Serilingampalle travel guide

Serilingampalle, India

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Serilingampalle

Introduction

Serilingampally, also called Lingampally, is a major suburb in the north-western part of Hyderabad, within the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana, and is administered by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Its position close to HITEC City, Gachibowli, Nanakramguda, Manikonda and Kondapur has drawn a heavy influx of IT companies, giving the area a distinctly corporate, working character.

That same proximity shapes what you'll notice as a visitor: a skyline that includes some of the tallest buildings in Hyderabad, with Candeur Crescent the tallest of them, and the University of Hyderabad also located here. The suburb works best as a base for the western tech corridor rather than as a sightseeing destination in its own right.

Before you go

West Hyderabad is a cluster of distinct neighbourhoods rather than a single centre, so it helps to decide where you want to base yourself before you arrive. HITEC City is the core of Cyberabad, filled with IT office buildings, international restaurants and fast food outlets. Madhapur, busy and just east of HITEC City, holds Inorbit Mall, the Shilparamam crafts village, granite rocks and Durgam Cheruvu lake. Gachibowli is a large corporate district with regional offices of Amazon and Microsoft and educational institutions such as the University of Hyderabad and IIIT Hyderabad. The Financial District, despite its name, mainly houses software and real estate companies. Serilingampally is the suburb where the first software companies set up their offices, and it is one of the three terminals of the MMTS.

Because these areas serve very different purposes, your choice of neighbourhood shapes your stay: office towers and restaurants in HITEC City, shopping and crafts in Madhapur, corporate and academic campuses in Gachibowli. If you plan to move around the region, note that Serilingampally is one of the three MMTS terminals, which can anchor your transport plans.

Getting there

By car, Cyberabad's roads are wider and generally better than those in the rest of the city. NH 65, the highway linking Mumbai and Vijayawada, is the main road connecting Hyderabad to Cyberabad and is the preferred route if you're heading anywhere along Kukatpally or Miyapur; allow around 40 minutes in average traffic. For HITEC City, Road #36 or Road #45 are better options if you're coming from Banjara Hills or Jubilee Hills, while from the heart of the city the Shaikpet flyover and Old Mumbai Highway route starting from Tolichowki works better. The Nehru Outer Ring Road begins and ends here, with Exits 1 and 19 getting you to Gachibowli and the Financial District respectively.

By metro, the Red Line terminates at Miyapur and the Blue Line at Raidurg in Madhapur. The metro is an option for travelling to the centre of the city, but it isn't convenient for getting around the district: there's no easy connectivity between Miyapur and Madhapur, since the interchange between the two lines is at far-off Ameerpet, and there's no metro connectivity to Gachibowli. By local train, both the Hyderabad–Lingampalli and Falaknuma–Lingampalli routes of the MMTS run through the district, terminating at Lingampalli, which is also occasionally served by express trains. Hitech City is another major railway station on both routes and probably the best way to reach the core of the district by local train.

Getting around

Serilingampalle is a large, spread-out suburb, so plan your movements around its main hubs rather than expecting to walk between them. The MMTS suburban rail network is one of the most useful ways in: Lingampalli station is a terminus for the Hyderabad–Lingampalli and Falaknuma–Lingampalli routes, is occasionally served by express trains, and is the origin for many long-distance services toward Mumbai and Bengaluru. Hitech City station, on both MMTS routes, is generally the best way to arrive by local train if your destination is the core of the district. TSRTC buses from Lingampally link the area to major parts of the city, and the metro reaches the edges of the district without running through it — the Red Line terminates at Miyapur and the Blue Line at Raidurg in Madhapur, making the metro a reasonable choice for travelling toward central Hyderabad but not for getting around locally.

Two limitations are worth knowing before you plan a metro trip: there is no easy connection between Miyapur and Madhapur, since the interchange between the lines is at far-off Ameerpet, and there is no metro connectivity to Gachibowli at all. The road network is the backbone of movement in Cyberabad, and road-based transport is how most internal connections are made. If you arrive by car, the Cyberabad roads are wider and generally better than in the older parts of the city; NH 65 is the preferred route if your destination lies along Kukatpally or Miyapur, Road #36 or Road #45 are better from Banjara Hills or Jubilee Hills, and from the heart of the city the Shaikpet flyover and the Old Mumbai Highway route from Tolichowki is the better choice. The Nehru Outer Ring Road begins and ends here, with Exits 1 and 19 getting you to Gachibowli and the Financial District respectively. Walking works for short local errands but is not practical between the district's main hubs, given the distances and the absence of metro coverage through the area.

Where to stay

Accommodation in Serilingampalle clusters around the business districts of Gachibowli and HITEC City, so your choice of area will largely depend on whether you're here for work or for the restaurants and nightlife that surround the office parks. Mid-range options include the Lemon Tree Hotel in the Financial District at Nanakramguda, opposite Q City and set in the Gachibowli financial district, and Bloom Hotel at DLF Cyber City.

For a splurge, the Fairfield by Marriott and the Hyatt Hyderabad Gachibowli (formerly Ista Hyderabad) on Road No. 2 in Nanakramguda put you centrally in the new business district; the Hyatt combines a resort look with business-hotel facilities, including restaurants, meeting space and a spa. HITEC City adds the ITC Kohenur, Le Meridien, the Radisson, Trident, The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace and the Novotel Accor, the last of which has conference and training facilities, several dining options and a bar known simply as The Bar. The Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and the Sheraton Hyderabad round out the choices.

What to see and do

Start at the Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy Botanical Garden in HITEC City, Madhapur, where paved walkways lead you through the garden's many sections. The bamboo and palm sectors are the main draws: bamboo varieties are planted at intervals with signboards giving each one's common and scientific name, and the palm sector gathers a wide range of species. In season you'll find flowers in abundance, among them yellow and purple cosmos, blue salvia and red raselia. The garden stays open around the clock, and tents are available if you want to stay longer.

Three days in Serilingampalle

Day one: Start in Serilingampally and get your bearings around Lingampally, using the MMTS to move between the two. Head into HITEC City and Gachibowli to see the IT campuses that define this part of West Hyderabad, then wind down at Inorbit Mall in Madhapur. In the evening, make for Shilparamam for crafts and a taste of Telangana's traditional arts.

Day two: Give the day to Cyberabad's tech corridor. Wander the Financial District and Nanakramguda, pass the Amazon and Microsoft offices, and take a look at IIIT Hyderabad. Later, head to Durgam Cheruvu for a quiet stretch of water against the city skyline, then continue to Kondapur or Manikonda for the evening.

Day three: Use the MMTS and the NH links toward Mumbai and Vijayawada to explore further out. Visit Kukatpally and Miyapur, then push on to Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills for a change of pace from the tech district. If time allows, return via Madhapur for a last look at the area before you leave.

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