How To Reach Sunderbans National Park
The forest of the Sunderbans is the hub of the wildlife tourism in India. The Wildlife enthusiasts and tiger lovers from all over the world visit this biggest mangrove swamp of the world which is the natural home of the Royal Bengal Tigers and many other species of wild animals along with the various species of the aquatic fauna and avifauna. Reaching Sunderbans is not a big problem as the park is well accessible from the outer world through the various travelling modes. Even being a seaside delta region and a swamp forest, the accessibility to the park is quite easy due to being a famous tourist spot in India.
If you are traveling by train then there are trains to Canning from Sealdah at regular intervals and the train covers this distance in one and a half hour. The private taxi or the shared vans are also available at Canning and takes you Godhkhali Jetty, the initial point of the boat cruise to the Sundabans.
The tourism department of West Bengal has well maintained the roadways and waterways connecting the Sunderbans National park to the nearest towns. Visitors to the Sunderbans National Park can use either the airways or railways or roadways to visit the starting point of the Sunderbans tour which is the Godkhali port. The Sunderbans forest can be explored only through the medium of water transport so from the Godkhali port you can use the small or the big boat to further explore the wildlife of Sunderbans.
Below is the detailed information for reaching the Sunderbans through the different transport medium- By AirThe nearest airport from the Sunderbans National Park is the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, which located in Kolkata, the capital of the state of West Bengal. The airport is located at the distance of 120 km from the starting point of the Sunderbans safari at Godkhali Port. Further, you can hire the taxi or cab to reach the Godkhali from the Kolkata airport, which will take around 3 hours by road.
By TrainThe nearest major railway station is the Sealdah Railway Station and the nearest local railway station is Canning Railway Station. The Sealdah Railway Station is one of the prime Railway Junction in West Bengal and located on the main route of the northeast railway zone and connected to the various cities of India by the regular trains. So, you can visit the Sealdah railway junction from other corners of India and then reach the Canning railway station by using the local trains from Sealdah which will take around one and a half hour of the train ride. Further, you can take the private taxi or shared public transport at the Canning to reach the entry point of Sunderbans at Godkhali to board the boat for the safari.
By RoadThe Sunderbans visitors, who want to travel by road, can either take the public transport from Kolkata to Canning and further Canning to Godkhali or hire the private taxi or cab to reach directly to Godkhali from Kolkata. It is better to hire a cab or a taxi as public transport is very crowded. The road distance from Kolkata to Godkhali and Canning are around 120 km and 64 km respectively. At Godkhali, you can get into the boat to further explore the forest.