Happy to pen down a review on the new year and happy to share my experience at Vizag with my wife n kid during the X-Mas weekend. About Vizag: Vizag or Visakhapatnam is a coastal city in northern part of AP and is the second largest city in AP. It was also known as Waltair which is defunct but one can still see it in Railway quarters boards.
It is also known as the City Of Destiny. The city is surrounded by many hills of the Eastern Ghats.
Since the city is situated on the coast, the humidity remains high throughout the year. Temperatures during May may go up to 40Deg+ and hence the best time to visit is in the winter(Nov-Jan).
Telugu is the language spoken by most of the people. However, Hindi is widely understood.
We reached Visakha at 2330Hrs on 24th Night and stayed at Hotel Krishna Towers at Railway new colony, very close to the railway station. The hotel was truly a class and I will write a review exclusively about that sooner.Key attractions of Vizag: 1.Ramakrishna Beach: On X-Mas day, we went out to the RK Beach which is some 5-6kms from the hotel. The beach had a small shore but tidy. It had small shops on its shore which sells shells. There are many shops on the main road which is hardly 100mts and many sea facing apartments too. A pretty good place to relax and that too on a winter evening where you hardly feel the heat. The shore is pretty rocky and the harbour is also near by. Saw a big ship leaving the harbour. On a whole we can relax for sometime at RK Beach(Picture attached)
2.Rishikonda Beach: There is another beach called as Rishikonda beach which is little far from RK beach. I was told that it is very scenic and clean. Missed it because of time factor :(
3.Kailasa Giri:This is the best spot in Vizag. It is a hill where one can get a beautiful view of the city and the Vizag coast. There are cable cars available here and the garden here is pretty beautiful. Not to be missed.
4.Simmachalam: There is a temple at Simmachalam. It is on a hill and there is road to drive up. It also has good trekking facility which takes 2 hours approximately. There is also a railway station at Simmachalam where a few trains stop. 5.Indira Gandhi Zoo: This is located onto your right when you travel from Vizag to Vizianagaram(a town some 50km away from Vizag). This is located outside of the city and has got good connectivity from and to Vizag. Can be reached by a cab or also by auto.
For shoppers, this is a good place where you find good stuff at a reasonable price. I found a good bamboo chair for Rs.500(Negotiable) and was of pretty good quality.
There are also good shopping centres like Big Bazaar, CMR which are located within the city. All these places have a very good connectivity by Buses. Really a good time pass.
How to get there: 1.By Rail: Vizag has a pretty good connectivity from major cities. From Chennai it is approx 800km and many trains pass thro’ Vizag. Coromandel Exp. which runs between Calcutta and Chennai halts at Vizag. There are trains to other major junctions like Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Mumbai and also to many parts in Northern part of India.
2.By Air: There is an Airport in Vizag which is situated on the outskirts of the city. It has daily flights connecting Delhi, Bombay, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Calcutta. So travelling by air is absolutely a good choice.
3.By Bus: There are many buses which connect Vizag with Chennai, Vijayawada and also to Bangalore. But compared to train and flight, this is more tiring. Nevertheless, they are good.
Staying there: Since its a tourist spot, you have many hotels right from budget to star. You get hotels almost in all parts of the city and accommodation is not be worried about.
Summarizing, I feel that it would be a good holiday spot to rejuvenate yourself.
Visakha- PICTURE PERFECT!!
Cheers,
Naren.