the city is full of cricket fanatics.