Short answer
Fly into Bhubaneswar (BBI), the state's only major airport, or take a train to Bhubaneswar or Cuttack junction, both on the main Kolkata-Chennai rail corridor. By road, NH16 connects Odisha to Kolkata in the north and Visakhapatnam in the south.
By air
Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar handles domestic flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, plus limited international connections. There is no airport at Puri; the closest air access to Puri is Bhubaneswar, roughly 60 km and 1.5 hours away by road.
By rail
Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are major junctions on the Kolkata-Chennai main line, with direct trains from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Puri has its own railway station with direct trains from several metros, useful for travellers skipping Bhubaneswar entirely.
By road
NH16 runs along the coast connecting Kolkata to Bhubaneswar and onward to Visakhapatnam, making a road trip from either city feasible in a day. Western Odisha (Sambalpur) is better reached via NH55 from Raipur.
Getting around once you arrive
Odisha's sites are spread out — Puri to Konark is about 35 km, Bhubaneswar to Puri about 60 km, and Similipal or Koraput are 200+ km from the coast — so a pre-booked car with driver is the most practical way to cover a multi-destination trip.
