West Bengal is the eastern state of India which has a special blend of the ancient and the modern.

Primarily agriculturalist, the state now boasts of a highly developed industrial sector as well. Its landscape is a variety of hills, plains and coastal areas. With a rich and fertile soil, the state produces foodstuff from tea to rice and seafood. Its capital city Calcutta has always been a centre for learning and trade.

The state produces – jute, cotton fabric and handicrafts. The people of West Bengal are artistic and creative and the state is home to some of the finest poets, writers, film-makers.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Area :                 187 sq km.
Temperature :      Min          Max
Summer              38.1C       41.7C
Winter                    9.6C          29.3C
Rainfall :             158cm(June to August)
Best Season :       Throughout the year
Clothing :            Tropical

Tourist Places to Visit in West Bengal are : –

KOLKATA OR CALCUTTA

A city of love and warmth, sorrow and despair, dreams and hope, poverty and squalor, grandeur and glory. Calcutta is compelling, effervescent, teeming with life and tradition-a medley of moods, styles, cultures, politics, industry and commerce. More than 300 years ago, Job Charnock an English tradesman,set up a trading post on the banks of Ganga along the three village nucleus. Gradually Europeans started setting up business and trade establishments, the moneyed class taking interest steadily encroached into matters of state. Kolkata is among top tourist attractions of eastern India.
The fate of Nawabi rule was sealed in the battle of Plassey and the English went ahead to seize power, a grip which loosened only 250 years later when power was transferred from British Empire to Indians.
Independent India has crossed 50 years and these five decade have seen many miracles. Calcutta has grown remains a city of contrast, a mix-up of light and shade, a strange medley of ancient and modern, skyscrapers and Victorian edifices, haven of the earth and the poor as seldom found anywhere in the world.
There is so much to see in this incredible city. A million people from every corner of Indian stream across the massive Howrah Bridge, swarm around the Hooghly river, flock along the busy avenues, through its narrow lanes. They can arrive at the great expanse of the Maidan, the heart of Calcutta.
Fort William, Victoria memorial, Raj Bhavan, Palladian villas and the Botanical Gardens, the busy streets of Shyambazar, College street and Kalighat, bookshops ,art galleries, coffee houses-all are part of Calcutta’s varied and vibrant shades, the birthplace of Rabindra Nath Tagore and cradle of the Indian Renaissance.
Calcutta’s fascination defies analysis, It is an addiction, an affair of the mind nd heart. Anyone who has lived here can never be happy anywhere else in the world.

Tourist attractions to visit in Kolkata / Calcutta in West Bengal, India are BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square), Belur ghat, Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Botanical garden, Howrah Bridge, St. Paul Cathedral, Indian Museum, Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Gurusaday Museum, Nehru Children Museum, Academy of Fine Arts, Asiatic Society, NICCO Park, Science City, Fort William, Portuguese Cathedral, Academy of Indian Coins & History. Kolkata is among top tourist places to visit in West Bengal.

Sunderban, Sajnekhali, Shanti Niketan, Mirik, Murshidabad, Mayapur, Kalimpong, Jaldapara, Darjeeling, Digha, Chandernagore are tourist attractions to visit near kolkata  (Calcutta), West Bengal, India.

Please click on Following links for more info on Tourist attractions in Kolkata : –

• 11 Places to visit near Kolkata (Calcutta) , Tourist Places sightseeing
• 15 Places to visit in Kolkata (calcutta), Tourist places sightseeing
• Festivals in Kolkata and Worship Places in calcutta / Kolkata

DARJEELING

Nested in the Himalayas, Darjeeling is situated at an altitude of 2134 metres. The name of the town has been derived from “Dorje Ling” meaning the place of Dorje-the Mystic.

Darjeeling is among top tourist attractions of West Bengal.
To most international visitors, the name Darjeeling brings to mind, the best quality ‘tea’ in the world. Bearing testimony to this, are over 70 tea gardens close to town. The Darjeeling Toy Train (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999) chugs along from New Jalpaiguri and reaches Darjeeling after travelling through jungles, rice paddies, tea gardens and pine forests, making this “a journey to remember”.

Tourist attractions to visit in Darjeeling , west Bengal, India are Batasia Loop, Darjeeling-Rangeet Valley Passenger Ropeway, Dhirdham temple, Ghoom Buddhist Monastery, Happy Valley Tea Estate, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Lebong Race Course, Llyods Botanical Garden, The Shubbery, Observatory Hill, Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Atep Aside, Tibetan Refugee Self-help Centre, Tiger Hill, Natural History Museum, Ava Art Gallery, JB Thana Park. Darjeeling is among top tourist places to visit in West Bengal.

Bijambari, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Majitar, Sandakphu, Senchal Lake, Singla, Takdah are tourist attractions to visit near Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.

Please click on Following links for more info on Tourist attractions in Darjeeling : –

• Darjeeling Festival and Worship Places in Darjeeling
• Trekking in Darjeeling, tour, routes
• Places to visit near Darjeeling, Tourist places Sightseeing
• Places to visit in Darjeeling, Tourist places in Darjeeling

KALIMPONG

Fifty-one kilometer east of Darjeeling and at an altitude of 1250 metres lies Kalimpong the former headquarters of the Bhutanese Governor. It is situated amidst gently rolling “hills of Deolo and Durbindra”, at the foot of the mighty Himalayas. Kalimpong is among top tourist attractions of eastern India.
The journey from Darjeeling to Kalimpong takes you through rich forests and rolling tea gardens. It affords some of the finest views of the valleys, which is the confluence of the Rangeet & Teesta rivers and the mighty Himalayan range.

Tourist attractions in Kalimpong are Dr. Graham’s House, Durpin Dara, Garipur House, Swiss Welfare Dairy, Tibetan Monastery, Lava, Loley Gaon, Rissium, Takdah Orchid Centre. Kalimpong is among top tourist places to visit in West Bengal.

Please click on Following links for more info on Tourist attractions in Kalimpong : –

• Festivals in Kalimpong and Worship places in Kalimpong
• Tourist Places to Visit in Kalimpong

How to Reach : –

AIR

Indian Airlines connects Calcutta with Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Patna, Ahmedabad, Port Blair, Ranchi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Silchar, Imphal, Guwahat, Agartala, Bagdogra, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Shillong, Jamshedpur, Aizawl and Rourkela.
International carriers connects Calcutta with Rome, London, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Dubai, New York, Osaka, Moscow, Kathmandu and Dhaka.

RAIL

Calcutta is well connected by Railways with other cities of India.

BUS SERVICE

Calcutta is connected by an extensive network of national highways with major cities and towns of tourist interest nearby.
Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) operates buses to different places to Rampurhat via Santiniketan or via Krishnagar-Berhampore to Vishnuour vis Bakreswar via Shantiniketan, to Namkhana (for Bakkhali) via Diamond Harbour.
CSTC booking Office at Esplanade Bus Terminus

ROAD ROUTES

BETLA NATIONAL PARK  (via Ranchi)575 km
Kharagpur 132-Bohargora 68-Ghatsila 43 Ranchi 165 Kuru 55 Khudia Morh 100 Betla 12

BHUBANESHWAR 499 km(See Gopalpur-on-sea)

BODH GAYA-GAYA

DARJEELING 686 km
Barasat 28 Ranaghat 54 Krishnagar 34 Berhampur 95 Malda 138 Rajgung 76 Dalkhola 49 Islampur 59 Siliguri 73 Darjeeling 80

DIGHA 185 km
Kolaghat 74 Norghat 35 Digha 76

GANGTOK (Via Siliguri)720 km
Siliguri 606 Teesta Bazar 53 Rangpo 22 Gangtok 39

GORALPUR_ON_SEA (via Bhubaneshwar )682 km
Kharagpur 132 Balasore 172 Cuttuck 170 Bhubaneshwar 25 Konark 89 Khurda 25 Balugaon 60 Rambha 30 Berhampur 52 Gopalpur-on-sea 16

GUWAHATI (Via Silliguri)1,081 km
Silliguri 606 Jalpaiguri 44 Dhupguri 31 Madarihat 40 Khatajan 57 Srirampur 30 Sehiril 70 Barpeta Road 74 Rangia 81 Guwahati 48

HAZARIBAGH 500 km
Kharagpur 132-Bohargora 68-Ghatsila 43 Ranchi 165 Ramgarh 43 Domotand 28 Hazaribagh 20

KATHAMANDU (Via Silliguri)1,170 km
Siliguri 606 Kakarbhita 37 Itahari 91 Lahan 107 Dhalkebar 58 Lalbandi 34 Pethlaya 75 Hetanda 28 Mahabir 37 Kathmandu 97

KONARK 563 km.

NALANDA (also Bodh Gaya,Gaya,Rajgir,Pawapuri)569km
Pandua 70 Galsi 71 Durgapur 41 Sitarampur 51 Givindpur 41 Bagdodra 76 Barhi 50 Dobhi 60 Bodh Gaya 22 Gaya 8 Hisua 44 Rajgir 22 Nalanda 13 Pawapuri 18

PATNA 545 km
Pandua 70 Galsi 71 Durgapur 41 Asansol 40 Barakar 16 Govindpur 32 Bagdodra 26 Barhi 50 Nawada 86 Baktiyarpur 65 Patna 48

SANTINIKETAN 213 km
Chinsura 64 Burdwan 49 Panagarh 51 Santiniketan 47

SILIGURI 606 km

VARANASI 681 km
Pandua 70 Galsi 71 Durgapur 41 Bagdodra 76 Barhi 50 Dobhi 60 Dohir-on-son 86 Mughalsarai 120 Varanasi 15 Govindpur 92

VISHNUPUR 151 km
Amarbagh 96 Vishnupur 55

RANCHI 490 km
Kharagpur 132-Bohargora 68-Ghatsila 43 Dimna Mosh 42 Bendri 86 Ranchi 38

TRAVEL RESERVATION

AIR

Indian Airlines
39,Chittaranjan Avenue,Calcutta-700073
Timing 0900-1900 hrs.

RAIL

Eastern Railway Booking and Information Centre 6,Fairlie Place ,BBD Bag, Calcutta-700001
Timing:0900-1630 hrs. on weekdays
Sunday& Holidays:0930-1400 hrs.

South Eastern Railway Booking and information Centre, New Koliaghat Building, Strand road,
Calcutta
Timing:0830-1630 hrs. on weekdays
Sunday & Holiday:0830-1400 hrs.

LOCAL DISTANCE BUSES

Calcutta State Transport Corporation

Esplanade Bus Terminus
Timing:0700-2000 hrs.

North Bengal State Transport Corporation

Esplanade Bus Terminus
Timing:0500-2130 hrs.