How to use this list
Group by area: Delhi is spread across a vast plain, and traffic between neighbourhoods can eat hours.
Plan by the clock: mornings for the old city and the busiest monuments, afternoons for rest, evenings for gardens, tombs and music.
- North
- Red Fort, Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid
- Centre
- Humayun's Tomb, Nizamuddin, Lodhi Garden
- South
- Qutub Minar, Mehrauli, Hauz Khas
- Linking them
- Lutyens' Delhi, India Gate, Jantar Mantar
- Smoky days: in November and December we keep a few indoor ideas ready.
- Day by day: our Delhi itinerary turns this list into plans, and Delhi, the gateway city explains your first night.
- One day: Old Delhi and Chandni Chowk at dawn, the Red Fort in the late morning, a rest, and Humayun's Tomb in the evening light, with qawwali at Nizamuddin on a Thursday.
- Three days: add the Qutub and Mehrauli, a museum, a great dinner and a walk in Lodhi Garden.
- Coming back at the end? Save something for then. The city is easier to love once India has become familiar.
Mughal forts, sultans' tombs and a Jaipur king's observatory
- Red Fort
- 1639 to 1648, closed Mondays
- Humayun's Tomb
- Finished around 1570
- Qutub Minar
- Begun 1190s, about 73 m
- Jantar Mantar
- 1724, Sawai Jai Singh II
- Tughlaqabad
- Built in the 1320s
The Red Fort, in the late morning
What it is: Shah Jahan's palace fortress, built between 1639 and 1648.
- Inside: the halls of audience where the Peacock Throne once stood, the emperor's marble apartments and the story of 1857 and Indian independence.
- When: after an early walk in Old Delhi, with a guide who can show you what has been lost.
- Closed: on Mondays.
Humayun's Tomb, at golden hour
What it is: the first great Mughal garden tomb, finished around 1570, and the model for the Taj Mahal.
When: the last two hours of light, when the sandstone turns rose and gold and families picnic on the lawns.
- How: the new underground museum first, then the garden in silence.
- The Purana Qila: on the same afternoon, the old fort on Mathura Road holds Sher Shah Suri's beautiful mosque.
- The Sher Mandal: beside it, the small octagonal tower from whose stairs Humayun fell to his death in 1556.
The Qutub Minar, at opening time
What it is: a fluted sandstone tower about 73 metres high, begun in the 1190s on the ruins of a Rajput citadel.
- Beside it: the ancient Iron Pillar, in the courtyard of the mosque.
- When: as the gates open, before the coaches.
- How: walk slowly round as the morning light moves across the flutes.
Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Where: five minutes' walk from the Qutub, a scrubby wood full of stepwells, tombs and mosques from many centuries.
- Highlights: Rajon ki Baoli, a deep Lodi-period stepwell, and the tomb of the Sufi poet Jamali.
- Quiet: you may walk an hour without meeting another visitor.
- How: sturdy shoes, straight after the Qutub in the morning.
Jantar Mantar, our maharaja's first observatory
What it is: giant masonry instruments near Connaught Place, built in 1724 by Sawai Jai Singh II, the astronomer-king who later founded Jaipur.
The first of several: he raised observatories across north India.
- Time: half an hour, a lovely prelude to the larger, better-preserved Jantar Mantar in Jaipur.
- Agrasen ki Baoli: ten minutes' walk away among office towers, a long, deep stepwell with arched niches.
- From the land of stepwells: we are always delighted by it. Our stepwells of Rajasthan page goes on to Abhaneri and Bundi.
Lutyens' Delhi and the Jaipur Column
The drive: Kartavya Path from India Gate up Raisina Hill to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the former Viceroy's House.
- Either side: Herbert Baker's Secretariat blocks.
- The Jaipur Column: in the forecourt, a gift from Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II of Jaipur.
- When: late afternoon, as the sandstone glows and the lights come on.
Tughlaqabad, a ruined fortress city
What it is: the immense broken walls of the city Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq built in the 1320s, on a rocky ridge in the south-east.
- Abandoned: soon afterwards. Legend says a Sufi saint cursed it.
- Why go: the scale is astonishing, and you will probably be alone.
- How: early, in winter, with water and good shoes.
Old Delhi, bazaars and the best shopping
- Silver
- Dariba Kalan
- Spices
- Khari Baoli
- Books and design
- Khan Market, Meherchand Market
- Crafts from every state
- Dilli Haat
- Best introduction
- National Crafts Museum
Chandni Chowk on foot, at seven in the morning
The avenue: Princess Jahanara's street, laid out around 1650, from the Red Fort to the Fatehpuri Masjid.
Faiths side by side: a Jain temple, a Hindu temple, a Sikh gurdwara and several mosques.
- The lanes: the silver of Dariba Kalan, the glitter of Kinari Bazaar and the painted Jain havelis of the Naughara.
- By cycle rickshaw: from the high seat you see over the crowds into courtyards and shopfronts.
- Fair pay: we choose the rickshaw pullers ourselves and pay them fairly.
The Jama Masjid
Shah Jahan's great mosque: built between 1650 and 1656, on its own hill above the old city.
Etiquette: leave your shoes, cover your head and shoulders, and avoid prayer times.
- The view: from the courtyard, straight down the old city to the Red Fort.
- Our start: we begin many Old Delhi mornings here, as the city wakes.
- Ramzan nights: the lanes around the mosque fill after sunset with kebab grills, sweet stalls and families breaking the fast. A guided walk then is unforgettable.
Khari Baoli and the rooftop view
What it is: one of Asia's largest wholesale spice markets, at the western end of Chandni Chowk.
- The scene: porters, sacks of chillies and everyone sneezing.
- The roof: with a guide, climb an old market building for kites and pigeons wheeling over the old city.
Khan Market and Meherchand Market
Where Delhi shops: books, contemporary Indian fashion, homeware, tea and gifts, with good cafés between.
- Khan Market: compact and lively.
- Meherchand Market: a little calmer and more design-led.
- When: close to the Lodhi Road hotels and perfect for a last afternoon.
Dilli Haat and the Crafts Museum
Dilli Haat: an open-air market where craftspeople from different states take stalls in rotation, with food from all over India.
- The National Crafts Museum: at Pragati Maidan, with village houses, textiles and artisans at work in its courtyards.
- What to buy where: our shopping guide explains what to save for Jaipur.
Eating Delhi
- Old Delhi breakfast
- Nihari, jalebis, parathas
- Free and moving
- Langar at Bangla Sahib
- Great dinners
- Bukhara, Dum Pukht, Indian Accent
- Winter only
- Daulat ki chaat
An Old Delhi food walk
The route: nihari behind the Jama Masjid at dawn, jalebis at the corner of Dariba Kalan, parathas in Paranthe Wali Gali and dahi bhalla on Chandni Chowk.
- In winter: daulat ki chaat, the milk foam that melts by noon.
- Stay well: go with a guide who knows each kitchen, eat little and often, and choose food cooked fresh in front of you.
- Our route: the Old Delhi food walk.
Langar at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
What it is: a free community kitchen at the white marble gurdwara near Connaught Place, feeding everyone, whatever their faith.
Etiquette: cover your head, leave your shoes, and wash your hands and feet.
- The meal: sit on the floor in rows and be served dal, roti and sweet rice pudding by volunteers.
- Lend a hand: help in the kitchen for half an hour if you like.
- After dark: the golden dome glows in the sacred tank and hymns carry across the water, one of the calmest half hours in the city.
One great dinner
Bukhara: at ITC Maurya, frontier tandoor dishes eaten with the hands.
- Dum Pukht: in the same hotel, the slow-cooked food of Lucknow.
- Indian Accent: at The Lodhi, modern Indian cooking.
- Book well ahead in winter: our food of Delhi guide has the stories behind the dishes.
Cooking with a Delhi family
- An afternoon at home: learn a home-style dal, vegetables, roti and chutney with the family, then eat together.
- Why: the warmest way to understand Indian food, and the recipes travel home with you.
Gardens, lakes and birds
- Lodhi Garden
- Dawn, with Delhi's walkers
- Sunder Nursery
- Beside Humayun's Tomb
- Hauz Khas
- Dusk, for the herons
- Winter birds
- November to March
- Sultanpur
- About an hour away
Lodhi Garden at dawn
Delhi's morning walk: among the fifteenth-century tombs of the Sayyid and Lodi sultans, old trees, bougainvillea and birdsong.
- First outing: the perfect gentle start after a long flight. Join the walkers, then have breakfast nearby.
- Lodhi Colony: five minutes away, the walls of 1940s government housing are an open-air gallery of murals by Indian and international artists.
- Breakfast: in the cafés of Meherchand Market.
Sunder Nursery
Delhi's loveliest park: a sixteenth-century garden landscape beside Humayun's Tomb, restored with Mughal tombs, lotus pools and wide lawns.
- Who's there: birdwatchers in the morning, families in the evening.
- Underground link: it connects to the new museum at the tomb.
Hauz Khas at dusk
The reservoir: built by Alauddin Khalji, lined with the ruins of a fourteenth-century college and tombs.
- At dusk: herons and egrets come in to roost.
- The village: cafés and boutiques above the lake. Walk the ruins, then have a drink over the water.
Winter birds
November to March: migratory ducks, waders and raptors arrive on Delhi's wetlands.
- Sultanpur National Park: about an hour away in Haryana, the classic morning outing.
- Closer: the Yamuna floodplains and Sunder Nursery are rewarding too.
- The great wetland: add Bharatpur on the way to Agra or Jaipur.
Museums, galleries and places of faith
- National Museum
- Harappan to Rajput miniatures
- Jaipur House
- National Gallery of Modern Art
- Lotus Temple
- Completed 1986
- Akshardham
- Opened 2005, allow 2-3 hours
- Nizamuddin
- The saint died in 1325
The National Museum
The collection: the Harappan cities, Buddhist and Hindu sculpture, and Mughal and Rajput miniatures, including fine work from the courts of Rajasthan.
- On the move: the collections are due to move from Janpath to a new national museum in the old North and South Blocks, so we check what is open for your dates.
- How: with a guide, choosing two or three galleries rather than trying to see it all.
The National Gallery of Modern Art, in Jaipur House
The building: the Delhi palace of the Jaipur maharajas, near India Gate.
- The art: modern Indian painting and sculpture from the late nineteenth century onwards.
- For a Jaipur family: a strange and lovely thing, to walk through our rulers' Delhi home and find it full of art.
The Lotus Temple
What it is: the Bahá'í House of Worship, completed in 1986, a great flower of white marble petals rising from pools in south Delhi.
- Open to all: people of every faith may sit in silence in its hall.
- When: late afternoon, when the marble turns gold. Remember it is a place of prayer.
Swaminarayan Akshardham
What it is: a vast Hindu temple complex of carved pink sandstone and white marble on the east bank of the Yamuna, opened in 2005.
- The carving: extraordinary in its scale.
- Security: strict. Phones, cameras and bags must go in the cloakroom.
- Time: allow two or three hours.
The Nizamuddin quarter
Where: across the road from Humayun's Tomb, around the shrine of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, who died in 1325.
- The lanes: narrow, with rose sellers and sweet shops.
- Buried here: the poet Amir Khusrau and the Mughal princess Jahanara near the saint, and the great Urdu poet Ghalib close by.
- With whom: a guide from the community.
Delhi after dark
Two more evenings: Hauz Khas at dusk and Gurdwara Bangla Sahib by lamplight appear above, with their neighbourhoods. Add one great dinner, and you have more evenings than most visits allow.
By car: after dark we always travel with a driver who waits for you.
- Qawwali
- Nizamuddin, especially Thursdays
- India Gate
- Families at dusk
- Bangla Sahib
- By lamplight
- Getting there
- By car, close to your hotel
- Winter
- Bring a shawl
- Stay close: we plan evenings near your hotel, so you never cross the city late at night.
- Cold evenings: in winter, bring a shawl or a light jacket.
- Smoky evenings: in November and December smoke settles after sunset, so we keep the outdoor part short and choose a good restaurant instead.
Qawwali at the Nizamuddin shrine
When: many evenings, especially Thursdays, after sunset.
- The music: it builds until the whole crowd is swaying.
- How: cover your head, leave your shoes with the keepers and sit at the edge.
- Why: one of the great spiritual experiences of India, and it is free.
India Gate and Kartavya Path at dusk
The arch: Lutyens' war memorial, completed in 1931, carries the names of Indian soldiers who died in the First World War.
- The evening: the lawns fill with families, ice-cream carts and balloon sellers.
- Why go: half an hour here shows you the city sharing its biggest public space.
Experiences that belong to one season
Republic Day, 26 January: regiments, camel corps, folk dancers and tableaux from every state move along Kartavya Path. Seats are allotted in advance, and security is very tight.
Beating Retreat, 29 January: massed military bands play at sunset at Vijay Chowk, below the domes of Raisina Hill, as the government buildings light up. One of India's most beautiful ceremonies.
Amrit Udyan, usually in spring: the Mughal-style gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan open for a few weeks, with terraces of roses, tulips and fountains.
- 26 January
- Republic Day parade
- 29 January
- Beating Retreat
- Spring
- Amrit Udyan opens
- 15 August
- Kites over Old Delhi
- October
- Dussehra and Durga Puja
- Kites on 15 August: Old Delhi's roofs fill with families flying paper kites, as Jaipur's do on Makar Sankranti. A rooftop in the old city is the place to be.
- Dussehra, in October: Ramlila plays in parks across the city end with the burning of towering effigies of Ravana.
- Durga Puja: the Bengali neighbourhood of Chittaranjan Park fills with festival pavilions and food stalls.
- Before Diwali: the old city's markets glitter with lights, sweets and gifts. The air can be poor, so we keep visits short.
- Diwali itself: our Diwali guide explains why we spend it in Rajasthan.
- Winter mornings, November to February: daulat ki chaat in the old city, birds on the wetlands and golden light on the tombs. Check the air and keep plans flexible.
Day trips and stops on the road to Rajasthan
- To Jaipur by road
- About four to five hours
- To Jaipur by train
- A little over four hours
- To Agra
- Under two hours, Gatimaan Express
- Neemrana
- Halfway to Jaipur
- Moving on: the expressway takes you to the Pink City in about four to five hours, often less.
- The route and stops: our note on the Delhi to Jaipur expressway, and our guide to Jaipur at the other end.
Agra and the Taj Mahal
By train: the Gatimaan Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin reaches Agra in under two hours.
- A day trip: see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort, and be back for dinner.
- Not on Fridays: the Taj is closed.
- Our preference: a night in Agra, for the Taj at sunrise. Read our guide to Agra and the Taj Mahal.
Mathura and Vrindavan
Krishna's country: his birthplace and childhood home, on the road to Agra.
- The temples: full of song and colour, especially around Holi and Janmashtami.
- Best as a stop: a long day trip, but a wonderful halt on the way to Agra. Read our guide to Mathura and Vrindavan.
Neemrana, on the road to Jaipur
- The fort: halfway to Jaipur, the fifteenth-century Neemrana Fort-Palace climbs a hillside in terraces.
- Lunch or a night: stop for lunch and a walk on its ramparts, or stay as your first taste of Rajasthan's heritage hotels.
What we tell our cousins about Delhi
Four or five a day: grouped by neighbourhood, with a rest every afternoon.
Go early: the old city at seven and the Qutub at opening time are different places from the same sights at noon.
- Mondays
- Red Fort and several museums shut
- Fridays
- The Taj Mahal shut
- Smog weeks
- November and December
- Best hours
- Early morning, late afternoon
- Check the day: Mondays for the Red Fort and several museums, Fridays for the Taj.
- Watch the air: in November and December, each evening, with indoor ideas ready.
- Dress modestly: and carry a scarf for mosques, gurdwaras, temples and the Nizamuddin shrine.
- The closed-monument trick: ignore anyone who says a sight is shut and offers somewhere better.
- Book ahead: a private car and a guide arranged in advance, not offers on the street.
- Leave something for next time: Delhi has been built seven times, and you will not see it all in one visit.
