During kids break for Ganesh Chaturti, we decided to visit the city of Nizams - Hyderabad [HYD].
Weather: The time starting Sept/Oct till Dec/Jan is considered a good time to be here as the mercury rises to unbearable levels during other time of the year. However, just as we were planing, we read news about heavy showers in the city during the last week of Aug and first week of Sep. However, by the time we visited, the rains had subsided and the weather was really pleasant with some light showers.(By the time I am writing this review, comes the news that Hyderabad has been flooded again-it's last week of Sep).
The place is reachable by road or Air from Goa. By road it's about a night's journey by bus and by flight it's merely 55 mins.
We had planned a 3-day tour to the city, roughly considering 1 day for city site seeing, 1 day at Ramoji Film City [RFC] and 1 day spare for shopping and to cover anything that we miss to do during the 1-day city tour.
Little prior study and Googling had helped in many ways, which I would like to add here for reader's benefit:
First, the airport is outskirts of the city and it takes about an hour to travel from and to city. There are government run buses - Pushpak, which usually runs every 15-30 mins and will take you to/from city. Rates are between Rs. 150-Rs.265 per ticket. Prepaid taxis are also available, however if you are alone or a small family this may cost you more.
We had also learnt that most places, malls, museums, mosques, markets remain closed on Friday. Since our trip was on Fri/Sat/Sun, we planned RFC on Friday, did city site-seeing on a Sat while left Sun for shopping - this worked very well for us.
RFC: We did this on Day-1. This is the largest integrated film city in the world and a a huge place - is a separate review topic in itself - which I shall do soon. One will need a day's time to spend here, tickets are Rs.1000 per person.
On Day-2, as part of city site-seeing, the first thing we did in the morning, to avoid heat as the Sun rises up, was Golconda fort. One who has enough energy can take on the steps to climb the tall remains of the fort, the view from the top is excellent, where the city of HYD could be seen. Entry fee of Rs. 15 for every person.
From Golconda, we went to Salar Jung Museum. Please note, this is one of the places which remains closed on a Fri. This has a huge collection of art, collectibles, books, pictures and so-on. There is a cafeteria inside, where you can have meals, snacks etc. We had our meal at this place as we had reached here by 12:30 or so after a tiring visit to Golconda.
By the time we finished with the museum it was almost evening, around 5, so we headed towards Birla temple - the temple is marvelous, completely made out of marble stone including the walls and floors of entire temple area. The place is quite serene and peaceful. It's on a hill-top, so again you get a picturesque view of the city and the grand HussainSagar lake, the Buddha statue in the lake and the necklace road surrounding the lake. The evening time is just the best time to be here. Because of the time, we skipped Birla planetarium and museum. On the way back to parking, you can visit some small stores to buy some artifacts, idols etc
We then had on the list: Hussain sagar lake, Buddha statue, NTR garderns and Eat Street. As it was becoming dark we decided not to take the boat to the statue and it was no point visiting the gardens that late, so we headed straight to Eat Street (Read my review here: https://mouthshut.com/review/Eat-Street-Necklace-Road-Hyderabad-review-lmmpnqomtnm).
We reserved the 3rd day-Sunday for the, first thing that comes to everybody's mind when one think of HYD - Charminar(and of course Biryani!). Charminar is synonymous with HYD. This is actually nothing but a monument built on 4 pillars. Currently, this is right in the middle of a crowded place, where, neither you can take your vehicle nor one can walk in peace or take a selfie/pic in-front of this famous monument. If you wish you can climb up but we were too tired to do so, instead we enjoyed shopping for bangles and other items at the street hawkers and in the Laad bazaar. There is also Mecca Masjid next to it, if you wish to visit.
Since it was Sunday, the shops opened up late but by 12 or so the market was buzzing with hawkers, sellers and shoppers. I believe it houses one of the biggest old Coins market.
Besides for regular shopping, you have: GVK mall, Shoppers Stop, Big Bazaar, Nalli Sarees (Read my review here: https://mouthshut.com/review/Nalli-Silk-Sarees-Hyderabad-review-snpnnsrssnm), Shoppers Stop etc. All these places are nearby to each other and around Begum Pet.
We booked a cab at the rate of 1500 for 80 kms/Rs 100 extra per additional hour or Rs. 20 extra per additional kms deal for the city tour and RFC visit each, while on the 3rd day we managed in local rickshaws.
Coming to Biryani - you can eat at the, famous for Biryani restaurant, Paradise, though we were not that impressed (Read my review here:https://mouthshut.com/review/Paradise-Food-Court-Himayat-Nagar-Hyderabad-review-supqlmqtrnm)
There are plenty of options for accommodation - hotels, guest houses, apartments. We chose to stay at a budget place in Begumpet area in a hotel called Apline Glow Residency (Read my review here: https://mouthshut.com/review/Alpine-Glow-Residency-Hyderabad-review-onnmnrqssnm). There are also plenty of accommodation options available at Lakdi Ka Pul area.
Overall, city is a nice place worth a 3-day tour.
