Best time to visit West Bengal

You can absorb so much (literally) about a place through its food, so don’t play it safe and stick to Westernised dishes in dull hotel restaurants. Your guide can steer you to the best local cafes and street food vendors, where the food is healthy, fresh and bursting with the combination of sweet and spicy flavours Bengali cuisine is famous for. Tuck into Mughal biryani, and as this is ‘the land of fish and rice’ try the hilsa, a much loved oily fish, and bhetki, West Bengal’s answer to sea bass. Don’t stay in one state. If you’ve made it to Darjeeling, you’re a short hop from Sikkim, which borders West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. This remote state is a fascinating contrast to bustling Kolkata in the south. Many organised tours to West Bengal travel into Sikkim, visiting its pretty state capital Gangtok, nicknamed ‘the kingdom in the cloud’, trekking in the mountains, and meeting its indigenous Bhutia people on a village homestay. You’ll see more of West Bengal and its surrounding states in less time if you use a range of transportation, and while a private car is a comfy inclusion on some tailor made trips, don’t rule out other modes of transport. Riding the ‘toy train’ in Darjeeling is a fun way to enjoy hill country, while India’s train network will whisk you further afield, with overnight services between Kolkata and New Jalpaiguri a great way to access northern West Bengal.

“Kolkata is a center of the Indian independence movement and the center of modern Indian education, science, cultural revolution and politics. You come here to absorb Kolkata; Kolkata absorbs you instead. It strangely moves and engages you as a traveler. You give in to a moving montage of faces and facelessness – the heritage and the contemporary – rabbit runs and time warps at the same time. It’s Lapierre’s city of joy. For Ginsberg it’s a city where poets are worshiped as minor gods. Pele came here to share his love for football and Pete Seeger to share his countless folk songs with the city under an open sky. And yes Kolkata is regarded as the most tolerant and sensible city in India. This is also the safest and friendliest area for solo female travelers. Apart from a regular city tour, Kolkata is best to explore by foot with a storyteller. You can explore the old quarters of Central Kolkata, the street foods and the heritage eateries or a literary tour.”

“Believe it or not, food addiction of Bengalis is no less impressive than that of any Italian, French, American or Mexican. From homemade preparations to street food items, Kolkatans never fail to impress you with their culinary creativity. Bengalis have always possessed a dynamic culture and the various food items found across this state showcase a unique blend of fervor with flavours. For Bengalis, eating is a serious business. You talk to anybody in Kolkata, and he would convince you that it is also (kind of) an aesthetic experience. He would assure you that having tender coconut sherbet at Paramount in summer or a taalsaans sandesh at Nakur’s in winter makes you philosophical! So does savoring Kalika’s fried onion chop with muri while listening to the pitter-patter of falling rain! Each season has its own food. And each food becomes very much ‘Calcuttan’ in Kolkata.”