Travel
Long weekend trips from Kolkata: 3-day plans by car and by train for 2 to 4 October 2026
Ten 3-day plans for Gandhi Jayanti weekend, Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October 2026: five drives with distances and highways, five train trips with the actual trains, times and running days from Indian Railways.
In this post (5)
Every year the Puja reaches Kolkata the same way: first in the shops, then on the roads. This year a public holiday lands in the middle of that. Gandhi Jayanti is on Friday 2 October, which gives Kolkata a Friday-to-Sunday weekend eight days before Mahalaya and two weeks before Shashthi. It is the last free weekend before the Puja, and a lot of people will spend it out of town.
Here are ten plans, each for three days: five drives and five train trips, chosen for what works in early October rather than for what is most posted. A sea trip at the end of the monsoon needs a different head from a walk in sal forest. The train times are from Indian Railways' own enquiry system, NTES, for the long weekend's dates. The plans come from the railway's timetable, West Bengal Tourism's pages, the state lodges' own listings, Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap, not from a visit, and the text says which of them each part comes from.
Before you pick: weather, the Puja crowd and what to book
Start with the rain. In Kolkata's weather records (Alipore, 1991 to 2020) an average October brings 179.6 mm of rain over 7.4 rainy days, with days around 32°C and nights around 24°C. It is still a wet month. For the hills of Purulia and the forests of Jhargram that is good news: they are at their greenest just after the rains. For the sea it means you should check the forecast, not the calendar. Read the India Meteorological Department's Kolkata forecast on Thursday night, and if there is a warning for the coast, stay out of the water.
Then the crowd. A three-day weekend that is also the last one before the Puja fills the state lodges first and the good private ones next, and the Sunday evening drive back into Kolkata will be slow on every highway. Two habits help: leave Kolkata before 6 am on Friday, and on Sunday start back by lunch.
Five drives from Kolkata for three days
Distances and times below are from OpenStreetMap's router, from Esplanade, with no traffic at all. Treat the time as a floor. A Friday morning with a holiday crowd adds an hour, often more, and so does a stop for breakfast at Kolaghat.
Tajpur and Mandarmani
Purba Medinipur, on the Bay of Bengal
The easiest sea for a car from Kolkata, and our pick if you want sand and not temples. Wikipedia gives the road the way everyone drives it: over the Vidyasagar Setu and the Kona Expressway to the Mumbai road, through Kolaghat to Nandakumar, right towards Contai, then left at Chawalkhola, with tolls at Dhulagori and Sonapetya. Mandarmani's beach is about 13 km long; the police no longer let private cars drive on it, and hotels are reached by a road behind. Tajpur is a few kilometres to the west. Stay two nights at one and visit the other; do not try to drive the beach between them. In early October the sea can be rough. Swim only where others are allowed to, and never after dark.
- Distance
- About 170 km; 2 h 20 min on an empty road (OpenStreetMap), 3.5 to 4 hours in practice (Wikipedia)
- Route
- NH16 to Kolaghat, NH116 to Nandakumar, then NH116B towards Contai and Digha
- Fri 2 Oct
- Leave by 6 am, breakfast on the highway, check in by lunch, sunset on Tajpur's beach
- Sat 3 Oct
- Mandarmani by day; at sunset the boat trip to the mohana, the estuary, that local boatmen run
- Sun 4 Oct
- An early walk for the red crabs on the wet sand, check out by 11, home by evening
- Where to stay
- The Forest Development Corporation's Tajpur Prokriti Porjoton Kendra (book on wbfdc.net), or private resorts at Mandarmani across every budget; ask about a holiday surcharge
Gadiara
Howrah district, where the Rupnarayan meets the Hooghly
A short drive and the laziest weekend on this list, which is its point. Gadiara sits at the point where the Rupnarayan joins the Hooghly, with a lighthouse and the ruins of Fort Mornington, badly damaged in the flood of 1942. There is little to tick off. You come for the meeting of two rivers and the sunset over the water, and for three days of doing not much. If you want a full itinerary, pick another drive.
- Distance
- 85 km; about 1 h 15 min on an empty road (OpenStreetMap)
- Route
- NH16 out of Howrah, then SH15 south to the river
- Fri 2 Oct
- Arrive for lunch, the river bank and the lighthouse in the afternoon, sunset from the lodge's lawn
- Sat 3 Oct
- The fort ruins in the morning, a boat on the river if one is going out, a long afternoon
- Sun 4 Oct
- A slow breakfast and back to Kolkata before the Sunday rush
- Where to stay
- The state's Roopmanjari Tourism Property, ₹2,800 to ₹3,200 a room a night as listed on WBTDCL's booking site on 30 Sep
Taki
North 24 Parganas, on the Ichamati
A river with another country on the far bank. Taki is on the Ichamati, and the international border with Bangladesh runs along it, which is what made it a place people drive to. There is a boat on the river, the golpata forest with a canopy walk, and Taki's chhanar malpoa, the sweet the town is known for. Many people come to Taki for Bijoya Dashami, when the immersions happen on the river; that is 21 October this year, not this weekend. For three days, Taki is a rest with a sweet shop, like Gadiara, and it is the one to choose if you would rather not drive for more than two hours.
- Distance
- 70 km; about 1 h 15 min on an empty road (OpenStreetMap)
- Route
- North through Barasat on state highways, SH3 and then SH2 on OpenStreetMap; no NH on this one
- Fri 2 Oct
- Arrive by late morning, the river front in the afternoon, malpoa before dark
- Sat 3 Oct
- A boat on the Ichamati in the morning, the golpata forest and the canopy walk after lunch
- Sun 4 Oct
- One more walk by the river, then back; you will be home before evening
- Where to stay
- Private hotels and guest houses by the river; the state lodges listed here have none at Taki
Jhargram and Belpahari
Jhargram district, the western forests
Our first choice among the drives for early October. The monsoon has just finished with the sal forest, and West Bengal Tourism describes Jhargram's woods of sal, teak, piasal and mahul, with the Belpahari and Kankrajhor hills to the north. The Jhargram Raj palace was commissioned in 1931 in the Indo-Saracenic style on 23 acres, and part of it is now a state tourism property, so you can sleep in a palace for less than a Kolkata hotel room. Chilkigarh, 12 km from the town on the Dulung river, has the Kanak Durga temple in a forest dense enough to stay cool in summer. Belpahari is another 35 km or so into the hills.
- Distance
- Jhargram 171 km, Belpahari 207 km; 2 h 20 min and 2 h 50 min on an empty road (OpenStreetMap)
- Route
- NH16 to Kharagpur, then NH49 west and SH5 into Jhargram
- Fri 2 Oct
- Leave early, the Raj palace grounds in the afternoon, the evening in town
- Sat 3 Oct
- Out to Belpahari and the Kankrajhor hills for the day; back to Jhargram by dark
- Sun 4 Oct
- Chilkigarh and the Kanak Durga temple in the morning, then home by NH16
- Where to stay
- Jhargram Rajbari Tourism Project, ₹3,100 to ₹6,000 as listed on WBTDCL on 30 Sep; or the Forest Development Corporation's Jhargram Prakriti Porjoton Kendra
- No car?
- 12021 Janshatabdi leaves Howrah at 06:20 and reaches Jhargram at 08:24 daily; 12022 leaves Jhargram at 18:15 for Howrah (21:00)
Mukutmanipur
Bankura district, near the Jharkhand border
The longest drive in this list and the most water. Mukutmanipur is where the Kangsabati and the Kumari meet, held back by an earthen dam about 10 km long and 38 m high, planned in 1956 in Bidhan Chandra Roy's time for irrigation across Bankura, Purulia and Medinipur. The road passes Bishnupur, so stop there for the terracotta temples on the way. Walk the dam at sunset. Bangopalpur Reserve Forest is about 2 km from the lake, and Ambikanagar, once a Jain pilgrimage town, is 4 km from the dam.
- Distance
- 213 km; 3 h 25 min on an empty road (OpenStreetMap)
- Route
- SH15 and SH2 through Arambagh to Bishnupur, NH14 for a stretch, then SH2 and SH4 by Khatra
- Fri 2 Oct
- Leave by 6 am, lunch and two temples in Bishnupur, Mukutmanipur by late afternoon
- Sat 3 Oct
- A boat on the reservoir in the morning, Bangopalpur forest and Ambikanagar after lunch, the dam at sunset
- Sun 4 Oct
- Back by the same road; leave by 10 to reach Kolkata before dark
- Where to stay
- The state's Baroghutu Tourism Property at Mukutmanipur, ₹1,800 to ₹3,000 as listed on WBTDCL on 30 Sep, or private lodges by the dam; ask at the gate whether cars may drive on the dam road that day
For the drive itself, three songs from our Long Drive mood that were made for a road. Start with Hemanta Mukherjee's Pather Klanti Bhule: nobody in Bengal has sung the word path (the road) more gently.
3:23Pather Klanti Bhule, Hemanta Mukherjee
Saregama Bengali
From Morutirtho Hinglaj: a song about forgetting the road's tiredness. Put it on when Kolkata's traffic finally gives way to NH16.
3:34Ei Path Jodi Na Shes Hoy, Hemanta Mukherjee and Sandhya Mukherjee
Saregama Bengali
The Saptapadi duet. If this road did not end: nobody on a three-day weekend minds the thought.
3:49Chander Pahar title song, Arijit Singh
SVF
From the film of Bibhutibhushan's novel. Save it for the red-soil stretch past Bishnupur or Kharagpur, where the land starts to rise.
Five train trips, with the actual trains
Every train in this table runs on the day the plan uses it: Thursday 1 October for the night train to Purulia, Friday 2 on the way out, Sunday 4 on the way back. The times are Indian Railways' own, from NTES, and erail.in's copy of the railway's data says the same. As of 30 September, NTES listed no cancellation or diversion for any of them on 1 to 4 October. Timetables change, and a train can be cancelled at short notice for track work, so open NTES on the morning you travel and look up your train under Train Exception Info.
| Trip | Train | Leaves | Arrives | Runs | Classes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santiniketan, out | 13017 Ganadevta Exp | Howrah 06:05 | Bolpur 08:29 | Daily | 3A, CC, SL, 2S |
| Santiniketan, out | 22301 Vande Bharat | Howrah 05:55 | Bolpur 07:25 | Not Wednesday | CC |
| Santiniketan, out | 12337 Santiniketan Exp | Howrah 10:00 | Bolpur 12:15 | Daily | CC, 2S |
| Santiniketan, back | 12338 Santiniketan Exp | Bolpur 13:15 | Howrah 16:00 | Daily | CC, 2S |
| Santiniketan, back | 13018 Ganadevta Exp | Bolpur 18:11 | Howrah 21:50 | Daily | 3A, CC, SL |
| Santiniketan, back | 22302 Vande Bharat | Bolpur 20:05 | Howrah 22:30 | Not Wednesday | CC |
| Bishnupur, out | 12883 Rupashi Bangla | Santragachi 06:30 | Bishnupur 09:30 | Daily | 3A, CC, 2S |
| Bishnupur, out | 12885 Aranyak Exp | Shalimar 07:45 | Bishnupur 11:00 | Not Sunday | CC |
| Bishnupur, back | 12884 Rupashi Bangla | Bishnupur 17:31 | Howrah 21:15 | Daily | 3A, CC, 2S |
| Ajodhya Hills, out | 18011 Chakradharpur Exp | Howrah 23:30 Thu 1 Oct | Purulia 06:25 Fri | Daily | Sleeper and AC berths |
| Ajodhya Hills, out | 12883 Rupashi Bangla | Santragachi 06:30 | Purulia 12:05 | Daily | 3A, CC, 2S |
| Ajodhya Hills, back | 12884 Rupashi Bangla | Purulia 15:25 | Howrah 21:15 | Daily | 3A, CC, 2S |
| Ghatshila, out | 12021 Janshatabdi | Howrah 06:20 | Ghatsila 09:01 | Daily | CC |
| Ghatshila, out | 12813 Steel Exp | Howrah 17:10 | Ghatsila 20:05 | Daily | CC, 2S, EC, 3E |
| Ghatshila, back | 12022 Janshatabdi | Ghatsila 17:32 | Howrah 21:00 | Daily | CC, 2S |
| Digha, out | 12857 Tamralipta Exp | Howrah 06:45 | Digha 10:05 | Daily | CC |
| Digha, out | 22897 Kandari Exp | Howrah 15:00 | Digha 18:20 | Daily | CC, 2S |
| Digha, back | 12858 Tamralipta Exp | Digha 10:35 | Howrah 13:55 | Daily | CC, 2S |
| Digha, back | 22898 Kandari Exp | Digha 19:20 | Howrah 22:40 | Daily | CC, 2S |
3A is AC three-tier, SL sleeper, CC AC chair car, EC executive chair, 3E AC economy and 2S second sitting. The Aranyak Express does not run on Sundays, so come back from Bishnupur on the Rupashi Bangla. For the Vande Bharat to Bolpur, remember it skips Wednesdays; this weekend it runs both ways.
Santiniketan
Birbhum, 152 km north of Kolkata
The classic, and still the easiest train out of Howrah for a weekend. Debendranath Tagore took the land in 1863, Rabindranath began his school here in 1901 and founded Visva-Bharati in 1921, and in 2023 UNESCO put Santiniketan on its World Heritage List. Take the early Ganadevta so that you have the whole of Friday. The Sonajhuri market by the khoai, the eroded red land at the edge of town, is where local crafts and folk singers are; Wikipedia says it closes only on Wednesdays, so all three days are open. With the Puja two weeks away it doubles as Puja shopping, which is exactly why it will be crowded. Amar Kutir, a crafts cooperative, is about 15 km out.
- Fri 2 Oct
- 13017 Ganadevta, Howrah 06:05 to Bolpur 08:29; the Visva-Bharati campus in the morning, the khoai at sunset
- Sat 3 Oct
- Amar Kutir in the morning; Sonajhuri market after lunch, with an hour for the singers
- Sun 4 Oct
- A last walk, then 12338 Santiniketan Express, Bolpur 13:15 to Howrah 16:00, or 13018 Ganadevta at 18:11
- Where to stay
- The state's three Bolpur lodges as listed on WBTDCL on 30 Sep: Baul Bitan ₹2,800 to ₹4,600, Rangabitan ₹2,900 to ₹5,400, Shantobitan ₹2,500 to ₹4,200
1:00:57Play: Bolpur DiariesBolpur Diaries
Sudhu Golper Jonno
A detective story set in Bolpur, told for Rabindranath's birthday: a poem everybody knows, and drops of blood that should not be there. It runs about an hour, well inside the Ganadevta's two hours and twenty-four minutes.
Bishnupur
Bankura, the Malla kings' temple town
Three days is the right size for Bishnupur, and October light is kind to terracotta. The Malla kings built them, and Wikipedia dates the best known: Shyam Rai in 1643, the twin-roofed Jor Bangla around 1655 and Madan Mohan around 1694, with the Rasmancha counted the oldest brick temple of them. The temples have been on UNESCO's tentative World Heritage list since 1997. Bishnupur also has its own gharana of music, dated to 1370, and the Baluchari sari, woven with scenes from the epics in its border and pallu. Take the Rupashi Bangla from Santragachi on Friday and come back on it on Sunday evening.
- Fri 2 Oct
- 12883 Rupashi Bangla, Santragachi 06:30 to Bishnupur 09:30; Rasmancha and Shyam Rai before lunch, Jor Bangla in the afternoon
- Sat 3 Oct
- Madan Mohan and the smaller temples in the morning; the Baluchari sari shops after lunch
- Sun 4 Oct
- A free morning, then 12884 Rupashi Bangla, Bishnupur 17:31 to Howrah 21:15
- Where to stay
- Bishnupur Tourism Property, ₹2,400 to ₹4,200 as listed on WBTDCL on 30 Sep, or hotels in town
40:48Play: Bishnupurer Jongole Ek RaatBishnupurer Jongole Ek Raat
221B Harrison Road
A night in a forest near Bishnupur, from 221B Harrison Road's village ghost stories. Forty minutes, which fits comfortably between Kharagpur and Bishnupur.
Ajodhya Hills
Purulia, the eastern edge of the Chhotanagpur plateau
Our first choice among the train trips, and the one that suits October best. Just after the rains the hills are green and the falls have water in them. Wikipedia gives the highest point, Chamtuburu, at about 700 m (the article gives both 699 m and 720 m), and places the sights by the road from the hill top: the Upper Dam of the pumped-storage project 6 km away, Bamni Falls 10 km, Turga Dam and Falls 18 km, with the Murguma reservoir below the hills. This is Chhau country too, the masked dance of Purulia. The night train from Howrah on Thursday gives you all of Friday; if you would rather sleep at home, the Rupashi Bangla reaches Purulia at noon. Hire a car at Purulia station for the hills.
- Thu 1 Oct
- 18011 Chakradharpur Express leaves Howrah at 23:30 and reaches Purulia at 06:25 on Friday
- Fri 2 Oct
- Up the hill by breakfast, Upper and Lower Dam in the morning, Mayur Pahar for sunset
- Sat 3 Oct
- Bamni Falls and Turga Falls, then Murguma in the afternoon
- Sun 4 Oct
- Down to Purulia by early afternoon for 12884 Rupashi Bangla, 15:25 to Howrah 21:15
- Where to stay
- Murguma Tourism Property, ₹2,700 to ₹4,200 as listed on WBTDCL on 30 Sep; the forest rest houses, one on the hill top and one at Matha; private resorts around the foothills
55:07Play: Puruliar School MasterPuruliar School Master
221B Harrison Road
A ghost story about a schoolmaster in Purulia, 55 minutes long. Keep it for the dark part of the Chakradharpur Express after Kharagpur, when the window shows nothing.
Ghatshila
East Singhbhum, Jharkhand, on the Subarnarekha
The one out of state, and the one for readers. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, who wrote Aranyak and Chander Pahar, died here on 1 November 1950, and his house, Gouri Kunj, named after his wife, is kept by the Government of Jharkhand. The Subarnarekha runs past the town, and around it are the Rankini temple, Burudi lake behind its dam, the Dharagiri fall and Phuldungri hill. The Janshatabdi gets you there just after nine on Friday, and the same train brings you back on Sunday night. Read Aranyak on the way, or at least its first chapter.
- Fri 2 Oct
- 12021 Janshatabdi, Howrah 06:20 to Ghatsila 09:01; Gouri Kunj and the Subarnarekha bank in the afternoon
- Sat 3 Oct
- Burudi lake in the morning, the Dharagiri fall after lunch
- Sun 4 Oct
- Phuldungri hill early and the Rankini temple, then 12022 Janshatabdi, Ghatsila 17:32 to Howrah 21:00
- Where to stay
- Small hotels and lodges in the town
Digha, with Shankarpur
Purba Medinipur, the old sea resort
The Di of the Bengali traveller's DiPuDa (Digha, Puri, Darjeeling): the sea most of Kolkata knows first, and still the simplest to reach by train. Digha's beaches run over 7 km, New Digha is about 2 km from the old beach, and the railway has come here since 2004. The Marine Aquarium opened in 1989, the Jagannath temple in April 2025, and the Chandaneswar temple is 8 km away. Digha on a holiday weekend is full; for a quieter morning, go east along the coast to Shankarpur. The same weather rule applies as at Mandarmani: if the coast has a warning, look at the sea from the promenade.
- Fri 2 Oct
- 12857 Tamralipta Express, Howrah 06:45 to Digha 10:05; New Digha's beach after lunch
- Sat 3 Oct
- Shankarpur in the morning, the Jagannath temple and the Marine Aquarium in the afternoon
- Sun 4 Oct
- Chandaneswar early, then 22898 Kandari Express, Digha 19:20 to Howrah 22:40, or 12858 at 10:35 if you want the afternoon at home
- Where to stay
- The state's Dighali-I (₹2,600 to ₹4,200) and Dighali-II (₹3,200 to ₹3,500) as listed on WBTDCL on 30 Sep, and hotels of every kind in New Digha
What to book now
- Train tickets first. If your train is full, the Tatkal quota opens one day before the journey date: 10 am for AC classes, 11 am for sleeper and second sitting.
- A room, before you leave. The state lodges fill first on a holiday weekend; book on WBTDCL's site or the Forest Development Corporation's, and pay for the nights you will use.
- A car at the other end for the train trips: Purulia for Ajodhya, Bolpur if you want Amar Kutir, Ghatsila for Burudi and Dharagiri. Ask the lodge for a local number before you set off.
- For the drives, fill up in Kolkata, keep the FASTag topped up for the NH16 tolls, and download the offline map for the stretch after Kharagpur.
Something to listen to on the train
A train of three hours is exactly the length of three good stories, or one long one. For the Ghatshila train, go to Bibhutibhushan's page for his stories on air; for any train at all, a Kakababu adventure is made for a window seat. And if you are driving, the rest of our Long Drive mood has 76 songs, Bengali, Hindi and English, which is more than three days of NH16 will need.
One last tip: look up your train on NTES before you leave. Then leave Kolkata to its shopping, and come back on Sunday with Mahalaya six days away.
References (17)
- NTES: Train Schedule and Train Exception Info, Indian Railways (CRIS). Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Tatkal scheme, Indian Railways. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Jhargram district, West Bengal Tourism. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Purulia district, West Bengal Tourism. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Climate of Kolkata, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Mandarmani, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Gadiara, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Taki, India, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Jhargram, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Mukutmanipur, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Kangsabati Project, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Santiniketan, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Bishnupur, West Bengal, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Ajodhya Hills, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Ghatshila, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
- Digha, Wikipedia. Checked 30 Sep 2026.
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