By road
A major national hub, well connected by air and rail across India
South India · Telangana
Hyderabad, Telangana
Charminar, forts and a biryani empire · A major national hub, well connected by air and rail across India
Getting there
By rail
Secunderabad and Hyderabad Deccan (Nampally), both in the city
By air
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, in the city
Best time to visit
October to February — Deccan winter is kind
Don't miss
Charminar
Golconda Fort
Qutb Shahi Tombs
Chowmahalla Palace
Hussain Sagar
Things to do
Old-city walks
Pearl shopping
Ramoji Film City days
Café crawls
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Kavali Chandrakanth KCK · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Bargaining spirit for Laad Bazaar, comfortable shoes for Golconda
A quieter corner
The acoustics demo at Golconda's entrance dome — a clap heard a fort away
About Hyderabad
- Inland
Where it is
Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana, a large city on the Deccan Plateau along the Musi River, joined to its twin city of Secunderabad by the Hussain Sagar lake.
History
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of the Golconda Sultanate founded Hyderabad in 1591 and built the Charminar at its heart. The Mughals annexed it in 1687, and from 1724 it was the seat of the Asaf Jahi Nizams, whose princely state was integrated into India in 1948; the city became the capital of Telangana when the state was formed in 2014.
People
Hyderabadis speak Telugu and Urdu, both official languages, and the city's Urdu has its own Deccani character. Telugu and Deccani Muslim traditions meet in its food, poetry and festivals, from Bonalu to the Ramzan season of haleem, and the city is a major centre of information technology and pharmaceuticals.
Known for
- The Charminar and the old city bazaars
- Golconda Fort and the Qutb Shahi tombs
- Hyderabadi biryani and haleem
- Pearls and the lac bangles of Laad Bazaar
- Chowmahalla Palace
Did you know?
Golconda was once the world's great market for diamonds, and famous stones such as the Koh-i-Noor and the Hope Diamond are believed to have come from the region's mines.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.