Lesser-known towns, cheese making and an annual fair, the bylanes and streets of West Bengal are filled with hidden stories of cheese makers and old-time weavers. Dig deeper with us.

Closet to one of Kolkata’s Nahoum and Sons are two stalls- S. Panja and Johnson’s- the only stalls that sell a piece of Bengal’s Portuguese past in the form of the small salty disks of cheese known as Bandel cheese. The city also boasts of a Greek Orthodox Church that stands with its whitewashed facade in Kalighat. Move away from Kolkata and there are enough and more tiny towns around with a story of their own-Bandel, a former Portuguese trading is a town with the Bandel Basilica, the oldest church in Bengal. Close to Shantiniketan are the temple towns of Surul, Itonda, Illambazar and Nanoor, with impressive terracotta temples. Away from the bustling cities and tinsel towns and higher up, the Neora Valley National Park in the Kalimpong Hills is at 10,341 feet and is home to leopard cats, black bears, sloths, golden cats, red pandas and the Himalayan flying squirrel among other animals. Step away from Kolkata’s cliches and there is a whole lot to do in West Bengal.