Gopalpur-on-Sea

Gopalpur-on-Sea, a beach resort popular and often overrun with Bengalis holidaying from Kolkata (what Goa is to Mumbai folks), is a small fishing village with a few simple hotels scattered along the sand. The town has one main street, with a few shops for the locals and fast-food and seashell shops for tourists. The only trace of its past as a vital British seaport is a still-functioning lighthouse and the crumbling remains of European merchants' homes. Back in the Raj days when Britain did a lot of trade with Burma, Gopalpur-on Sea, with its umpteen warehouses, had a special prominence. Today it is more famous for cashew processing. The beach is long; you don't have to walk far to find solitude (though you might to find pristine sand). To get here, take a three-hour train ride from Bhubaneswar to Berhampur (164 km south of the city), then transfer to an auto-rickshaw (Rs. 80) for the 14-km (9-mi) ride southeast.