European Heritage Tourism in Bengal

The British were not the only colonisers to call Bengal, the eastern state of India, a home away from home. Along the banks of the Hooghly river, not very far from the state capital Kolkata, lie a string of towns where much of Europe came to have their settlements. The district of Hooghly is situated on the west bank of the Hooghly River about 40 km north of Kolkata. It was a river port in the 15th century. The Portuguese dominated in Bandel, the Dutch in Chinsurah while the French controlled Chandannagar and the Danish community in Serampore. If you want to have a slice of this European heritage, a day trip out of Kolkata to Bengal’s proverbial ‘Little Europe’ is all you need.