Best route to Kolkata from Kathmandu using trains and buses??

Ican'twait!

Hello everyone
My friend and I are leaving for India for the first time in 15 days which is just too mind-bogglingly exciting!
When we arrive in Dehli we are meeting up with an organised tour group on our 3rd day, and we will then travel with our group and our guide the usual tourist route (Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi etc.) all the way to Kathmandu. All transport etc. has been arranged for these two weeks, but I am getting a bit stressed about how exactly we are going to leave Kathmandu and get to Kolkata. We've allowed about 3 days to get between the two... but its one of those itineraries where we sat with a map, said we want to visit here, here and there and didn't really knuckle down and research distances etc. and modes of transport until we had booked our flights from London... I realise this was somewhat unwise but you will have to forgive us for being 22, fresh out of University and pretty darn excited about heading off to such an amazing country!

Does anyone have any tips/ideas/ personal experiences about getting from Kathmandu to Kolkata?
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

bonded

One option is to go till Gorakhpur by bus and then train to Howrah.

Also this thread from Indiamike Calcutta to Kathmandu

camelgirl

The fastest way would be to fly from Kathmandu to Kolkata.

If you want to go overland you have to take a bus to the border with India. There are no trains in Nepal. There are only a few roads in Nepal and only a few places you can cross the border into India. It's a very long ride. Then you can get a train to Kolkata. I'm pretty sure it takes at least 2 days of traveling overland.

I just found this here on India Mike:

indeed there are other ways beside taking plane - by road - you need to head towards kakarbhitta border from Kathmandu it's a long tiring journey will take at least two days to reach(500 km+)..check about buses plying towards Mechi/Kakrbhitta/Biratmode at Kathmandu ..after crossing Kakarbhitta border you will enter - Bagdogara ,W.Bengal(India) from where Darjeeling is only 90 km away.also you can head towards Kolkata from New Jalpaiguri/siliguri(6 km from Bagdogra)plenty of overnight buses & trains available from New jalpaiguri to Kolkata.

Maybe there is a faster overland route but it still won't be fast! This is a lot of time to spend when you don't have so much time.

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Ican'twait!

Thanks so much for both replying so quickly!! Its not the end of the world if we don't make it to Calcutta by the date weve set. The only deadline we're travveling too is for a flight in Hyderabad to Trivandrum. I'm glad I've got a more realistic idea of time scales, modes of transport etc.!!