iMahesh · A tomb in Qutb Shahi complex 5.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hyderabad
A Qutb Shahi capital with its own cuisine, a hill fort and a necropolis of seven sultans.
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the one major southern city that reads as Persianate rather than Dravidian, and that is the whole reason to come. It was a Qutb Shahi capital before it was anything else, and the dynasty left three things that still organise a visit: Golconda, the hill fort they ruled from; the Charminar and the walled city laid out beneath it; and the tomb complex north of Golconda’s Banjara Darwaza, where seven of the eight sultans are buried under domes that sit on square bases behind pointed arches — Persian form worked in Deccan stone. The first of those tombs was finished in 1543 and the last in 1672, and the whole garden complex has been under restoration by the state archaeology department with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture since 2013. Add a cuisine that belongs to the city rather than to a region, and three nights is the right length.
Explore Hyderabad on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
The unmissable Hyderabad
What to do in Hyderabad
The Qutb Shahi sites first, the Nizami city second, and the food throughout.
The Qutb Shahi city
- Golconda Fort — a hill citadel with an acoustic system that carries a handclap from the gate to the summit.
- The Qutb Shahi tombs, the resting place of seven of the eight sultans, under restoration since 2013.
- The Charminar and the walled streets beneath it, including the bangle market at Laad Bazaar.
- The Mecca Masjid, immediately beside the Charminar.
The Nizami city
- Chowmahalla Palace, the Asaf Jahi seat, with its durbar hall and clock.
- The Salar Jung Museum, one of the largest single-collector museums in the world.
- Falaknuma, on its ridge above the old city.
Eating
- Hyderabadi biryani, cooked sealed rather than mixed — the dish the city is known for and argues about.
- Haleem in Ramzan, when it appears across the city and then disappears again.
- Irani cafés for chai and Osmania biscuits, which is a genuine local institution rather than a novelty.
How long to stay
The old city
The Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Laad Bazaar and Chowmahalla, finishing with biryani.
Golconda and the tombs
The fort in the morning while it is cool, the Qutb Shahi tombs immediately north of it after.
Museums and the modern city
The Salar Jung Museum, then Banjara Hills, the lake and an evening that is not a monument.
Getting around
Hyderabad is large and spread out, and it has a working metro along the main corridors.
Arriving
- Rajiv Gandhi International (HYD) lies south of the city and is well connected domestically and to the Gulf.
- Secunderabad and Hyderabad Deccan are the main railway stations.
- The airport road into the city is fast; allow more time in the reverse direction at peak hours.
Moving
- The metro covers the main north–south and east–west corridors and is the quickest way along them.
- App cabs and auto-rickshaws handle the rest; the old city is best walked once you are in it.
- Golconda and the Qutb Shahi tombs are adjacent to one another in the west — do them in one outing.
Travel intelligence
Four things that change how the days are planned.
The tomb complex lies just north of Golconda’s outer wall and its Banjara Darwaza. They are a single half-day together; splitting them across two days wastes a crossing of the city.
The Deccan plateau has a fierce summer. From March the middle of the day becomes an indoor activity, and Golconda in particular is an exposed climb.
The Qutb Shahi complex has been under a long conservation programme by the state archaeology department with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Parts of the garden are working sites, and what is open changes.
One for the old city, one for Golconda and the tombs, one for the Nizami palaces and museums. It is a city-centred trip rather than a touring one.
Where to stay
Three distinct areas, and the choice changes the trip more than it usually does.
The old city
- Closest to the Charminar, Laad Bazaar and Chowmahalla.
- Dense, atmospheric and best for a first visit focused on the historic core.
Banjara Hills & Jubilee Hills
- The green, low-rise side of the city with most of the restaurants.
- Comfortable and central-ish; you will drive to the monuments.
HITEC City & Gachibowli
- The modern west of the city, well served by hotels.
- Convenient for business, furthest from everything historic.
Where to photograph
The stone here is pale and the light is hard; early and late are the only good windows.
Early
- The Qutb Shahi tombs, when the garden is empty and the domes still have side light.
- Golconda from the lower ramparts before the climb fills up.
Late
- The Charminar from the street corners rather than head-on, as the lights come up.
- Laad Bazaar’s bangle shops, which photograph better than they look.
- Golconda at sunset from the summit, looking back over the city.
Nearby
What is genuinely within reach, and what is a separate trip.
Frequently asked
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