Araku Valley

Araku Valley sits at 911 metres in the Eastern Ghats, 115 km west of Visakhapatnam. The valley is home to a dozen Adivasi communities (Bagata, Konda Dora, Valmiki, Khond, and others) who together cultivate the Araku coffee that has carried a Geographical Indication tag since 2019 — fairtrade, organic, and one of the few certified single-origin Indian coffees with consistent international export. The headline experience is the rail journey from Visakhapatnam to Araku — a 5-hour climb through 58 tunnels and 84 bridges, including the famous Shimiliguda station which was, when built, the highest broad-gauge station in the world. The Vistadome carriages with glass roofs are bookable in advance. Once in the valley, visitors typically combine: the Padmapuram Botanical Gardens, the tribal museum and Dhimsa dance performance, the coffee plantations of the Araku Coffee Company, and the Borra Caves on the way back. The valley has a notably mild climate — summer highs rarely exceed 30°C and winter mornings can drop to 10°C. The Itika Pongal harvest festival in January and the Modakondamma Jathara in spring are the main tribal festivals, both drawing visitors from Visakhapatnam city for the Dhimsa performances.