Hotels in Kolkata

Kolkata was the capital of British India until 1911, and it still wears that past openly: the marble Victoria Memorial, the colonial arcades of Dalhousie Square, and the great cantilevered Howrah Bridge spanning the Hooghly to Howrah station on the far bank. It is India's intellectual and cultural heart as much as a city of around 4.6 million, home to the second-hand bookstalls of College Street, the legacy of Tagore and Satyajit Ray, and the most spectacular Durga Puja celebrations in the country each autumn.

The food alone justifies a visit, from Bengali fish curries and mustard-laced thalis to kathi rolls and the sweet shops selling rosogolla and mishti doi. Be honest: it is hot, humid and crowded, the monsoon can flood streets, traffic is relentless, and the airport sits a long, slow drive from the centre at peak hours. Stay around Park Street for walkable restaurants, bars and easy access to the Maidan and the Victoria Memorial.