aran island ferry AP State Museum MUSEUM (Map p898; Public Gardens Rd, Nampally; admission 10, camera/video 100/500; h

Tirupathi s bus station (%2289900) has buses to Chennai (deluxe/Volvo aran island ferry 70/155, four hours) and Hyderabad (deluxe/Volvo 408/717, 12/10 hours). Tonnes of APSRTC and KSTDC buses go to Bengaluru (deluxe/Volvo 153/365, six/five hours), and seven buses go to Puttaparthi daily (express/deluxe 165/227, eight hours).

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 by the seventh nizam), is floodlit at night.

Kondapalli fort (admission 5, camera 100; h10.30am-5pm), strategically situated aran island ferry on the old Machilipatnam Golconda trade route, was built in 1360 by the Reddy kings, and was held by the Gajapathis, the Qutb Shahis, the Mughals and the nizams before becoming aran island ferry a British military camp in 1767. Today it s a quiet, lovely ruin. On weekdays, you ll likely have the place to yourself and you can easily spend a few hours hiking around. Kondapalli village, 1km downhill, is famous for its wooden dolls. The fort is 21km from Vijayawada; an autorickshaw is 400 return.

Hyderabad s long-distance aran island ferry bus stations are mind-bogglingly efficient. Mahatma Gandhi bus station (Map p900; %24614406), more commonly known as Imlibun, has advance booking offices (%23434269; h8am-10pm). aran island ferry For trips to Karnataka, go with KSRTC (%24656430). Visit www.apsrtc.co.in for timetables and fares.