Doubts regarding travel in Hyderabad

Hi People,

I'll be travelling to HYD in the month of May and I'm very new to the city. I don't know Telugu as well. I have two concerns and please help me out

1. I will be visiting Leonia Resort in Shamirpet. I'll be reaching HYD through flight. I head the place is very far from airport. So how do I get an economical cab? Does OLA or UBER come? Do you have airport taxi near the exit?

2. While returning (To Chennai) I'm planning to take a sleeper AC bus. I checked online and was not able to find any government sleeper Volvo. However there are lots of Private buses. Can you please suggested a good bus service and also the bust stand where we have to go to catch private buses?

You dont need Telugu to live in Hyderabad. Most of the city speaks various flavors of Hindi, some english. There're pre-paid cabs at airport exit (go down the walkways and ignore the taxi drivers who try to tell you that the booth is closed due to a strike). Ola works fine (they took over taxi for sure), never used uber while in Hyde. Use their app.

Check TNSTC for government bus or Telangana state transport if they have anything. Otherwise - Kesineni, KPN are both good volvos. Use redbus.in. You wont get picked up from a government bus stand in case of the private co volvo - Hyderabad is very spread out so choose a boarding point convenient to you.

Hope this helps.

-crossposted-

1. Yes, it is far. Around a 100 km, from the top of my head. Ola or Uber can be called, Meru or Skycab at airport will be much more expensive. Best route is via the Outer Ring Road all the way till the Medchal exit and reconnect to ORR for Shamirpet after 6/8 km, you will have to pay the toll- maybe 120 bucks or so. Should take an hour or a little more, Alternatively, take a airport shuttle to Secunderabad and cab from there, will take much longer. There are also government approved prepaid taxis available, Ground floor/parking area close to Macdonalds. (shuttle same level other side)
2. Bus service can't help with recommendations, but people have not complained about the better rated ones in redbus. Again, if they pick up at Secunderabad it will be convenient.

Yes it really helps!!!

I don't want to use a pick up point as I might miss out on the timings or find difficulty in identifying the place. Is there any private bus stand place where the buses starts from ? so that I can directly get into the bus at the start.?

Different operators have different pick up points, but they are usually clustered around convenient areas. Some will use smaller vans etc to take you to the bus which may start from far away.

They coordinate on phone, with bus numbers etc, and call you up with updates. Very organised, my kids have taken some so I know.

Thank you @capt_mahajan.

There are few dropdowns for the bus pick up points (refer image)(http://postimg.org/image/8r895z3jh/). Which one should I select based on the below factors:

1. Should have a good resto for dinner
2. Shopping area to buy famous swwets and snacks
3. nearby shamirpet

Secunderabad area (say, around Paradise), or Tarnaka (not sure if buses pickup from there)

Suggest browse redbus and see where the better rated operators pickup from. Secunderabad is better for shopping than Tarnaka, nothing great there.

I have updated the image link in my query. Can you pls select a point from that?

Like I said, Paradise. (It is a van pickup, be prepared to spend a long time in a non-ac van driving through crowded and polluted parts of the city, traffic, before you reach the bus. Keep office rush in mind, the whole drive will be murder)

You can buy sweets etc nearby, walking distance, and Biryani at Paradise. It is a crowded marketplace.

Again off the top of my head, maybe 35 km from Leonia.

Thank you so much vaibhav_arora and capt_mahajan

Will keep this thread updated upon further doubts

Can you suggest me few good restaurant on the way from airport to sharimpet?

There are no resteraunts (or anything else) on the ORR. Best eat at either the airport or at Leonia after an hour or so. The airport has a food court on the same ground floor besides some fast food outlets at arrivals.

Thank you.

For the return journey, I have selected Orange travels, I'm thinking of selecting "Suchitra" as the boarding point, which is the first one. Can you please advice whether this is a good place to select? Will there be any sweet/snack shops in this area?

Also, the bus is at 6 30 PM so will they stop in good hotels in the middle? Any experience in this?
Also, any nearby places to visit in this area to kill time?

"Suchitra" is almost certainly near Kompally (between Kompally and Bowenpally, actually). It will be closer to you than Secunderabad by maybe 10 km. Do check it is the same Suchitra, not too far from Loyola college.

Some ordinary biryani joints and such at Suchitra junction. Nothing great.

Thank you. Also, I see boarding point as "Paradise (Pickup Van/Bus) - near fire station" - where exactly is this? What is the area name?