Touted to be India’s fifth-largest city, Hyderabad is the land of royal palaces, bustling bazaars, grand mosques, rich museums, and sprawling gardens. While each of these deserves special mentions, we’re focussing on the city’s stunning Hyderabad Garden, also known as Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy Botanical Garden. While it may come across as an ordinary garden at first glance, spend some time here and you’ll unearth its various treasures. It is an undertaking of Telangana Forest Department and is home to some 600 species of plants that act as a retreat for several birds as well as insects, elevating the overall atmosphere. Adding a notch to this experience is the garden’s excellent landscaping, ornamented by rolling meadows, rock formations, and several aesthetic amenities for public use. Check out our guide to Botanical Garden, Hyderabad that covers all the information you’ll need to have a stunning time here.
Things to do / highlights
Go birdwatching
A variety of flora attracts several bird species to the garden, including peacocks. Just carry around a pair of binoculars with you and go about spending time observing these beautiful species. Also, be sure to bring your camera so you can take lots of photos!
Identify various plant species
The gardens are home to a host of plant species too, and has been sectioned off into 19 parts. While some of these are ornamental, you’ll also be able to find plants that are medicinal, succulents, aquatic, fruit-bearing and more. Paved walkways are provided throughout the gardens so you can easily walk around and admire these. There is also a designated section for palm and bamboo trees that’s hugely popular amongst visitors.
Join a nature walk
The garden’s management - and sometimes other informal groups of nature lovers - host nature walks in the garden. This is a great way to learn about the various species of plants living in the garden.
Enjoy a picnic
Needless to say, the garden is an ideal spot for enjoying a picnic. Just carry your basket of essentials and have fun relishing the beautiful atmosphere and the lovely plant life inhabiting the area! You can either lay on the ground or make use of one of the gazebos at the garden. Remember that it is expected of guests not litter or damage the property, so be sure to clean up after your picnic.
Make use of other facilities
Botanical Garden has a few other facilities for visitors to make use of. Among these are an open yoga podium, environmental education centre, an outdoor and indoor gym, audio-visual room for hosting nature documentary sessions, and a designated play area for children.
Travellers Tips
Camera fee
While the standard admission fee of the garden remains 0.1 to 0.3 USD (10 to 25 INR), you’ll need to pay a fee of about 7 USD (500 INR) for nature photography, which allowed only between 5 am to 8 am. Photography on mobile phones does not attract these charges. Formal solo or couple photoshoots require a fee of 40 USD (3,000 INR) and is valid for five hours. Video shoots also come with separate charges.
Facilities at the garden
There are gender-separate washrooms and a water booth for visitors at the garden. You can make use of these as per your convenience.
Maintain care
Remember that this garden is an important part of eco-tourism in Hyderabad, so don’t litter on the grounds, yank out the grass, or pluck the plants on display. Regardless of the guards manning the gardens, it is expected that you’ll maintain care during your visit.
How to get there
Car/cab
Botanical Garden is about 16 kilometres (10 miles) away from Hyderabad’s Hitech City. You can either hitch a local taxi or drive down yourself. The drive takes about 10 to 15 minutes depending on traffic conditions. Alternatively, cab and ride-hailing services such as Ola and Uber also service Hyderabad, so you can easily download their apps on your mobile phone to book a ride to the garden.
Metro
Hitech City, Shilparamam, Durga, and Madhapur stations on the Blue Line are all 2 to 3 kilometres (1.2 to 1.8 miles) away from Botanical Garden. Erragadda Metro Station is about 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) away, but it falls on the Red Line.
Bus
Botanical Garden Signal on Gachibowli-Miyapur Road is the nearest bus stop, about 550 metres (1,800 feet) away from the gardens. You can walk to your destination from here or hail an autorickshaw.
How to get tickets
Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy Botanical Garden (y)
Posted by Hyderabad City on Saturday, 5 April 2014
The only means of purchasing an admission ticket into Hyderabad’s Botanical Garden is on-site. The ticket counter is just by the garden’s entrance gate. Don’t worry about queueing because it’s not usually crowded. Also, if you’d like to carry out some sort of filming session or photo shoot at the garden, do let them know at the ticket counter so they can inform you about the additional fares as well as the rules and regulations involved.
Botanical Garden information
Botanical Garden
Address: Kothaguda Reserve Forest, Gachibowli Road, Near Hi-tec City, Kondapur, Hyderabad, Telangana 500032
Opening hours: 5:30am - 6pm (daily)
Cost: 0.1 - 0.3 USD (10 - 25 INR)
Department of tourism: Hyderabad Tourism
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