The incredible Victoria Memorial is a vast, beautifully proportioned festival of white marble: think US Capitol meets Taj Mahal. Had it been built for a beautiful Indian princess rather than a colonial queen, this domed beauty flanking the southern end of the Maidan would surely be considered one of India’s greatest buildings. Commissioned by Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, it was designed to commemorate Queen Victoria’s demise in 1901, but construction wasn’t completed until 20 years after her death.

Inside, highlights are the soaring central chamber and the Calcutta Gallery, an excellent, even-handed exhibition tracing the city’s colonial-era history. Even if you don’t want to go in, the building is still worth admiring from afar: there are magnificently photogenic views across reflecting ponds from the northeast and northwest. Or you can get closer by paying your way into the large, well-tended park, open from dawn to dusk. Entrance is from the north or south gates (with ticket booths at both). The east gate is exit-only by day, but on winter evenings, enter here for the 45-minute English-language sound & light show (Story of Calcutta; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Indian/foreigner ₹10/20; h7.15pm Tue-Sun mid-Oct–Feb, 7.45pm Tue-Sun Mar-Jun). Tickets available from 5pm. Show seating is outside and uncovered. There are no shows in summer.

India's biggest and oldest major museum celebrated its bicentenary in February 2014. It's mostly a lovably old-fashioned place that fills a large colonnaded palace ranged around a central lawn. Extensive exhibits in various galleries include fabulous sculptures dating back two millennia (notably the lavishly carved 2nd-century-BC Bharhut Gateway), Egyptian mummies, relics from the ancient Indus Valley civilisation of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, pickled human embryos, dangling whale skeletons and some 37 types of opium in the library-like commercial botany gallery.

Arguably Kolkata's most iconic Gothic superstructure, decorated with a central crenellated tower, St Paul’s would look quite at home in Cambridgeshire but cuts an equally impressive profile against Kolkata's skyline. Built between 1839 and 1847, it has a remarkably wide nave and features a stained-glass west window by pre-Raphaelite maestro, Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Reputedly the first cathedral built outside of the UK, St Paul's takes centre stage on Christmas Eve, when hundreds of people flock in to attend midnight Mass.

Active from 1767 to about 1840, this historic cemetery remains a wonderful oasis of calm, featuring surreal mossy Raj-era graves from rotundas to soaring pyramids, all jostling for space in a lightly manicured jungle. Apart from their sculptural beauty, some of the crumbling graves here house mortal remains of eminent citizens from Kolkata's colonial era, including academic Henry Derozio, scholar William Jones and eminent botanist Robert Kyd. Entry is from the north gate on Park St, and photography is allowed.

Marked by a distinctive red-brick clocktower ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; New Market), this enormous warren of market halls dates to 1874, but was substantially rebuilt after a 1980s fire. By day, handicraft touts can be a minor annoyance, and the crowds can swell in the evenings, especially on weekends. It's more engrossing just after dawn, when there's a harrowing (and a wee morbid) fascination in watching the arrival of animals at the meat market, with its grizzly chopping blocks, blood-splattered floors and pillared high ceilings.

Within the main market, Chamba Lama ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; New Market; h11am-8pm Mon-Sat) is one of the best-known shops to pick up silver and semiprecious jewellery. Another curiosity is Nahoum Bakery ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Stall F-20, New Market; snacks/brownies ₹30/50; h9.30am-8pm Mon-Sat, to 1pm Sun), with plum cakes and lemon tarts displayed in its showcases. Little has changed here since 1902, when its original Jewish owners arrived from Baghdad. The little teak cash desk is more than 80 years old.

A regular flow of mostly Christian pilgrims visits the Missionaries of Charity’s 'Motherhouse' to pay homage at Mother (and now Saint) Teresa’s large, sober tomb. A small adjacent museum room displays Teresa’s worn sandals and battered enamel dinner bowl. Located upstairs is the room where she worked and slept from 1953 to 1997, preserved in all its simplicity. From Sudder St, walk for about 15 minutes along Alimuddin St, then two minutes' south. It's in the second alley to the right.

A vast expanse of green in the heart of the city's brick-and-mortar matrix, the Maidan is where Kolkata's residents congregate for walks, spirited cricket and football matches, family outings, dates, tonga rides and general idling. The grounds are flanked by the Victoria Memorial and St Paul's Cathedral to the south and the Hooghly riverbanks ( GOOGLE MAP ) to the west. A tram line cuts through the greens, and hopping onto of the carriages for a slow ride is great fun.

Historically, the Maidan was created in in 1758, in the aftermath of the ‘Black Hole’ fiasco. A moated ‘second’ Fort William, it was shaped in octagonal, Vaubanesque form, and the whole village of Gobindapur was flattened to give the new fort’s cannons a clear line of fire. Though sad for then-residents, this created a 3km-long park that is today as fundamental to Kolkata as Central Park is to New York City. Fort William itself remains hidden within a walled military zone.

Loosely styled on Sanchi’s iconic Buddhist stupa, this 1962 planetarium presents slow-moving, half-hour audio-visual programs on the wonders of the universe and mysteries of deep space. It's quite convenient as a rest stop in between your day's explorations of nearby sights, and the shows aren't half bad in their execution (the baritone voice-over is particularly dramatic!).

Celebrating the life and vision of controversial Bengali leader and pro-Independence radical Subhas Chandra Bose is this house-turned-museum, which also houses an academic research bureau. The yellow limewashed building was Bose’s brother’s residence, from where he made his famous ‘Great Escape’ from British-imposed house arrest in January 1941, before eventually joining hands with the Japanese to wage war against British forces. Some rooms retain a 1940s feel, and the original Wanderer getaway car is parked in the drive.

Several bright, ground-floor gallery rooms in this 1933 building feature changing exhibitions by local artists. It's a good place to check out young-and-upcoming city talents, as well as some senior artists from the academic circuit. There's also a theatre on-site, where local groups often stage their plays that are mostly written and performed in regional languages. Information regarding ongoing and upcoming productions can be found at the main entrance.

Imaginative exhibitions of contemporary artworks, by Indian and international artists in diverse media, are spread through four spacious rooms of this classic Kolkata colonial building, restored painstakingly by the gallery proprietors. The verandah with chequered floor tiles leads to a cosy cafe. Interestingly, the gallery has two charming guest rooms (double including breakfast ₹5000) adjoining the exhibition space, which are normally reserved for visiting artists but opened up for tourists when they're vacant. Call the gallery for details.

One of Kolkata’s greatest architectural triumphs, the High Court building was built between 1864 and 1872, loosely modelled on the medieval Cloth Hall in Ypres (Flanders). The grand Gothic exterior is best viewed from the south. To enter, you'll have to go to the eastern entrance security desk and apply for an entry pass (carry ID). Once inside, it's fun to explore the endless arches following brigades of lawyers shuffling around in white collar pieces overlaid with flapping black gowns.

This stone-spired 1787 church is ringed by columns and contains a small, portrait-draped room once used as an office by Warren Hastings, India’s first British governor-general. It's on the right as you enter (entry to the main church is via the rear portico). The tree-shaded grounds have several interesting monuments, including the mausoleum of Job Charnock ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; St John's Church) and the relocated Black Hole Memorial ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; St John's Church). The church is home to an exquisite painting depicting the Last Supper, by 18th-century German artist Johann Zoffany.

One of the most iconic buildings on BBD Bagh is the old General Post Office, with its central rotunda soaring nearly 40m around a statue of a lance-wielding mail runner. Most postal transactions, however, are in a building 100m further up Koilaghat St. Outside that is a philatelic bureau where you can get commemorative issues or design yourself a sheet of ₹5 stamps incorporating your own photo (₹300). However, these can take up to seven days to be delivered.

Howrah Bridge is a 705m-long abstraction of shiny steel cantilevers and rivets, which serves as a carriageway of nonstop human and motorised traffic across the Hooghly River. Built during WWII, it’s one of the world’s busiest bridges and a Kolkatan architectural icon. Photography of the bridge is prohibited, but you might sneak a discreet shot from one of the various ferries that ply across the river to the vast 1906 Howrah train station.

To lessen traffic load on the bridge and provide easy access to the city's southern districts from Howrah, a newer Vidyasagar Setu bridge was inaugurated in 1992. It can be seen about 3km downstream, cutting a Golden Gate Bridge–like profile across the river, if you look south from Howrah Bridge.

Near the southeast end of Howrah Bridge, this flower market is fascinatingly colourful virtually 24 hours a day. However, if you visit at daybreak, you'll see wholesellers arrive with huge consignments of flowers that are then auctioned to retailers. Many workers live in makeshift shacks, bathing in the river behind from a ghat with sunset views of Howrah Bridge. At around 7am, local wrestlers practise their art on a small caged area of sand set slightly back from the river.

Located amid the din and chaos of Rabindra Sarani, the 1926 red-sandstone Nakhoda Mosque rises impressively above the bustling shopfronts of its neighbouring commercial establishments. Its roof, which is adorned with emerald green domes and minarets, was loosely modelled on Akbar’s Mausoleum at Sikandra, while the main entrance gate was inspired by the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri. The mosque is Kolkata's largest, and is at the centre of festive action every evening during the holy month of Ramadan.

Built in 1835 by a raja from the prosperous Mallick family, this resplendent mansion is as grand as it is curious. Arguably one of India's best-preserved royal homes, its marble-draped halls are overstuffed with dusty statues of thinkers and dancing girls, much Victoriana, ample Belgian glassware, game trophies of moose heads and fine paintings, including supposedly original works by Murillo, Joshua Reynolds and Rubens. Admission is free, but you need prior written permission from West Bengal Tourism.

Of particular note within the building is the music room, lavishly floored with marble inlay, where Napoleons beat Wellingtons three to one. The ballroom retains its vast array of candle chandeliers with globes of silvered glass to spread illumination (original 19th-century disco balls!). There's also a private menagerie on the mansion's grounds, dating back to the early years, which is home to a few monkey and bird species.

To find Marble Palace from MG Rd metro, walk north and turn left at the first traffic light – 171 Chittaranjan (CR) Ave. From the east, it's on the lane that leaves Rabindra Sarani between Nos 198 and 200.

The stately 1784 family mansion of Rabindranath Tagore has become a shrine-like museum to India’s greatest modern poet. Even if his personal effects don’t inspire you, some of the well-chosen quotations might spark an interest in Tagore’s deeply universalist and modernist philosophy. There’s a decent gallery of paintings by his family and contemporaries, and an exhibition on his literary, artistic and philosophical links with Japan. There's also a 1930 photo of Tagore with Einstein shot during a well-publicised meeting.

Countless clay effigies of deities and demons immersed in the Hooghly during Kolkata’s colourful pujas (offering or prayers) are created in specialist kumar (sculptor) workshops in this enthralling district, notably along Banamali Sarkar St, the lane running west from Rabindra Sarani. Craftsmen are busiest from August to October, creating straw frames, adding clay coatings, and painting divine features on idols for Durga and Kali festivals. In November, old frameworks wash up on riverbanks and are often repurposed the following year.

Set very attractively amid palms and manicured lawns, this large religious centre is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, inspired by 19th-century Indian sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who preached the unity of all religions. Its centrepiece is the 1938 Ramakrishna Mandir ( GOOGLE MAP ; Belur Math; h6.30am-noon & 3.30-6pm), which somehow manages to look like a cathedral, Indian palace and Istanbul’s Aya Sofya all at the same time. Several smaller shrines near the Hooghly riverbank include the Sri Sarada Devi Temple ( GOOGLE MAP ; Belur Math; h6.30am-noon & 3.30-6pm), entombing the spiritual leader's wife, Sarada.

Accessed from the car park, a beautifully presented dual-level museum ( GOOGLE MAP ; h8.30-11.30am & 3.30-5.30pm Tue-Sun) charts Ramakrishna’s life and the travels of his great disciple Swami Vivekananda. During Durga Puja, the institution comes to life with absorbing spells of ritual and festive splendour, and the immersion of the goddess on the ultimate day in the Hooghly River is a spectacular draw.

From the main road outside, six daily suburban trains run between Belur Math and Howrah (25 minutes), most usefully at 10.45am and 4.45pm. Picking up next door to Belur Math train station, minibuses as well as buses 54 and 56 run to Esplanade/Howrah in stop-start traffic. Southbound, they pass almost beside Bandaghat from where you can take the thrice-hourly ferry to Ahiritola, then switch to the Bagbazar boat for Kumartuli. From Belur Jetty ( GOOGLE MAP ), ferries (hourly) and open boats (when full) operate to Dakshineswar. Southbound ferries to Howrah via Bagbazar depart at 6.30pm and 8pm (plus 9.15am/1.30pm weekdays/Sunday).

This ancient Kali temple is Kolkata’s holiest spot for Hindus, and possibly the source of the city’s name. Today’s version is the 1809 rebuild, with floral- and peacock-motif tiles that look more Victorian than Indian. More interesting than the architecture are the jostling pilgrim queues that snake into the main hall to fling hibiscus flowers at a crowned, three-eyed Kali image with a gold-plated tongue. Behind the bell pavilion, goats are ritually beheaded (generally mornings) to honour the Tantric goddess.

The lakes here prettily reflect hazy sunrises, while middle-class Kolkatans jog, row and meditate around the tree-shaded parkland that was once the site of an Allied Forces medical camp during WWII. Some form circles to do group yoga routines culminating in forced, raucous laugh-ins, engagingly described by Tony Hawks as Laughing Clubs in The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta. Young love birds match the park's avian residents in numbers, and street musicians enthral listeners with soulful tunes, mostly on weekends.

A graceful 20th-century structure built in cream-coloured sandstone, this temple is consecrated to the Hindu gods Narayan (Vishnu) and his wife Lakshmi. The three corn-cob shaped towers are more impressive for their size than their carvings, and the courtyards are a nice place to sit and spend a few moments in quiet contemplation. There's a state-of-the-art auditorium adjacent to the temple complex called GD Birla Sabaghar ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.gdbirlasabhaghar.com; Queens Park Rd) that often hosts musical programs and other performances; see website for upcoming schedules.

A cutting-edge contemporary art gallery located on the 2nd floor of an upmarket South Kolkata building complex, CIMA is a great place to check out works by some of India's top-line contemporary artists as well as old masters. Exhibitions change on a biweekly or monthly basis, and there are occasionally specially curated shows. There's also a design shop and gift store within the premises, selling an eclectic and highly desirable collection of souvenirs, handicrafts and urban-chic designware.

Despite being an awkward journey by public transport, Kolkata’s lovely 109-hectare Botanical Gardens makes for a great place to escape from the city’s frazzling sounds and smells. Founded in 1786, the gardens – home to more than 12,000 plant species – played an important role in cultivating tea bushes smuggled in from China by the British, long before the drink became a household commodity. Today, there’s a cactus house, palm collection, river-overlook and a boating lake with splendid Giant Amazon Lily pads.

The most touted attraction in the park is the 250-year-old ‘world’s largest banyan tree’. That’s a little misleading – the central trunk rotted away in the 1920s, leaving an array of cross-branches and linked aerial roots that collectively look more like a copse than a single tree. The banyan is five minutes' walk from the park’s Bicentenary Gate on buses 55 and 213, or a 30-minute walk from the main gate where minibuses as well as bus 55 terminate after a painfully slow journey from Esplanade via Howrah. Taxis from Shakespeare Sarani charge around ₹200 via the elegant Vidyasagar Setu.

A hidden island of tranquillity in the heart of Kolkata, this delightful garden complex offers visitors an opportunity to acquaint themselves with tropical plant species, even while feasting their eyes on its placid green surroundings. Hundreds of tropical shrubs and flowering plants blossom around the central lawn, as well as in the themed Japanese Garden and around a cute stony waterfall. There's also an orchard with fruit trees (no plucking), and separate gardens for cacti and orchids.

Kolkata’s 16-hectare zoo opened its doors in 1875 as one of British India's showpiece zoological gardens, but has gradually dropped in stature and standards over the years. The spacious lawns and lakeside promenades are very popular with weekend picnickers (hence all the rubbish). Avoid visiting between Christmas and New Year as the place is swamped by locals. You'll find toilets and stalls selling snacks and bottled water within the premises.