Digha

Digha, on the Bay of Bengal coast of West Bengal near the Odisha border, is the most popular and accessible seaside resort in eastern India — a long, gently shelving beach that the British, who developed it as a retreat in the late 18th century, fondly called the "Brighton of the East" (it appears as Beerkul in Warren Hastings' letters of 1780).

• Only about 180 km from Kolkata, it has been the classic weekend and holiday escape for generations of Bengali families, who come for the wide casuarina-lined shore, the calm and shallow surf that is safe for paddling, and the unhurried promenade life of the seafront.
• The resort divides into Old Digha, the original town with its market and seafront, and New Digha, a wider, greener extension a couple of kilometres south with newer hotels and a quieter beach.
• The standout attraction is the Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre (MARC, established 1989), the largest marine aquarium in India, with dozens of tanks displaying the marine life of the Bay of Bengal — a favourite with families.
• The Amaravati Park and lake, the Digha Science Centre, and the nearby Chandaneswar Shiva temple just across the Odisha border (a major pilgrimage during the Bengali new year) round out the sights, while the twin beach resorts of Shankarpur and Mandarmani, with their quieter sands, lie a short drive up the coast.
• Digha's long, flat sands draw morning walkers and families at sunrise, and its seafront markets sell shells, cane crafts, and the warm snacks that are part of every Bengali beach holiday.
• For vegetarian travellers, Digha offers the beloved Bengali vegetarian table — luchi with aloor dom (puffed bread and spiced potato), radhaballavi, ghugni and jhalmuri on the beach, and the world-famous Bengali sweets: rosogolla, mishti doi, sandesh, and nolen gur sweets in winter.
• The best season is October to February.