Top Tourist Places To Visit in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam is the largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is commonly called Vizag. With Bay of Bengal on its eastern borders, this coastal city is an important port for trade through India. The only natural harbour of India is located here. It has been titled The Jewel of the East Coast and the City of Destiny. Along with capital Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam is also an important commercial hub of the state. The headquarters of Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy is set up here.

There are two theories as to how the city got its name. Some believe that the city is named after Sri Vishaka Varma, who was the second most important gopi amongst the eight. And that an Andhra king, built a temple to honour his family deity Viśakha, which is now under water. Another set believes that it was named after Buddhist disciple Visakha.

Climate and Geography

The city of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, lies at 17.6883° N latitude, and 83.2186° E longitude. It touches the Bay of Bengal Sea on its eastern borders and has the beautiful Eastern Ghats in the interior.

Being situated on a coast, the city experiences less variation in temperature. It has a tropical climate with high humidity throughout the year. May records the highest temperatures while January is the coolest month.

Transportation

The city airport has connectivity to Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Tirupati, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Kochi and Indore. Thrice a week there are also international flights available for Singapore and Dubai. The city lies on the Kolkata-Chennai main railway line and receives frequent express and passenger trains from all the major cities. For road journeys, Vishakhapatnam is connected via Bhubaneswar and Vijayawada to NH-5.

For getting around the city, local transports like buses and rickshaws are available. Tourists can also hire cabs on daily or per-day basis.