Cabin Food Walk
Indian Coffee House and around
It is something that has been known for a while and a belief we at Calcutta Walks strongly stand by, that food is one of the strongest connects you can have with any city. Any cuisine with its varied flavours, common ingredients and distinct taste adds a unique identity to the character of a place.
Calcutta too has its incredible tastes – but what makes her’s so amazing is the variety of flavours that have emerged because of the plethora of influences that she has merged in herself.
In an endeavour to provide a holistic experience of the city to those who are more than tourists, Calcutta Walks has come up with its unique Cabin Food Walk.
In this we take you through all the hole in the wall eateries that dot old Calcutta where everyone from revolutionaries to literati have gathered to satiate their hunger for food and flock. So join us to eat from the palette that has served many a poet, writer, activist, footballer, filmmaker, photographer, et al.
Street Food Calcutta Tours
New Market and around
You get to experience some of the best food in the world at a fraction of the cost that you’d pay anywhere else. While some food items developed indigenously most have been brought it by the many settlers who came in attracted by the prosperity of this colonial city. Without further ado let’s plunge in and find out the best available street food in the city and the many locations and outlets that will leave you craving for more.
From the famous Kati rolls, a unique Calcutta style wrap, to street side masala cha, from varieties of fried fish to the unending list of delectable sweets. The range that you will experience will be a delight for all foodies.
Depending on where we go the tour may include a taste of:
Jalebis, Soota Kababs, Dahi Papdi Chaat, Gaathia, Dalpuri, Chai, Chilla, Chowmein, Bhel Puri, Jhaal Muri, Puchkas, Paw Bhaji, Shinghara, Aloo Puri, Fish Fry… and so on.
Kolkata City Tours
Colonial Calcutta | Bazaars | Rennaisance Bengal | Kali Temples
We set out early morning, much before the rules against bicycles kick in, on an exploration of the old city of Calcutta – through its unique and interesting localities. Comfortable clothing, average biking ability, hugging corners while riding and listening to directions should give you a great exploration of the old city.
In case you want to see much more in far lesser time then we have car and coach based Kolkata city tours for you. In about 4 hours from pickup to drop we can offer you glimpses of our city along the following themes:
Colonial Calcutta
Flit around the city taking in the legacy left behind the former colonial power.
As you explore this side of the city you understand why they said that the sun never sets on the British Empire and how they reached the peak of their prowess and made more than enough show of it.
Rennaisance Bengal
This is why they used to say, “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.”
Just like Europe, Bengal had its Rennaisance too, which took it out of the clutches of the ‘dark’ age and threw away the old to create a new world order. Some of the most important proponents of the Bengal soil reached the peak of their individual talents thanks largely to the friction between the East and the West.
Bazaars of the old city.
‘Coz the city emerged from one – Sutanuti
The many Calcutta markets give the city its distinctive character. From its emergence at Sutanuti, a bazaar of cotton thread, Calcutta developed along the lines of its many bazaars and the localities like Kumartulli, Shyam Bazaar, Radha Bazaar, Colootola, and the like. Explore the various markets of the old city from the oldest to the newest.
Myriad Calcutta Cultures
There had been quite a few, as exemplified by the Confluence of Cultures Walk
Hundreds of cultures made Calcutta its cosmopolitan self. Among the most prominent of them being Armenian, Jewish, Chinese, Islamic, Jain, Buddhist coupled with the old influence of the Portuguese, the Scottish, the Greek and so on. We show you the same through a tour of their various worship and cultural centers.
Kali’s Calcutta – Temples and around.
They never said ‘Jai Kali Calcutte-wali’ for nothing.
Calcutta, in a way belongs to Kali, and the fact that city came up along the pilgrimage route between the most sacred place of Kali worship at the Kalighat Temple and one of the oldest at Chitpur Chitteswari Temple, stamps the final seal on it. Explore how Goddess Kali pervades the lives of the people of the city.
The Star Still Shines / Black Town Walk
Sovabazar
The ever-vital hub of traditional Bengali culture, ‘the natives’ area’, Sovabazar is all this and much more. This area contains a fascinatingly cosmopolitan blend of the seemingly incongruous architectural forms (from Islamic to Baroque, from Victorian to Bengali) which made up the old world dwellings of the city’s wealthier Bengalis. No one who wishes to savor the authentic flavor of Bengali culture and cuisine can afford to miss out on this walk.
Join us to learn much more about life in Black Town, to get a glimpse of this time warp called Bengali Calcutta.
Cook as the Bongs do / Bengali Cooking Experience
Lake Market / Jadu Babu Bazar
Bengal is a foodie’s paradise and more so Calcutta, where various adventurers have left their gastronomical imprints. We take you through an experience not easy to forget…especially because of the satiating burps afterwards. A walk through the market will familiarize you with the ingredients that go into the making of some of authentic Bengali food and we follow that up with cooking demonstration by either a regular housewife or by the owners of the finest restaurants of the city. Always followed by authentic Bengali sweets – a good enough reason to be on this tour.
Special Instructions
Please do mention to the cook if you have any sort of allergies. All the food is bought fresh and cooked in front of you, in case your stomach is super-sensitive we advise that you take your necessary pills.
Pedalling through the Old City / Bicycle Tour
White Town | Black Town | Grey Town | Riverside | Wetlands
We set out early morning, much before the rules against bicycles kick in, on an exploration of the old city of Calcutta – through its unique and interesting localities. Comfortable clothing, average biking ability, hugging corners while riding and listening to directions should give you a great exploration of the old city.
Based on the morning’s choice we can do:
Colonial areas / the Black Town / the Grey Town / Localities By The River / East Calcutta Wetlands or a mix of everything.
Greater Calcutta Cruise
Belur Math to Botanical Gardens
The cruise starts at 8 am and takes you to the pristine Belur Math for a greater understanding into who created the famous Ramakrishna Mission and how. With breakfast and lunch on board we also visit the Botanical Gardens, home of the famous Banyan Tree, the largest of its kind in this part of the world.
Available only on days we already have a group of 10 people going.
City Of Learning
College Street - Bengal Renaissance Walk
Calcutta is a city where the east and the west met and this meeting of such great forces could not have been devoid of friction. We will try and give you a glimpse of this in the course of our walk through arguably the largest books bazaar in the world. In the course of this journey you will learn how religions, sciences, societies, technologies and above all individuals underwent a sea change. From the first university of Asia to the hub of all adda, from religious experiments to scientific calculations, from booksellers that deal in old and rare books to eateries that only catered to nationalists – you will see all that went into the awakening of a new order.
Bringing the Goddess To Earth
Flower Market to Kumartuli - Life By The River Walk
Hooghly, a distributary of the Ganges is integral to the very identity of Bengal. It gives and sustains life for the millions that depend on it. From the wrestlers who exercise on its soft clay to the boatmen who ferry people across, from the flower sellers who need the water to keep their produce fresh to the boys who throw magnets and retrieve coin offerings from its bed. Join us in exploring this visual, aural and olfactory riot from the flower bazaar to the clay idol makers’ den, Kumartulli, from the Howrah Bridge to the cremation ghats – it’s the buzz of life.