Braving the Heat to See the City of Nizams? Here are 10 Places to Visit in Hyderabad in the Summer (2019)

Hyderabad has a warm climate, and typically, March to May constitute the summer season with April and May being the hottest months in the year. The temperature during the afternoon can be draining and its best to keep hydrated during that time the most, with the temperature soaring to 45 degrees Celsius on some days. Given the hot sunny days in Hyderabad, your skin would require additional care and it would be best to explore the city before 10 am and after 4 pm, with the afternoon spent indoors exploring other indoor activities.

Carry a sunscreen with SP 15 or higher to protect your exposed skin from the skin, applying it at least half hour before venturing out. It is wise to carry a scarf, cap or umbrella for added protection as well. Eating light and healthy is the best way to keep yourself hydrated. Opt for green vegetables and fruit like water melon, bananas, mango, oranges, lemon, peach, apple or guava. Fish is comparatively better for consumption during this time than chicken or red meat.

Avoid indulging in fried food or overeating, extremely cold food or drinks. Dressing appropriately to battle the summer heat will also go a long way in keeping you comfortable, for instance wear light colored cotton apparel as dark colors tend to absorb heat, loose fits help your skin breathe well.

The period between October through February is rather pleasant and some days are overcast as well. Winters in Hyderabad begin in November and continue till February with the average temperature fluctuating between 29-14 degrees. This is an ideal time to explore monument, enjoy city tours and other tourist activities, especially during early morning hours. June through September is the monsoon season with heavy rainfall and strong winds. Given the rainfall the city’s level of humidity is at an all-time high and hence impacts the incoming tourist traffic largely with temperatures oscillating between 27-24 degree Celsius. The evenings though are pleasant with cool breezes and perfect for rain enthusiasts.

So, even though Hyderabad, the city of pearls is charming through the year, the best time to visit and enjoy its majestic marvels is during winters.

Hyderabad is well connected to other tourist destinations and district headquarters through an extensive network of national and state highways with an efficient fleet of tourist buses with high standards. The transport vehicles of Telangana Tourism provide a hassle free experience to all its visitor with super luxurious Mercedes Benz and Volvo buses and an option available to tourists for customizing their travel plans, befitting their budget. In addition, there are Innova Cars also available for a quick and safe travel experience. The tourism corporation also provides high-end caravans for package & luxury tourists.

Apart from this, the other ways of commuting within the city include the APSRTC city buses, one of the most economical ways to enjoy traveling within the city, and the bus network is well connected to most tourist attractions too. Then there are the MMTS trains, auto rickshaws and taxi cabs to explore as well.

A fortified citadel and an early capital city of the Qutub Shahi dynasty, Golconda Fort is also fondly known as Golla Konda or Golkonda and is located in Hyderabad, located about 11 km from the city. The fort is renowned for its impenetrable structure and is considered a hallmark of excellence from the perspective of military architecture.

One of the grandest forts in the country, Golconda Fort was built in the 13th century by the Kakatiyas and was initially just a mud fort. Given its proximity to diamond mines, Golconda flourished as a diamond trade centre, having produced some of the world’s most popular diamonds including the colorless Kohinoor (UK), the Blue Hope (US), the Pink Daria-i-Noor (Iran), the White Regent (France), the colorless Orlov (Russia) and the Dresden Green (Germany), not to forget the lost jewels of Great Mogul, Akbar Shah and Florentine Yellow.

The entire fort complex and its neighboring area span across 11 km of architectural beauty that includes pavilions, entrances, domes and gates, all divided into 4 district forts, with its beautiful spirit quite evident in every hall, apartment, temple, mosque and stable. The main entrance to the fort is the Bala Hissar Gate from the Eastern Side with a pointed arch bordered by scroll work in rows.

Constructed in 1591, the landmark Charminar or the four minarets is a monument and mosque situated in Hyderbad and is symbolic of the city, renowned for its 400 year old mosque on the top floor. From a historical and religious standpoint, the Charminar is also known for its popular and busy local markets and is one of the most frequented tourist attractions in the country, a site for several festive celebrations as well.

Situated on the east bank of the river Musi, to its west lies the Laad Bazar, while the Makkah Masjid lies on its southwest side. This historical marvel was constructed at the intersection of a historical trade route that connected the Golkonda markets with the port city of Machilipatnam and its architectural design was incorporated with Persian elements.

The Charminar Masjid is a square structure with each end measuring approximately 60 feet in height, each of the four sides with a grand arch, facing a fundamental direction opening to the street before it. Each corner of the structure has a 56 m high minaret, exquisitely shaped with a double balcony, all built into the main building. The structure has 149 winding steps to reach the top floor and each of the fluted minarets are crowned by a spherical dome with delicate petal-like designs at the base. The Charminar is also known for its cornucopia of stucco adornments and placement of bannisters and terraces.

Considered one of the world’s largest museums, the Salar Jung Museum is an art gallery located at Dar-ul-Shifa on the southern bank of Musi River and is one of the 3 national museums in the country. Originally a private art collection belonging to the Salar Jung family, the museum was later gifted to the nation after Salar Jung III’s demise and was officially inaugurated in 1951.

With several paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, carvings, ceramics, textiles, carpets, metallic artifacts, clocks and furniture, from different parts of the world like Japan, Nepal, China, Egypt, Burma, Europe and North America, not to forget India, the national segment of the museum includes jade crafted daggers of Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Nur Jahan, and ammunition belonging to Tipu Sultan, Muhammad Shah, Aurangzeb, Bahadur Shah and more. There are Indian paintings from the Mughal, Rajasthani, Deccan and Thanjavur realms as well, with popular displays of Gandhara and Chola dynasties.

The building is constructed in a semi-circular shape with over 38 galleries spanning two floors that display only a portion of the original collection. The ground level has 20 galleries and there are 18 galleries on the first floor with exhibits pertaining to different subjects in separate galleries, each of which is huge and includes different artifacts. Besides all this, there’s a reading room, a reference library, a publication & education section, a sales counter, cafeteria and chemical conservation lab also on the premise with guided tours at pre-scheduled timings, free of charge.

A Hindu temple built on a 85 meter high hillock, the Naubath Pahad, spanning over 13 acres. The Birla Mandir took nearly 10 years in construction as was inaugurated by Swami Ranganathananda from the Ramakrishna Mission in 1976. Constructed by the Birla foundation, which is popular for several similar temples across the country, all these temples are known as the Birla Mandir.

The temple combines a blend of Rajasthani, Utkala and Dravidian architecture, constructed with over 2000 tons of pure white marble and has a granite idol of the presiding Lord Venkateswara, who’s idol is about 11 feet tall and has a carved lotus forming an umbrella on the top. The temple doesn’t have the traditional bells, as it was crafted with the intention of being conducive for silent meditation.

Besides the main shrine, the temple houses associates of Padmavati, Andal and Lord Venkateswara in separate shrines with shrines for various other Hindu Gods and Goddesses including Lord Hanuman, Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, Goddess Saraswati, Shakti, Lakshmi and Sai Baba, making it a welcome haven for people from all walks of life and religious background.

One of the world’s largest film city complex spanning over 2000 acres of land, Ramoji Film City is one of the most popular choices for all types of film makers and is an integrated and thematic tourist spot with the magic of cinema, welcoming to every cinema buff, attracting over a million tourists from all across the country each year. Founded in 1996, Ramoji Film City is open for visitors 7 days a week from 9 am to 8 pm with a variety of guided tours to sets, shooting locations and the eco zone with lunch or dinner and refreshments factored in.

One of the most glamorous film studios in the world, Ramoji Film City has earned its place in the Guinness Book of World Records as well and offers everything related to pre and post film production, with its architectural constructs and settings making it a top notch preference among the film makers. With a capacity to accommodate over 50 film units at the same city, the site also offers innumerable film sets that include Hollywood sign, London streets, Japanese gardens, hospitals, airports, etc., in addition to buildings and landscapes. Every day, there are about 10,000 visitors to the Film City with buses operating from the main city to the Ramoji Film City for guided tours.

A heart shaped lake in Hyderabad that was built by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah and named after Hussain Shah Wali, the Hussain Sagar Lake spans 5.7 square kilometers. The lake has a colossal statue of Gautam Buddha on the Gibraltar Rock right in the midst of the lake, that was erected in 1992 and the lake separates Hyderabad from its twin city Secunderabad, with a depth of 32 feet.

The lake is an artificial water body built across a tributary in 1563 by NTR and holds water that’s constantly supported by the River Musi. The Hussain Sagar Lake is the largest heart shaped mark amongst the 78 other such shaped lakes and 9 heart shaped islands on earth, and has many outstanding universal values of love surrounding its construct.

Due to its heart shape, which symbolizes love, the king built this lake for the purpose of irrigation and drinking water for his kingdom out of his affection for his people. King Ibrahim named the lake in honor of Hazrath Hussain Shawali, a sufi saint, medical practitioner and architect in lieu of the treatment the latter extended to the king during the former’s sickness.

Mecca Masjid or Makkah Masjid is Hyderabad’s congregational mosque, one of the largest in the country with a capacity to hold over 20,000 people and was built between 16-17th centuries. The mosque is protected by the state in the heart of the old city of Hyderabad and shares proximity with historic landmarks of Chowmahalla Palace, Charminar and Laad Bazaar. Muhd. Quli Qutb Shah, the 5th ruler from the Qutb Shahi dynasty commissioned bricks from the holy site of Mecca and used them in the construction of the mosque’s central arch, forming a center piece around which the city was planned.

The three arched facades of the mosque were crafted from a single granite piece which took nearly 5 years to quarry and more than 8,000 workers were involved in its construction. However, the mosque’s construction was abandoned after the Emperor’s death.

The entrance to the courtyard is one of the most striking features of the mosque that features a rectangular, arched and canopied building with marble graves of the Asaf Jahi dynasty rulers. At the end of the resting place are two rectangular blocks with four minarets each with elegant and circular terraces, low ornamental walls and arches, in addition to an octagonal inverted platter that forms the remaining portion of the minarets soaring high, till it is all covered by a dome and a spire.

One of the most reputed institutions in the country, the Birla Science Museum is an Indian center constructed by P. A. Singaravelu, a civil engineer and includes a planetarium, a science centre, a museum, a dinosaurium and an art gallery. A wing of the science centre, the Birla Planetarium was inaugurated by NT Rama Rao in 1985 and one of the three planetarium present in India. Popular for sharing scientific knowledge with the country, Birla Science Museum has been known to educate and disseminate information interactively, making learn a fun & exciting opportunity.

The museum houses different segments, with each section presenting an excellent set of exhibits dedicated to a specialized field and involves an interactive science section, archeology and dolls museum, Antarctica diorama, Nobel gallery, NRSA, IEEE, Dvaraka Diorama and dinosaurium.

For electronics enthusiasts, there’s an electronics section as well which explores a fascinating world of scientific marvels, with a special inclusion of a harp that automatic plays a tune as soon as someone puts their hand over it due to the motion sensors on its strings. There are holograms that display varied images of faces, plants, drawing, etc making for a captivating experience. The Birla Science Museum is open for visitors from 10.30 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week and the entry fee is Rs.100 per person.

Located near Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad, the Nehru Zoological Park is one of the most frequented destinations in Hyderabad and was opened to the public in 1963. Situated about 16 km from the city, Nehru Zoological Park is one of the largest zoos in the country, run by the Forest Department, Government of Telangana and has been named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It spans over 380 acres and the zoo boasts of nearly 1500 species of birds, reptiles and mammals, with other extensive varieties of wildlife, and its USP is the fact that animals are kept in open enclosures to closely resemble their natural habitat, in addition to an assortment of exotic animals being bred here as well.

Besides all this, there’s a plethora of activities that include various safaris, toy train ride, visits to the Jurassic park, butterfly park, aquarium and more, which makes visiting the zoo not only an exciting adventure but also an educational opportunity. With the exception of Monday, the zoo is open to visitors all days of the week from 8 am to 5 pm.

Snow World is an amusement park in Hyderabad spanning 2 acres and located beside the Indira Park along the Hussain Sagar Lake, inaugurated in 2004. Conceptualized and developed by Ocean Park Multi-Tech Ltd, Snow World’s recognized as the first snow-themed part in the country and is also apparently one of the largest in the world. The park has exciting activities for all age groups with various interesting options to explore.

The temperature inside the Snow World varies from 0-5 degrees Celsius and offers its visitors an opportunity to experience a snow clad hill station with snowfall. Other adventurous activities involve trekking, ice skating, ice boarding, toboggan rides, bumping cars, snow slides and more. There are several snow sculptures and snow clad mountains here with a Cyro Zone that showcases a natural snow scape with Igloos, alpine trees with simulated polar bears and penguins.

Open on all seven days a week from 11 am to 9 pm, Snow world’s entry fee for adults is Rs.450 and Rs.250 for kids, with a special fee for students, Rs.300 for college students and Rs.250 for school students for and below 10th class.

Words are seldom enough when you have to describe a city as versatile as Hyderabad, what with its cultural heritage, rich delicious cuisine, adventurous activities and blooming cyber status! Hence, when it comes to picking some of the best things to do here, the list may run long. But there are a few handpicked activities and experiences that suit different age-groups that can help understand and become familiar with about the city and its identity.