Check out the other relevant Calcutta and Bengal sections, including my Calcutta food guide, recommended reading and film recommendations for Calcutta/Bengal, Bengali music recommendations, and my getaway to Shantiniketan and a Rajbari stay in a village a few hours from the city.
Check out my wife's Instagram stories for more photos.
Calcutta (or Kolkata, but I use Calcutta more because that’s what it sounds like in my head) is awesome. It is obviously a must visit for anyone who loves big Indian cities, has a serious interest in modern Indian history (by modern I mean EIC and onward, in India we're dealing with some hardcore time horizons), and a love of Bengali culture. This and Mumbai are the only two Indian cities that qualify as grand metropolises in my book, and the only two big cities in India that feel cohesive rather than like a series of disjointed colonies. This makes Calcutta a better walking city than you'd expect, despite its obvious challenges.
I spent a month there in December 2022 and still feel I have much to explore, and I look back on that time with an emotional longing for it. It is hard to explain as much of it is intangible, but I would say what I love is the massive scale where every single part is interesting, the way everything feels old, and my connection with many great cultural products that came out of the city (see the separate posts I have on books, films, and music). There's a grandeur to the city that I find awe inspiring. And Bengali food is some of the world's finest.
It’s not for everyone (even as a seasoned India hand, I was still like “This traffic is crazy! Why is everyone honking?!”), and I feel a short trip might just be chaotic and unsatisfying (though I feel that way about short trips to big cities in general), but a longer stay is highly rewarding. I would recommend moving there! I look forward to returning for another long stay one day and am eager to come for Durga Puja.