Shantiniketan
This is a famous university town in West Bengal around 2.5 hours from Kolkata. It has become a tourist spot because of its association with
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), one of Bengal's greatest figures. Tagore was Asia's first Nobel laureate when in 1913 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The wealth of his works as a philosopher, visual artist, playwright, novelist, poet and composer is legendary and helped to reshape Bengali music and literature in the late 19th and early
20th centuries.
Attracted by the beauty of the place, Rabindranath Tagore's father Maehashi Debendranath Tagore established Shantiniketan (abode of peace) in 1863. In 1901, Rabindranath Tagore set up a Bramhacharya school here which later came to be known as the Patha Bhavan. With the financial backing of the Maharajah of Tripura, the Visva-bharati Society was established in 1921. Tagore envisioned a center of learning which would have the best of both the east and the west.
The main attractions of Shantiniketan include the various buildings of the Visva-Bharati campus which houses a research institute and a museum. The Kala Bhavan gallery has paintings by Bengal's renowned artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose. The sculptures of Ramkinkar Baiz are also amongst the attractions of Shantiniketan.
Sunderbans National Park
This National Park is located in the Ganges Delta around 150km south of Kolkata and is made up of hundreds of tiny islands and marshland as well as some mainland. It is said there are tigers here that swim in the brackish water as normally as polar bears do in the sea! There is a very diverse amount of wildlife and birds in the park which can be visited by boat.
Darjeeling
Home of the famous Darjeeling tea this hill station offers great views of the Himalaya and Everest from Tiger Hill. The most picturesque way to reach the town is on the World Heritage railway, a narrow gauge steam train that winds its way through the tea estates to the town.
Sikkim - Mount Katchenjunga
Sikkim is a border state of India and has part of the Himalayan range, notably Katchenjunga (8,300 metres) within its boundary. Treks can be made up to around 4,500 metres and special expeditions can be arranged for professional mountaineers to go higher.
Dhaka
Dahka is the capital of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan and East Bengal of India prior to that. Recently a train has been inaugurated to travel between Kolkata and Dakka making the normally difficult and lengthy journey quick and easy. Bangladesh is a delta country and as such is very low lying and lush but suffers very much from inundation and floods on a regular basis.
You would need a visa for Bangladesh and a multiple entry Indian visa if you are leaving India to travel into another country.
North East of India
North East India is a very distinct part of the country. 9 States form this region of India and they are very individual. The more southern of the states, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram for example are mainly Christian or tribal and look more like Thai or Burmese natives. Their culture is very different to that of Hindu India as is the scenery. The North Eastern states are joined to the main peninsula of India by a very thin strip of land to the north of Bangladesh and travel is relatively difficult. Permits are needed to some of the states before travel but these can be obtained in India itself.
Don't be put off by the cost of travel either. Trains are amazingly good value especially if you travel overnight as your bed is included. As an example, the fare for an air conditioned coach with a bed and - around a 9 hour journey - would be around 10 pounds.
Many journeys can be done on night bus with full sleeper cabin. A 12 hour night journey would typically cost around £5 enabling you to manage you gapyear on a budget.
Internal air travel is also very good value with many lost cost airlines now operating in India.
India is the most friendly and easy country to travel in, so make sure you take advantage of it while on your gap year travels!