Visakhapatnam Tourist Palaces

Tribal Museum

Tribal museum was started in February 1996 to showcase the traditional living methods, cultural, social and economic conditions of native tribes. This Museum is aimed to focus and preserve the important traits of original tribal culture, traditional handicrafts, and fine arts of the Ancient tribes. The display of artifacts, ornaments and textiles of the tribes of Northern Andhra Pradesh is a real feast to the eyes. Various artifacts prepared by different artisan groups are also sold here.

Timings: 10.00 am to 5.00 pm

Entrance fee Adults Rs 10/- Children Rs 6/-
Kalabharathi:
For the people of Vizag, Kalabharathi is a destination for culture and concerts. With a seating capacity of eight hundred, this comfortable air conditioned and sound proof hall is a popular destination for concerts, lectures, plays and dance recitals.


Chitrangan Art Gallery

Chitrangan is an avenue for young and promising talents to showcase their art for a nominal fee. They also get to exhibit this to an appreciating crowd. A God sent opportunity for budding painters and sculptors.

Lepakshi Handicrafts Emporium

This is one of the largest sales cum exhibition centres in the region, housing everything that has an Andhra connection. Art, handicrafts, sculptures, handlooms and a vast collection of metal and wooden creations made by Andhra artisans are housed here for sale. Silver filigree work is the most popular collection here.

Eastern Art Museum

Visakhapatanam hasn't forgotten its glorious past. You'll realize this after a visit here. The museum not only has a beautiful display of the art and sculptures of Andhra, but displays an array of exquisite antiques and beautifully crafted curios, which are for sale.

Visakha Museum

Located in R.K Beach Road, Visakha Museum gives a vivid picture of its historic moorings through a rare collection of artifacts, inscriptions and previous historic documents.

Timings: 11.00 am to 7.00 pm
Entrance Fee: Adult Rs 5/- Children Rs 2/-

Andhra University

Located in a picturesque setting, this historic University is flanked by lush green hills on one side and the beautiful Bay of Bengal on the other. Established in 1926, Dr. S Radhakrishnan, the great educational and philosopher who went on to become the second president of India, was the second Vice-chancellor of this university. The University also conducts special research projects to save sea turtles during their breeding season.

Ramakrishna Mission

It has been more than a century since Swami Vivekananda gave his Chicago address. But his voice and message still reverberates throughout India, thanks to the Ramakrishna Mission that he started. This worldwide organization has a branch here too. Its ethnic architecture and its meditation hall exude peace. While its book store helps spread knowledge of our rich tradition and culture.

St. Peter's Church

Constructed during the British regime between 1859 & 1864, the cynosure of this church is unique with its crimson exterior with exquisite stained glass windows. Each of the windows depicts anecdotes from the Bible.

Mandasa fort

The residential palace of erstwhile Jamindars of Mandasa is a majestic building which was built by Lakshmana Rajamani Deo in 1779. Mandasa fort is an inspiring structure exuding the grandeur of bygone era.

Surangiraja Palace, Itchapuram

At the entrance of the Itchapuram town is the magnificent heritage building, the palace of Surangiraja. Walls of the building are adorned with beautiful paintings describing aesthetic values of the bygone era.

Deerghasi Sasanam

There is one ancient inscription of 1075 A.D. at Deerghasi village of Polaki Mandal. The inscription granted land to a village deity Bhagavathi Devi by an army chief of Kalinga Ganga kings.

Kathanilayam, Srikakulam

KATHANILAYAM a reference library of Telugu short stories, is the first of its kind in the modern world. Established in 1997 by Dr.Kalipatnam Rama Rao, famous short story writer, it is a repository of Telugu short story and allied literature.


Araku Valley

Soothe your sun tan in this cool hill station. It's a pleasant hill station with scenic gardens, green valleys, waterfalls and streams. 112 km from Visakhapatnam, the journey to Araku valley on the Eastern Ghats with thick forest on either sides is an exploration in itself. 3200 ft above the sea level, the climate here will make your trip worth every effort.

Highlights: Tribal Museum Chaaparai - a picnic spot 15 km from Araku. A peak into the lifestyle of the aboriginal tribes living here keeping their tradition and culture alive. About 19 tribes inhabit this area. Sway to the beats of the Dhimsa dance, an age-old folk dance.

Chaparai

A perennial stream dodging and cutting across huge rock formations laid in the picturesque frame of Araku Valley is another preferred picnic spot. Located en route to Paderu, this is about 15 km from Araku. The pleasures of this perennial stream running over huge rocks through the scenic valleys of Araku are a delight to the senses. Several view points and Pagodas have also added more beauty to this place.

Paderu

Paderu presents an excellent view with some interesting spots for trekking, bird watching, camping, and adventure sports in the wild. 120 km away from Visakhapatnam, Paderu Hills have dense forest cover with luxuriant vegetation. The vast

stretch of coffee plantations is nature in its most beautiful form.

Borra Caves

These one million year old rock formations are the prima donna of the Araku secenario. You will be amazed to see the natural rock formations culminating into popular mythological figures. Every year on Mahashivaratri, these caves are thronged by tribals from the surrounding area. The entire cave resonates with songs of joy and devotion.

Timings: 10 am to 5.00 pm

Entrance: Adults Rs 25/- Children Rs 15/-

Video camera: Rs 100/-
Still Camera: Rs 10/-

Tyda

It is a small village nestling in the wooded hills of the Eastern Ghats, on the way to Araku and is 75 km from Vizag. Be at the Jungle Bells Nature Camp, an Eco-Tourism Resort to explore the nature's bounty. The camp provides great view of Eastern Ghats, trekking, hiking and bird watching in addition to accommodation in log huts amidst serene surroundings. Nature lovers got to come here.

Anantagiri

Wake up and smell the coffee. It won't just be a phrase any more. The entire village is surrounded by coffee estates, while waterfalls adorn the hillocks around.


The Red Hills

The Red Hills (yerra konda) near Bhimili are a specialty. The red hills on the seashore are described as red dunes. The red sand hills of this type are found only at three places – Sri Lanka, Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and the third here.

Ross Hill

Ross Hill (also known as Kanyamarykonda) is the highest hill on the Eastern Ghats and is named after Ross, an Englishman who built his house here in 1864. Later the house was converted into a Roman Catholic Chapel and named Our Lady of the sacred heat. The path leading to the chapel is strewn with Catholic icons. One can have an excellent view of the ship building yard from Ross hill.

Metturu Beach & Red Sand Dunes

Explore natural deposits of red sand dunes stretched along the shores of a stream. It is 8 km of visual feast. Red sand dunes deposited in various sizes for more than 8 km length give us the experience of seeing sculptures artistically moulded.

Appikonda

This is a small village situated on the coast of Bay of Bengal, 30 km from Vizag. It owes its religious destination status to a Shiva temple that has a life size Nandi carved out of black stone. If you happen to be in this region sometime around Shivaratri, do make it a point to visit the temple, celebrations are grand.

Kali Ma Temple

TIt is a beautiful temple built keeping in mind traditional Bengali temple architecture. Seek blessings from Kali Ma amidst this splendid beauty.

Timings: 7.30 am to 11.30 am
4.00 pm to 8.00 pm

Wooden Dolls of Etikoppaka

After the famous Kondapalli Bommalu of Andhra area, it's now the turn of the Etikoppa Bommalu. These dolls have been named after its village Etikoppaka, 75 km from Visakhapatnam. The dolls are made of soft wood Ankudi karra found in the forests of Araku and Anantagiri. More than 150 families earn their livelihood through making these beautiful dolls.

Buditi Handicrafts

Buditi bronze work has made a place for itself in the national and international markets. The intricate waving in bronze is unique feature and the products are sought after by tourists as well as locals.

Kurusura Submarine Museum

Yet another landmark of Visakhapatnam. The first of its kind in the whole south Asia, INS Kurusura Submarine is a Soviet built-I641 class Submarine. It was inducted into the Indian Navy on 18, December 1969 and decommissioned on 28, February 2001 after 31 years of glorious service to the nation. One can now view this classy submarine here at this museum, the complete Submarine including its weapon packages is hauled-up-from sea to land and positioned on a concrete foundation here.

Contact Person: Sri Phani Raj
Phone- +91 9866179234

Timings: 2.30 pm to 8.30 pm
Sunday: 9.30 am to 8.30 pm

Entrance Tickets: Adults -Rs 25/- Children - Rs 15/-

Gottabarrage

Built in 1977 on Vamsadhara, the Gottabarrage irrigation projects is located amidst lush green mountains. The scenic beauty of the location gives immense pleasure with channels on both sides, flowing into agricultural fields of Srikakulam.

Thotlakonda

About 16 km from Vizag on Vizag-Bheemili beach road lies this Buddhist Complex on the hilltop of Mangamaripeta, popularly known as Thotlakonda, 128 m above the sea level.

Bavikonda

This important Buddhist heritage site is located on a hill about 15 km, north east of Vizag. Among other things you can discover here, the remains of an entire Buddhist complex, comprising 26 structures belonging to three phases. You can also view what is believed to be the mortal remains of Buddha.

Jagathimetta, Buddhist Monument

On the banks of perennial river Vamsadhara a Buddhist site has been unearthed recently. The archaeological department is of the opinion that Jagathimetta is the earliest Buddhist site.

Dantapuri

Dantapuri is the most ancient capital of Kalinga Ganga kings with a setting of paddy fields, on the banks of river Vamsadhara. During recent excavations the statue of 2nd Theerthankara, Ajathanadh and the four Buddhist stupas were found. It is located at a distance of 23 km from Srikakulam.

Kurupam Tomb

It is beautiful structure tomb constructed by Kurupam Raja as a memorial for his wife. It is a 100 year old structure located at VUDA Park to Bhimili Road. This is called Visakha Taj Mahal.

Sankaram, more popularly known as Bojjannakonda

This 2000-year-old Buddhist Heritage site was discovered in 1907. Located 40 km from the south of Vizag, three phases of Buddhism viz. Hinayana, Mahayana & Vajrayana flourished here. This complex is famous for its numerous Monolithic Stupas, Rock cut caves and structural edifices.

Pavuralakonda

Pavuralakonda or 'the hill of the pigeons' is a hillock on the west of Bhimli, 24 km from Vizag. Visit this place to witness the remains of the Buddhist settlements between 1st century BC to 2nd Century AD.

Padmanabham Village

Situated on the bank of river Gosthani, 16 km from north-west of Bheemunipatnam, this is where the Zamindar of Vizianagaram Vijayarama Raju died during his heroic battle with British East India Company. Anantha Padmanabha Swamy is located on a steep hillock where annual Deepotsavam festival is held.

Ponduru

A small village Ponduru in Srikakulam district, is known for its finest Khadi. Khadi from Poduru is famous and preferred by Khadi lovers from across the country. Mahatma Gandhi was said to have been surprised at the finesse of Khadi produced here and he always preferred Khadi from this village. This Khadi is exported to various countries like America, Denmark, Japan and Sweden.

Salihundam

It is one of the ancient Buddhist centres of India of second century B.C.

Anakapalli

The place is famous for its Jaggery, one of the best in the country. Jaggery is exported to other states and foreign countries from here. Ahmedabad, Anakapalli, Bhagalpur, Kolhapur, Meerut and Muzafarnagar are some of the famous jaggery manufacturing centres in our country. Among them Muzarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, kolhapur at Maharashra and Anakapalli in Andhra are famous trade centres.

Karteekavanam

About ten miles off the city, one is forced off the urban map and put in a village setting that is also a multi-cuisine restaurant. Karteekavanam is a restaurant with a difference. The scene is complete with rope beds, bullock carts and mud lanterns.

The main restaurant and the other little hamlet sit outs strewn around are mud, clay and wooden structures with thatched roofs. Enjoy this rustic atmosphere with a most sumptuous meal.

Gopalapatnam

This is yet another destination with Buddhist imprints. Gopalapatnam, situated on the left bank of River Tandava, is a village surrounded by stupas, viharas and other Buddhist remains.