The Victoria Memorial provides a beautiful backdrop to this colonial-era racecourse, from whose 19th-century grandstands you can watch some of India’s best horse racing at over 40 annual meets. The New Year Derby is particularly popular, and provides plenty of colourful photo ops featuring horses, jockeys and spectators in flamboyant dresses and hats.
Maidan Racecourse
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.67 MILES
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…
3.03 MILES
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…
6.35 MILES
Set very attractively amid palms and manicured lawns, this large religious centre is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, inspired by 19th-century…
4.35 MILES
Countless clay effigies of deities and demons immersed in the Hooghly during Kolkata’s colourful pujas (offering or prayers) are created in specialist…
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3.21 MILES
Built in 1835 by a raja from the prosperous Mallick family, this resplendent mansion is as grand as it is curious. Its marble-draped halls are overstuffed…
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3.35 MILES
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…
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1.57 MILES
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…
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0.93 MILES
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…
Nearby Kolkata (Calcutta) attractions
0.49 MILES
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…
0.63 MILES
Day-time entry tickets to the park and Victoria Memorial museum are sold here, but there's no access to the sound and light show.
0.67 MILES
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…
0.69 MILES
Directly south of the zoo's entrance, the access road to the National Library loops around the very regal Curzon Mansion, once the colonial viceroy's…
0.74 MILES
Day-time entry tickets to the park and Victoria Memorial museum are sold here, but there's no access to the sound and light show.
0.81 MILES
Located directly south of the entrance to the zoo is the (private) access road to the National Library, which houses India’s biggest archival collection…
0.82 MILES
By day you can exit the Victoria Memorial park from the east gate but not enter this way. From 5pm, a ticket booth here starts issuing tickets for the…
0.84 MILES
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…