[vvivek85]

It was sometime in August or September 2023 wife and I started the discussion of where we can spend our December 2023 holidays. December will always be a special month for everyone but it is even more special to us since 2012 which happened to be our Daughter's birth month. Considering that last December (2022) we spent our Daughter's first milestone birthday in Dubai, we wanted to spend this December in India as there are a lot of unexplored places in India that we need to visit. While deciding on places, we first finalized Munnar then due to various other reasons we dropped the plan. That's when it struck me, why can't we plan a trip to Hyderabad? Since our PM inaugurated the "Statue of Equality" in February 2022 we wanted to visit Hyderabad and at that moment I finalized our December 2023 to be in Hyderabad, The City of Pearls.





The dates planned for the trip were December 23rd to 28th 2023, sometime in November 2023 I booked the Taj Mahal Hotel Abids which is located in old Hyderabad, and then worked on the itinerary. The ever-trusted Venue is going to be our ride for this trip.


23rd December - Chennai to Hyderabad

We started at 5 AM from our place and it was too foggy in Chennai, a rare sight in ever-hot Chennai. This is how our day started



It was an uneventful drive, we stopped for breakfast en route at around 7:30 AM. Post our breakfast we proceeded toward the destination. One thing to note for vegetarians, you don't have as many food options in the Chennai - Hyderabad route as you have in the Chennai - Madurai highway. So please plan your trip accordingly, for lunch, thankfully we were able to find a hotel in Andhra "Lakshmi Sai Meals Aryavysya Bhojana Hotel". We had proper authentic Andhra Meals there, my wife did her part by giving a good rating for them



People who have watched Jailer can relate to this place



We reached the outskirts of Hyderabad around 4 PM and it took us a good 2 hours from there to reach our hotel. Check-in was seamless at the hotel, it is an old hotel but the rooms were well maintained with ample parking. Infact there is a restaurant as well in the same place but guests who have taken a room are allotted dedicated parking.

We rested for an hour and then planned to go on a walk nearby for dinner. Abids is a happening place with good shopping options both roadside / branded. We completed our dinner in a North Indian restaurant, came back to our room, and hit our bed.

December 24th 2023

We wanted to start the trip traditionally, so the first place we planned was Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple TTD Jubilee Hills. After our breakfast at the hotel, we started around 8 AM to Venkateshwara Swamy Temple. Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of rush; we had a great darshan, and was a good start for our trip. Inside they had Ganapathy Sannidhi as well, after a great darshan we proceeded toward the next destination











Next up we went to Jagannath Temple, a replica of Jagannath Temple in Puri. The temple's structure was scintillating and they did their best to replicate Puri temple. After a good darshan there, we went on to our next destination.









Next, we went to Sri Peddamma Thalli Temple located at Jubilee Hills. This temple wasn't part of my initial itinerary list but per a suggestion from one of my sister's friend who lives in Hyderabad, we went to that temple. Upon reaching there, we came to know how famous the temple is, with a good amount of rush. Had a good darshan there as well and proceeded towards our next destination.

x

Next up, is the ever-famous Charminar. It was 12:30 PM when we left Peddamma Thali temple and reached Charminar around 1:20 PM. As expected, I didn't find any parking, so I had to drive a few 100 meters away from the place and found one. We walked towards Charminar and at 1:30 PM the amount people there on that road connecting Charminar was unimaginable.

Few pictures of the majestic building itself.





As it was already 1:30 PM our stomachs started to scold us with cuss words, to our dismay we didn't find any proper veg restaurants. So we had some light eatables like pani pori, and sweet corn to pacify our stomachs for the time being. Now comes the interesting part, while my wife stated her friend had suggested a pearl shop near Charminar, I did a poor comedy in Tamil which roughly translates to "Does a Pearl require a Pearl" That look from my wife ensured I stayed silent for the rest of the day She purchased few pearls necklace and bangles for our family members. Once purchasing was done, we had a good lassi at a shop near Charminar and at 3:30 PM we started and went back to our hotel.

We rested in the hotel for an hour, the evening plan was Lumbini Park, Hussain Sagar Lake, and Telangana Martyrs Memorial. We started around 4:45 PM and reached the place at 5 PM. Again parking was a huge problem here, we couldn't find a suitable parking in Lumbini Park, so we roamed around the place for a few minutes, thankfully we found a parking place on the adjacent road to the New Secretariat building.

We got the park entrance ticket through QR code which was available there and went and stood at the boating line. There were dedicated lines for different boating, we chose the boating option which would take us to the Budha statue. The others were Speedboats and dance boats but these will not take to Budha statue. Due to the long weekend, there was a long queue, we got our tickets at 7 PM, and then the waiting continued for boating. At last, we got our boat ride turn and went to the Budha statue. It was a scenic beauty, infact the boat travel by itself was eye-pleasing, the new Secretariat is so beautiful, especially in lights.

125-foot-tall statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar



New Secretariat building



Telangana Martyrs Memorial









We came back from boating to Lumbini Park at 8 PM, it was a tiresome day so we skipped Telangana Martyrs Memorial and decided to head back to our room. In the enroute we had dinner and reached our room at 9:30 PM.

December 25th 2023

Day 2 started with breakfast at the hotel and left the place at 8:30 AM. The first destination was Golconda Fort. Reached the fort at around 9:15 AM, and faced the same parking issue; parked the car at the side of the fort, went in got the tickets, and started walking. Note, please plan your visit either in the mornings or evenings, you have to do a lot of walk, it was tiresome for us.







It took us a solid 2 hours in the fort, the initial plan was to cover Birla Science Museum and Birla Mandir as well on the same day, but considering that the fort took unexpected time we wanted to cover Mandir alone and the Science Museum for a later date. We reached Brila Mandir at 11:45 PM, but police personnel didn't allow us to enter that Mandir road citing no parking availability at the temple premises. Considering the place is a main area, I didn't get any proper parking place, I didn't want to risk parking the car in a "no parking" place and get into unwanted headaches in an unknown city. So we decided to finish our lunch, en route we found Ishtaa restaurant had a good meal and went to our hotel.

Took rest for an hour, the plan was to cover Brila Mandir at 3 PM and then head to the Statue of Equality. So we started from the hotel at 2:45 PM and reached the Mandir sharp at 3 PM. We had a good darshan there, thankfully not much of a rush, so we spent some time in the temple.





Attachment 2558769

[vvivek85]

Cont

We then started towards Statue of Equality at around 3:45 PM, the place is located 35 KMs from Brila Mandir, and it took us roughly around an hour. The parking inside the premises was full and they had a massive parking area outside the premises. Mobiles weren't allowed inside, so I was able to manage only a few pictures of Sri Ramanujar.

Massive Parking ground








We got the entrance ticket online upon reaching the place, we can take the phone to the online ticket counter to get printed tickets, upon receiving the tickets one can submit their mobiles at the mobile counter. I preferred to head back to the parking and keep our mobiles in the car.

Ramajunar temple is an architectural marvel, the statute is at the center surrounding the statue there are 108 Divya Desam. It is a dream for many to get a glimpse of all Divya Desam which is located in different places. It was a blessing in disguise to have all 108 Divya Desam at one place. It is a must-visit place for anyone who travels to Hyderabad.

A special mention to the sculptures who were involved in making the mamoth Ramanujar statue. It was so realistic with the body cuts and the ornament designs. We left the place at around 8 PM, had dinner en route and went back to our hotel.



26th December 2023

After a hectic 2 days, I wanted to make this day bit light. I already booked WINTER FEST EVENING STUDIO TOUR at Ramoji studio, we had to be there only by 2 PM. The plan was to spend some time in Inorbit Mall in the morning and from there to Ramoji studio.

Reached the mall at around 10:30 AM, was just hovering around in the mall just wasting time. We completed our lunch at the mall itself and started from mall at 12:30 PM. I made a mistake by missing an entry towards the flyover, so I wasted close to 15 minutes in the process of getting back to that flyover. It was an effortless drive, reached Ramoji at 2 PM produced the online ticket boarded non AC bus.

At first, we were taken to Ramoji Movie magic, there are different shows which will happen simultaneously. We went to a show which give us experience of theatrical artist performance.











Next show was related to End 2 End of movie-making experience, it covers how movies are shot with green mats, how re-recordings happen, then the final product.



Considering the time constraints, we wanted to go to the Bhaubali set before dusk falls. One needs to board another bus for the Bhaubali set, need to appreciate the arrangements made; you have a lot of busses plying minute after minute to Bhaubali set and studio tour.

We boarded the bus and it took around 15 minutes to reach the Bhaubali set. Enough has been spoken about the set, seeing the set one gets the feel that reel is different than real. In the movie scene where Palvaldevan is sworn, it looks as if he is seated at least 20 to 25 rows from the ground level, but in reality that place is not even 10 rows from ground But was a great experience in visiting the sets of one the best if not the best movie taken in Telegu cinema.







We took the return bus back to the movie magic dropping point, from there boarded another bus for the studio tour.

Bus which took us to studio tour



Studio tour was so interesting experience for us, quite a lot of movies where shot in Ramoji studio, to name few Chandramukhi same building was used for Sita Ramam palace, Jailer, Pushpa 2, Munabhai MBBS, Chennai express. Another instance for real vs reel is one building which had back view a hospital, the side view a church, front view top half airport, bottom half auto stand / bus stand. Ramoji film studio is spread across 1666 acres and it has a place in Guinness world records as well. Some pictures which I took in the studio tour















We took a bus to a place where dinner was served, post dinner another bus took us to car parking. All in all a great experience which is surely worth it.

27th December 2023

Post our breakfast, we first went to Brilla Museum my daughter really had a very good time there. Kids who have good fascination for science will enjoy the best.











My sister's friend invited us for lunch, so we went there and spent some good time with her family. From there we went to Ikia, massive would be an understatement. It was so huge that, we were lost inside and had to ask someone to exit. We bought a few household items and some soft toys. We left from there to Shilparamam which is famous for handicrafts/dress materials/bracelets. My wife made some purchases there and we signed off the Hyderabad tour on a higher note.

28th December 2023 started around 8 AM after breakfast and reached Chennai late evening.

Some significant things

- There are many places to visit in Hyderabad and they seem to have more tourist spots when compared to Chennai. For that case, Chennai seems to be going in a downward trend with no proper tourist spots except for beaches which are there for eternity.

- Costs of fruits and vegetables are very cheap when compared to Chennai.

- Petrol prices are atleast Rs 7 higher than what we have here in Chennai.

- Google Maps at times was behaving very strangely, especially where roads and flyovers intersect

- Traffic sense of people is worser than Chennai, no discipline whatsoever.

- Overall mileage for this trip for me was at 15KMPL

- Roads are well laid, atleast for the places where we travelled.

- Taj Mahal hotel, I would rate them 4 on 5.

- Hightech city, as the name suggests has a day and night difference between old/new Hyderabad.

Overall, I feel to have made the best decision to visit Hyderabad. We as a family enjoyed the stay. Thank you for reading through patiently.

[Stranger2106]

Some significant things

- There are many places to visit in Hyderabad and they seem to have more tourist spots when compared to Chennai. For that case, Chennai seems to be going in a downward trend with no proper tourist spots except for beaches which are there for eternity.

- Costs of fruits and vegetables are very cheap when compared to Chennai.

- Petrol prices are atleast Rs 7 higher than what we have here in Chennai.

- Google Maps at times was behaving very strangely, especially where roads and flyovers intersect

- Traffic sense of people is worser than Chennai, no discipline whatsoever.

- Overall mileage for this trip for me was at 15KMPL

- Roads are well laid, atleast for the places where we travelled.

- Taj Mahal hotel, I would rate them 4 on 5.

- Hightech city, as the name suggests has a day and night difference between old/new Hyderabad.

Overall, I feel to have made the best decision to visit Hyderabad. We as a family enjoyed the stay. Thank you for reading through patiently.

I too could relate to most of the points mentioned by you after my recent trip to Hyderabad between 27th to 31st. Especially the point regarding traffic. In fact the traffic was much bad considering the fact that I am used to light traffic here in Trivandrum. Also, it is a very common sight of two wheelers coming from the wrong side.

After reading your post, it seems I've missed couple of destinations. Probably for another trip.

Also, I wonder how you were able to cover Ramoji film City within half day. Even a full day was not sufficient for us.

[Gennex]

Hope you endured traffic and enjoyed your stay at Hyderabad. Only sad part is you are a vegetarian. Otherwise half of your trip would have included feasting at good Biryani places.

[jithin23]

Lovely trip, narration and pictures. I've been to most of the places you have mentioned except Ramoji Film City. I'm more of a History buff so went to all the museums and monuments as well. Hyderabad is an emotion and I visit Hyd once in a while as its a 6 hour drive from Bangalore. I agree with the analysis of Hyderabad vis a vis to Chennai(I'm from Chennai too, but raised in Bangalore), but Banaglore traffic is the benchmark of worse traffic. I felt Hyderabad traffic management is better than Bangalore.

[rajwheelz]

Nice travelogue. And happy to see you enjoying the sights in Hyderabad ( My native place ). You should have tried a few more vintage spots. Maybe next time. Listing them below for anyone who may refer this thread for a Hyderabad trip.
- Salar Jung Museum
- Qutub Shahi Tombs
- Gokul Chats
- Best Irani chai in town. Either Alpha Hotel ( Secunderabad Railway station ) or Blue Sea ( Regimental Bazaar )
- Paradise Biryaani for Non Veg Lovers
- For persons visiting in Jan, do no miss the Industrial and Consumer Exhibition near Gandhi Bhavan. It's culturally called as the Numaish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numaish)
- Nehru Zoological Park

[A_Basu]

Nice travelogue I lived in Hyderabad for about 3 years, till about the end of the 1st Covid wave, and absolutely loved the place. It's nice seeing it through your eyes and perspectives, @vvivek85, because I hadn't been to the temples and the Hussain Sagar. Being more of a history person, I've been to the places @rajwheelz mentions. I hope you return to Hyderabad for more visits.

Originally Posted by rajwheelz

- Salar Jung Museum
- Qutub Shahi Tombs
...
- For persons visiting in Jan, do no miss the Industrial and Consumer Exhibition near Gandhi Bhavan. It's culturally called as the Numaish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numaish)

The Qutub Shahi Tombs was my favourite place; I landed up there quite often (and there's a Karachi Bakery right before the turn to the Tombs; it has a restaurant on the first floor.) My car's ASS was nearby (Ford Motors, ToliChowki), so for every service, I'd drop the car and just amble over to the Tombs complex. Here's my car at my favouritest place in Hyderabad

[swiftez]

What a co-incidence , we were at the same place on 26, 27th. The reason for the trip was also the same, "Daughter's Birthday". On 25th we visited Wonderla instead of old Hyderabad. Also at Birla science museum happened to meet a Tamil family near the elevator, the only convo with them was "Chennai ah?".

[A_Basu]

I forgot to mention the Paigah tombs. On your next visit to Hyderabad, do consider going there. The complex is inside a very narrow gully, so one needs to park the car on the main road. It's near the Owaisi Hospital, which can also be utilised for parking, I guess.