Using an eSIM in Kolkata

What Kolkata is like on a phone

Kolkata moves at a slower tempo than India's other big cities and is denser in people. Getting around means the long-running north–south metro, yellow taxis, and the few tram routes still in service. Central coverage is good and reaches most underground stations. What changes is the big festival season late in the year, when streets become pedestrian corridors and hundreds of thousands are out at once — on those nights the network slows for hours at a time.

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Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (CCU) is at Dum Dum, north of the city, forty minutes to an hour from the centre depending on traffic. The alternative is arriving by rail at Howrah or Sealdah, both enormous and busy. Get the line running before you leave the platform, because Howrah is on the far bank from the hotel districts and you will have to choose between the bridge by car and the ferry across, which at some hours is much the faster of the two.

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Park Street, BBD Bagh and Salt Lake are consistent, and the original metro line carries service through most stations. The east–west line's run beneath the Hooghly goes quiet for the few minutes between banks. Lanes in the older northern quarters and the traditional markets slow down at their busiest hours. River ferries stay usable almost throughout, the crossing being short with city on both sides. Heading south toward the delta, coverage tapers once you are past the suburbs.

What a day here costs in data

An ordinary day runs about 1–1.5GB on maps, rides and restaurant searches, which is most of what people do here. Come during the festival and film your way around the pandals all night, uploading as you go, and you should budget around 3GB — and expect those uploads to be slow. Trams and old-quarter walking cost little data, but leaving the map open in lanes where GPS wanders drains the battery, so carry a power bank.

Districts travellers ask about

• Park Street — The long-established restaurant street, lively until late and with its own metro stop — a practical base, since a lot is walkable without ordering a car.
• BBD Bagh & the colonial core — Government offices and colonial buildings that empty out at weekends; the line is good but shops shut early, so check opening hours before you set out.
• Howrah — The far bank, home to the great railway terminus; allow extra time for the bridge at rush hour, or take the ferry, which is usually quicker.
• Salt Lake & New Town — The planned eastern districts of wide roads, offices and hotels; closer to the airport than the centre is, but a fair way from the old quarters.

Day trips out of the city

• The Sundarbans — Three hours by road then a boat into the mangroves, where the line is gone for most of it and returns only in patches near villages; tell people at home in advance and keep the tour paperwork offline on the phone.
• Shantiniketan — Three hours north-west by train or car; the town itself is fine, though the fields and villages around it thin out — save your accommodation address as text rather than a link.
• Chandannagar — An hour and a half upriver, reachable on a suburban train that keeps signal the whole way; the old French riverfront behaves normally and is best walked in the late afternoon.