Shaheed Minar, Kolkata

Indian Museum

Thirty-five galleries in six sections is more than a single visit absorbs, so choose before you go in. The art and archaeology holdings are the ones of international standing; geology, zoology and economic botany are for people who came for those. The Asiatic Society of Bengal founded it in 1814 under a Danish botanist, Nathaniel Wallich, which makes it the oldest museum in Asia and the largest by size of collection. Mummies, armour, fossil skeletons and Mughal paintings are all in the building, which is a good reason to start early rather than try to see everything at once.