If you are staying in West Bengal , India and looking for a quick weekend getaway where you can forget your worries and enjoy the sand and the sea, there is no better place than to be at Tajpur which is a mere 5 hours drive from Kolkata. The virgin sea beach, the peaceful surrounding, this place is literally "Far from the Maddening Crowd". Tourist spots like Digha followed by Shankarpur and Mandarmani in West Bengal are places where we all have been to at least once, so why not relax at a place like Tajpur which is little less explored and yet has abundance of adventure and a smell of the fresh salty sea breeze to laze around and let your hair loose.

Tajpur is a small beach in East Midnapore district located in between the famous Mandarmani and Shankarpur beaches and is about 177 kms away from Kolkata. It is a place where a river meets the sea i.e. the Bay of Bengal. It is always recommended to halt at a Dhaba called "Azad Hind" near Kolghat while driving from Kolkata to Tajpur and savour the delicious "Aloo Parathas" Punjabi style along with Lassi (The Punjabi version of Curd Sherbat) . We of course did that and trust me the parathas were heavenly..... It is always advisable to travel in a group as Tajpur, as more the merrier. We started at around 6 o' clock in the morning, had a stopover with a hearty breakfast at the Kolaghat Azad Hind Dhaba and still made it to Tajpur at around 11:15 AM. Though there were quite a few other hotels, we stayed at a place called "New Sonar Bangla". We selected the place based on the positive reviews we read about it on the net. You can't expect a 5-star treatment in a hotel at a place like Tajpur however we did not have an unpleasant stay at the hotel. My suggestions to the traveller's would be not to be too much adventurous and stick to conventional Bengali meals at any of the hotels at Tajpur.

However the best part of the visit was the beach and the sand, where we stayed back for most of the day oblivious to the fact that we actually were getting sun-tanned badly. We did not spot too many tourists like the sea beaches in Digha and Puri and that itself was a blessing in disguise for us. The sea looked beautiful and we were too excited to feel tired, playing hide and seek with the waves. We spent the entire day out on the beach however did not feel adventurous enough to venture into the sea at night as the locals scared us off slightly with stories of how it was not very safe to be out there.

Tajpur is an exotic place however if you want to do some shopping for souvenirs, you need to travel to Mandarmani or Digha . We had a beautiful week end and started back our return journey at around 4 PM on the next day. It is advisable to start your journey before the sunset as the street approaching Tajpur which connects the main Road is not in a very good condition. To sum it up, it was a memorable week end which will be always as fresh as a lily in our mind.

How to GO?
The best option to reach Tajpur is to take a private transport. Tajpur is around 177 KMs away from Kolkata.

You can also board a Digha bound bus from Esplanade, Kolkata and get down at Balisahi which is just after Chaulkhola(The place where you get down to for reaching Mandarmani). You can ask the hotel to pick you up from Balisahi for which they might charge extra.

Route :
Kolkata - Kolaghat - Nandakumar - Contai - Chaulkhola - Balisahi - (turn left) - Alampur (turn right) - Tajpur


Hotels:
1. Tajpur Nature Camp
Tel: 09831769790

2. Sonar Bangla resort
Tel :9232509673

3. Swapnapuri Hotel and Resort
Tel: 4060-5152, 24635553

4.Hotel Tambim Inn
Tel: 09831021244

4. Resort Green Inn
Tel: 09804254019

About Author / Additional Info:
The author resides in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. While she is not working or spending time with her 11 year old daughter, she loves reading, writing, listening to music and travelling.