One evening in north Kolkata

North Kolkata is the one part of the city where you genuinely do not need transport once you have arrived. The paras sit close together, the lanes are old and narrow, and the Metro runs down the spine of the whole thing — so an evening here is: arrive at one station, walk, leave from a different station.

Give it five hours. Six in the evening to eleven at night is the full version; if you want to see rather than queue, do the same walk from six in the morning instead and it takes three.

Start at Shyambazar and work south. Tala and Belgachia are just north of you if you want to add them at the front; Baghbazar and the river are a short walk west, and worth the detour for the ghat alone.

From Shyambazar the natural line is down through Hatibagan, into the market streets, then Hedua and Beadon Street. This stretch is the densest concentration of walkable pujas in the city and it will take you as long as you let it.

Continue to Sovabazar and the old riverside lanes if you have the energy, or cut across to Maniktala and Goabagan for a quieter end. Either way, finish at a Metro station rather than in the middle of a para.

This is the right part of the city for it. Telebhaja and chop from the corner stalls all evening, a kathi roll somewhere around nine, and a proper sit-down biryani or a Bengali thali if you want a break from standing.

The old sweet shops of north Kolkata are an argument in themselves. Finish with mishti; you have walked for it.

Metro, from whichever station you end nearest. Know the last train before you start — it runs late during Puja but the exact timing is announced each year.

If you miss it, the main roads north and south have buses and are the only places a cab will realistically pick you up.