Gopalpur is a famous beach town and it is situated in the Ganjam district of Odisha. It is the place where people can spend their life without being interrupted by the polluted environment. The climate of this town remains tropical wet and dry.
Here, the sunrises and sunsets are magical and visitors get enough scope to experience the serenity of a sea beach. Visitors also can enjoy scuba diving, windsurfing, and other fun rides here. Since 1996, people celebrate the famous Gopalpur Beach Festival in December every year.
This town also has a wide range of delicious sea-food. Sea-fish, roadside delicious fast foods such as guguni chat, gupchup, pakoda are very famous here.
Top 5 tourist places in Gopalpur
1. Gopalpur beach – This beach is unique for its coconut and casuarina groves and it is the place where Olive Ridley Turtles are found.
2. Gopalpur Lighthouse – It is the ideal place from where visitors can watch the entire Gopalpur as the lighthouse provides a 360° view of the town.
3. Chilika Lake – It is one of the largest saltwater lakes and the biggest habitation center for the migratory birds.
4. Rushikulya beach – This is a great place for those people who want to spend their time sitting in a peaceful and charming beach.
5. Shakuntala market – Shakuntala market is the perfect place for buying tribal handicrafts, Gopalpur coir mats, silk materials, and paralakhemundi horn works.
Best time to visit Gopalpur
In winter, Gopalpur becomes one of the most beautiful places to visit. The best thing about this time is to get a chance to see the migratory birds visiting Chilika Lake. From November to February, the day temperature remains around 25 degrees Celsius whereas the night temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius which is perfect for realizing the charm of this place. Daytime temperatures during these months are also ideal for a beach vacation.
How to reach Gopalpur
The nearest airport from Gopalpur is Bhubaneswar Airport, also known as Biju Patnaik International Airport. The distance between Gopalpur and the airport is 175 km.
The nearest railway station from Gopalpur is Berhampur which lies on the Howrah-Chennai line. The distance between Gopalpur and Berhampur is only 15 km.
As there is no direct bus route up to Gopalpur, visitors have to take a bus up to Berhampur first. Then visitors can take Hi-Tech, Express, or Deluxe bus provided by OSRTC to reach Gopalpur.