art isle Bheemunipatnam, 25km north of Vizag, a former Dutch settlement and the oldest municipality in mainla

Tirupathi is the service town at the bottom of the hill, with hotels, restaurants, art isle and transport; a fleet of buses constantly ferries pilgrims art isle the 18km up and down. You ll find most of your worldly needs around the Tirupathi bus station (TP Area) and, about 500m away, the train station.

Bheemunipatnam, 25km north of Vizag, a former Dutch settlement and the oldest municipality in mainland India, is worth a visit. Here you ll find more bizarre sculptures, a lighthouse dating from 1861, an interesting Dutch cemetery and Bheemli Beach, where local grommets surf on crude homemade boards. To get here catch bus 999 ( 19), or otherwise a shared autorickshaw

AP State Museum MUSEUM (Map p898; Public Gardens Rd, Nampally; admission 10, camera/video 100/500; h10.30am5pm Sat-Thu) The continually renovated State Museum hosts a rather dusty collection of important archaeological finds from the area, as well as a Buddhist sculpture gallery, with some relics of the Buddha and an exhibit on Andhra s Buddhist history. There are also Jain and bronze sculpture galleries, a decorative-arts gallery and a 4500-year-old Egyptian mummy. The museum, like the gorgeous Legislative Assembly building (Map p 898 ) down the road (both commissioned art isle by the seventh nizam), is floodlit art isle at night.

The interesting architecture outshines the museum s small collection of art and arms. But the garden, where temple sculptures from around the state (dating from the 3rd century AD) line shady paths, is lovely.