Places to visit in Hyderabad, in what order

The four-arched gateway with four minarets that is the symbol of Hyderabad, built in 1591 by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah when he founded the city. Each minaret is about 56 m tall. A narrow stair climbs to the first floor, where you look down on the four roads and the bazaars that meet below.

One of the largest mosques in India, a few steps from Charminar. It was begun in 1617 by Muhammad Qutb Shah and finished under Aurangzeb in 1694. Bricks made with soil brought from Mecca are set over the central arch, which gives the mosque its name. The tombs of the Asaf Jahi Nizams are in a long arcade beside the courtyard.

The old bangle market running west from Charminar towards Chowmahalla Palace. Shop after shop sells lac bangles set with glass and stones, alongside bridal wear, perfume (attar) and pearls, which Hyderabad is famous for.

The palace of the Nizams, the rulers of Hyderabad, built from the 1750s round two big courtyards with fountains. The Khilwat, the durbar hall, has a marble throne platform and 19 huge chandeliers. Other rooms show the Nizams' clothes, weapons, china and a line of vintage cars, including a 1912 Rolls-Royce.

One of the biggest one-man collections in the world, gathered by Salar Jung III, a prime minister of the Nizam, and shown in about 38 galleries. Best known are the Veiled Rebecca, a marble statue whose veil looks like real cloth, and a 19th-century English musical clock where a little figure comes out to strike the hour. There are also jade daggers, Mughal paintings and furniture from Europe.

A museum in Purani Haveli, an old palace of the Nizams, about 1 km east of Charminar. It shows the gifts given to the last Nizam at his silver jubilee in 1936: silver models, jewelled boxes and caskets, plus his long wooden wardrobe, said to be the longest in the world.

A huge granite fort on a 120 m hill on the west side of the city, the capital of the Qutb Shahi kings until Aurangzeb took it in 1687. The diamond trade made Golconda rich; the Koh-i-Noor is said to have come from mines in the region. Clap under the dome at the Fateh Darwaza gate and the sound carries up to the top of the hill. The path climbs past palaces, mosques and granaries to the Bala Hisar pavilion, with a view over the whole city.

The tombs of seven Qutb Shahi kings and their families in a walled garden near Golconda, built between the 1540s and 1680s. The domes sit on square bases ringed with arches, in grey granite once covered in coloured tiles. The Aga Khan Trust has spent years restoring them, along with the old step wells and a small museum.

Hussain Sagar is the big lake between Hyderabad and Secunderabad, made in 1562. On a rock in the middle stands an 18 m Buddha carved from one block of white granite. Boats from Lumbini Park take about 15 minutes out, stop at the statue and come back. Tank Bund, the road along the east side, is lined with statues of Telugu heroes.

A white marble temple to Venkateswara (Balaji) on Naubat Pahad, a hill above Hussain Sagar, built by the Birla family in 1976 with about 2,000 tonnes of Rajasthani marble. Steps climb past smaller shrines to the main one, and the terrace looks out over the lake and the city.

A planetarium with a domed sky theatre, next to a science museum and a dinosaur gallery with the fossil of a Kotasaurus found in Telangana. It sits just below Birla Mandir.

One of the largest zoos in India, spread over about 380 acres beside the Mir Alam tank south of the Musi. It has a lion safari, white tigers, a nocturnal house and a toy train.

A film studio about 35 km east of the city, spread over about 2,000 acres, where hundreds of Indian films have been shot. Buses take you round the sets: palace fronts, streets, gardens and railway stations. There are stunt and dance shows, a bird park, rides and a Bahubali set.

A temple complex on a hilltop at Sanghi Nagar, next to Ramoji Film City, with a tall white gopuram (gateway tower) in the South Indian style. The main shrine is to Venkateswara, and the hill gives wide views over the countryside.

A crafts village in Madhapur, near Hitech City, with stalls run by weavers, potters and artists from across India: Pochampally ikat, Kalamkari prints, Bidri metalwork and Nirmal paintings. There is a rural museum of village life, a small lake and an open-air stage for evening shows.

A 233 m cable-stayed bridge over Durgam Cheruvu, a lake hidden among the rocks between Jubilee Hills and Hitech City. Opened in 2020, it is lit with changing colours after dark, and the lake round it has walkways and boating.

An old temple to Balaji on the edge of Osman Sagar, about 30 km west of the city, known as the Visa Balaji: people pray here for a visa and come back to walk 108 rounds once it comes. The temple takes no money: there is no donation box and no paid queue.

A seated statue of the 11th-century saint Ramanujacharya at Muchintal, about 37 km south of the city, opened in 2022. With its temple base it stands about 66 m tall, ringed by 108 small shrines, and it is one of the tallest seated statues in the world. In the evening a musical fountain show plays in front of it.

The family tombs of the Paigah nobles, close relatives of the Nizams, in a quiet walled compound south-east of the old city. The tombs are covered in fine marble lattice screens and lime plaster carving, with no two patterns the same.