Visakhapatnam (Vizag)

Overview

Visakhapatnam, called Vizag by nearly everyone who lives there, is a rare Indian city where you can swim in the morning, ride a cable car after lunch and still reach a hill temple before dark. It lies where the Eastern Ghats meet the Bay of Bengal, so ridges drop almost to the waterline and the main road follows the curve of the shore. That geography shapes a trip to Visakhapatnam tourist places: most of them sit within a short ride of one another along a single stretch of coast.

A good way in is Beach Road. RK Beach, named after a Ramakrishna Mission ashram close by, anchors it, and the INS Kursura submarine museum stands on the sand. Rushikonda, about 8 km out, offers a more open shore, and Yarada and Bheemunipatnam are further beach choices for a longer outing.

Kailasagiri is a landscaped hilltop park run by the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority. A cable car and a glass bridge help you take in the view, and a large statue of Shiva and Parvati marks the park. Dolphin's Nose, a rocky headland on the same coast, is another lookout over the water.

The city also has older layers. Simhachalam, about 16 km away, is an eleventh-century hill temple to Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha, built in the Dravidian style. Thotlakonda and Bavikonda are Buddhist hilltop sites with stupas and monastic ruins, and Appikonda has a Shiva temple carrying twelfth-century inscriptions.

Remember that this is a working port as well as a resort. The Eastern Naval Command has its headquarters here, which is why a submarine and an aircraft now serve as museum pieces. Rain comes with both the south-west and north-east monsoons and peaks in October, so the cooler months are kinder for walking. Many travellers also use Vizag as a base for Araku Valley and the Borra Caves, roughly a hundred kilometres inland.

Known for

RK Beach, with the INS Kursura submarine museum