Kolkata

A memorial of white Makrana marble from Rajasthan, opened in 1921 and wrapped in broad gardens. The museum inside rests on Mondays, and early in the morning the gardens belong to people out for their exercise walk.

A cantilever bridge opened in 1943, its steel joined with rivets alone and not a nut or bolt. Beneath the eastern end, Mallick Ghat holds a wholesale flower market every dawn, with marigold garlands piled like hills.

A temple to the goddess Kali founded in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni, where Ramakrishna served as priest. Ferries cross from its riverside ghat to Belur Math on the far bank, so both make a single half-day outing.

Headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission founded by Vivekananda, whose main hall blends the forms of a Hindu temple, a mosque and a church. It shuts for a few hours around midday and reopens in the afternoon, and cameras must stay off inside the hall.

Founded in 1814, it is the oldest museum in India, and the stone railings and gateway of the ancient Bharhut stupa were moved into one of its galleries. It stands on the corner of Park Street and Chowringhee Road, so a walk around the streets follows easily.

Stalls of second-hand books and textbooks line about a kilometre in front of Calcutta University. Up a flight in a side lane, the Indian Coffee House has turbaned waiters carrying coffee across a high-ceilinged hall, long the haunt of writers and students.

An artisans' quarter by the Hooghly, where Durga images are shaped from straw bound on bamboo frames and coated in river clay. The weeks before the festival are the busiest, and it is polite to ask the workshop owner before taking photos.

Mangrove forest in the Ganges delta, three or four hours south by road, protected as Bengal tiger country. Boats thread the channels and stop at watchtowers, so trips usually include an overnight stay.

A street of restaurants and tearooms going back to colonial days, where Flurys, opened in 1927, still serves breakfast. Around Christmas the whole street is strung with lights and crowds stay out until late at night.

Opened in 1767, it is crowded with the pyramids and obelisks of Britons from the East India Company era. You sign in at the gate lodge, and the tree cover is so thick the paths keep cool even at midday.

A mansion built in 1835 by the merchant Rajendra Mullick, still lived in by his descendants. European statues and chandeliers crowd floors laid in dozens of kinds of marble. Photography is not allowed inside, and a household attendant leads you room by room.

A Kali temple often named as the source of the city's name, where a toe of the goddess Sati is believed to have fallen. The black stone image bears a long golden tongue. Priests at the gate offer queue-jumping; fix a price first or donation demands grow.

Headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa, her tomb beside the ground-floor chapel. Upstairs her tiny room and a display of her belongings remain untouched. Travellers wanting to volunteer register here, and voices stay low inside.

A Greek-style colonnade raised by the Hooghly in 1843 in memory of the scholar James Prinsep. The Vidyasagar Setu cable-stayed bridge passes right beside it, a favourite sunset photo spot. Rowing boats tied up below can be bargained for a short trip.

A red-brick clock-tower market opened in 1874, formally the Sir Stuart Hogg Market. Inside, the Jewish bakery Nahoum's draws a queue for fruitcake around Christmas. Porters at the entrance offer to carry a basket behind you, and it is fine to say no.

A banyan in the 1787 botanic garden at Shibpur, Howrah, across the river. Roots dropped from its branches stand like columns, so it looks like a small forest. The diseased original trunk was cut out in 1925. The circle is fenced; you walk the path around it.

The family mansion where Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861 and died in 1941, now Rabindra Bharati University's museum, with his paintings and the household's old belongings room by room. It lies deep in the northern lanes; a rickshaw finds it faster.

A white Gothic Anglican cathedral consecrated in 1847, on the green east of the Victoria Memorial. Its west window glass was designed by the English artist Burne-Jones. Midnight service on Christmas Eve draws many non-churchgoers too, filling the grounds.

A wholesale flower market on the bank under the east end of Howrah Bridge, marigold garlands heaped like hills. It is busiest from dawn into early morning, then winds down by mid-morning. Paths are narrow and porters run with sacks of blooms on their heads.