Private Full-Day Kolkata Tour

Private Full-Day Kolkata Tour

This 8-hour private tour of Kolkata takes you on an historical journey through the streets, markets and heritage buildings. Learn its history from being a small village to one of the first cities of the British Empire in India.

After being picked up from your hotel, your tour starts on the banks of the Hooghly River, where the battles of Europe were fought in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Alongside the Armenian, Portuguese churches and Jewish synagogues, you will embark on a journey.

You will see B.B.D. Bagh, formerly called Dalhousie Square, which dates back to the time of the Black Hole of Calcutta, from where it transformed itself into a City of Palaces. Also the famous Writers’ Building, the former HQ of the infamous English East India Company, the magnificent Governor’s House and the almost forgotten Charnock Mausoleum, where Job Chamock, an administrator of the East India Company and regarded as the founder of the city, lay.

Continue to the Park Street Cemetery and Victoria Memorial. This cemetery dates back to the 18th Century and is now a heritage site. The majestic memorial was built in the early 20th Century in honor of the then Queen Victoria. It now houses a permanent collection of art and a well-laid out Calcutta Gallery telling the history of the city. 

Enjoy lunch at Bomti’s and catch a rare glimpse of the old Calcutta way of life that now sadly endangered. Mr Surojit ‘Bomti’ Iyenger, an art collector and socialite, is delighted to welcome visitors to his charming flat in perhaps the most interesting heritage-filled building in historic Chowringhee. The authentic, homecooked Bengali cuisine will be served up with hot cups of fresh Darjeeling tea and stimulating insights into the Bengali and modern Kolkata art makeup.

On the last leg of your tour, you will gear up for a private riverboat cruise up the Hooghly.  Discover a lesser known side of Kolkata with views of the ghats or stairs that lead up from the river. Sail past the Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, as the city’s two huge and famous bridges, the Howrah and Vidyasagar Setu pass overhead. It is a wonderfully relaxing end to the day with a sumptuous tea menu comprising of popular Indian snacks and refreshing Darjeeling tea.