Borra Caves
A million-year-old limestone cave system in the Ananthagiri hills, lit for visitors and reached by steps down from the road. On the way to Araku, so most trips take in both.
Araku and Borra Caves
Two days in the Eastern Ghats
The ghat road up to Araku with a stop at Borra Caves, a night in the valley, and the coffee plantations and tribal museum the following morning.
The most asked-for trip out of Visakhapatnam, and the one the drive itself justifies.
Day one climbs through the ghats with a stop at Borra Caves, arriving in Araku in the afternoon. Day two is the valley — the coffee museum, the tribal museum and Padmapuram gardens — before the road home.
The pace is deliberately unhurried. The viewpoints on the ghat road are worth stopping at, and a trip that treats the drive as something to get through misses most of what people remember.
The route
- Visakhapatnam → Borra Caves
- Borra Caves → Araku Valley
- Araku Valley → Visakhapatnam
Driving time only. A tour does not drive straight through.
Day by day
- Day 1Leave Visakhapatnam after breakfast, climb the ghat road with stops at the viewpoints, visit Borra Caves, and reach Araku in the afternoon.
- Day 2The coffee museum and the tribal museum in the morning, Padmapuram gardens, then the road back to Visakhapatnam.
Where you will go
Araku Valley
A hill valley in the Eastern Ghats about three hours inland from Visakhapatnam, known for its coffee plantations, its tribal museum and the railway line that climbs to it through dozens of tunnels.