Nandankanan Zoological Park

Ten kilometres out of Cuttack and ten out of Bhubaneswar, this is 437 hectares of zoo and botanical garden set inside the Chandaka forest. Kanjia lake, 134 acres of it, lies within the boundary and part of the grounds is a declared sanctuary, which makes the place as much woodland as zoo. It draws more than 2.6 million visitors a year, and that is the thing to plan around: go on a weekday morning or accept the crowd. Established in 1960, opened to the public in 1979, rebuilt after the 1999 super-cyclone.