West Bengal

Tea Estate

If you like tea, you should visit this celebrated organic and biodynamic Darjeeling tea estate. Walk-in visits to the processing factory, with huge sorting and drying machines, typically last 30 to 45 minutes (mornings before 9am are the best time to see the production process). For a more in-depth experience, reserve a day ahead through Makaibari Homestays for a day tour, which includes a factory visit, a plantation walk with tea plucking, lunch in a local homestay, and tea tasting.

Historic Site

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, known affectionately as the toy train, made its first journey along its precipice-topping, 2ft-wide tracks in 1881 and is one of the few hill railways still operating in India. It has had Unesco World Heritage listing since 1999. Two-hour 'joy rides' from Darjeeling to Ghum and back satisfy most people's toy-train urges. There are normally around six of these pulled by antique steam locomotives daily, and three or so with diesel engines.

National Park

Singalila National Park covers the Indian side of the scenic Singalila Ridge, the Darjeeling region's finest trekking area, along the India–Nepal border west of Darjeeling. As well as providing fantastic views of the eastern Himalaya, the park is home to extensive rhododendron forests, a gorgeous site when blooming in late April and May. The most used park entry point is near Tumling, on the road from Mane Bhanjang, 25km from Darjeeling, to Sandakphu.

Nature Reserve

The 2585-sq-km Sundarbans Tiger Reserve has 100-plus Royal Bengal tigers lurking in its impenetrable mangrove forests and sometimes swimming its delta channels. Other residents of the forest include Gangetic dolphins, water monitors, 5m-long saltwater crocodiles and luminiscent kingfishers. Entry and guide fees, payable at the reserve's Sajnekhali Ecotourism Centre, depend on which areas you are visiting. If you're on an organised trip from Kolkata, they are normally included in your price.

Palace

Literally meaning 'house of 1000 doors', the Hazarduari was built in very English Neoclassical style for Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah in 1829–37. Not all of its 1000 doors are real, though: some are just motifs on walls. The palace houses an astonishing collection of antiquities, and its compound is also home to the beautiful Nizamat Imambara (1847), a clock tower, and two elegant Medina Mosques (one between the Hazarduari and Imambara, another inside the Imambara).

Museum

Ranged around tree-lined avenues, gravelled courtyards and exotic gardens, the Uttarayan Complex, in the heart of the Visva-Bharati campus, includes five architecturally very varied houses, from art deco to rural Bengal, in which Rabindranath Tagore lived at different times and did a lot of his writing. Also here is a museum of Tagore exhibits and memorabilia (including his ancient Humber car).

Mausoleum

The large, beautiful Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua gets its name from the reputed ₹1 lakh (₹100,000) cost of building it back in 1431. It's a domed brick square with an octagonal interior chamber and exquisite tile and brick ornamentation on the outside. The three tombs inside are thought to be those of Sultan Jalaluddin and his wife and son.

Mosque

The vast Adina Masjid, just west off NH12 (old NH34), 19km north of Malda, was India’s largest mosque when constructed by Sikandar Shah in the 14th century. It originally had nearly 400 small domes and some 90 brick arches.

Hindu Temple

The 'twin hut' structure of Jor Bangla is covered in particularly exquisite terracotta ornamentation.