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Why Delhi?

Mughal Architecture The legacy of Mughal architectural heritage is still a major tourism theme of Delhi. The monuments left behind by the Mughals & Sultanates are popular attractions.

Lutyens Delhi This is the modern day heritage hub of Delhi. This zone filled with imperial architecture of the British Raj, is a modern face of the city.

Old Delhi The rawness of an old city is well presented by the maze of narrow lanes of Old Delhi. This is the jam packed part of Delhi with traditional bazaars and local eateries.

Flea Bazaars Delhi is arguably the flea bazar capital of India! For shoppers looking to excel their bargaining skill, Delhi's flea markets are the ultimate testing ground.

[#food]Food From street side Kabab houses, to Mughlai Restaurants to tradition Indian flavours, Delhi is a foodie's paradise.

Making sense of Delhi

Split your itinerary along 3 or 4 zones in Delhi, from north to south.
Old Delhi Located in the northern part of Delhi, Old Delhi is centred around the Mughal legacy with places to visit the Jama Masjid, Red Fort and so on.

Connaught Place Organised as an inner and outer circle, this is a business district as well as a popular tourism hub among the backpackers.

Lutyens Delhi Located in the center of Delhi, this area is home to the administrative center of Indian government with many landmark buildings like the parliament house, president's palace, India Gate etc. A large set of colonial era heritage structures & national memorials are located in this area.

South Delhi Markets, residential blocks and business districts dominate this area. The popular attractions like the Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Lodi Garden etc are located in this area.

Local Travel

There are three ways to explore Delhi: by car or metro or HOHO Bus tour.

[#taxi] If you have limited time, say only a day, and wanted to cover select list of attractions, hire a cab.

[#metro] Second option is travel by Delhi metro rail network. Many attractions are closer to metro stations. Go for this if you want to explore on your own at a convenient pace.

HOHO is a whirlwind bus tour, that covers 16+ attractions in a day. If you want to experience the maximum of Delhi attractions in one day, go for this.

Itinerary

The full Delhi itinerary can take 4-5 days to cover the city. Pick the segments based on your taste, convenience and customise...

[#dot] Start with Old Delhi. Keep Red Fort and Jama Masjid in the must visit list. See the Old Delhi itinerary and attractions .

[#dot] After Old Delhi head southward. Cover the triangle connecting the Connaught Place, India Gate and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.You've practically covered the modern heritage of Delhi called the Luyten's Delhi. ( See a more detailed list of Lutyens Delhi attractions here )

[#dot] From India Gate area head towards Purana Quila. Cover the attractions in the east-west axis from Humayun's Tomb in the east to Lodhi Garden to Safdarjung Tomb to National Rail Museum in the west.

[#dot] Mehrauli area further south of Delhi has many monuments and heritage sites of Delhi Sultanate. Qutub Minar is the major crowd puller. Towards the east end of Qutub complex is Tuglakabad with ruins of a sprawling fort.

As you go from north to south, the attractions are wide and far apart. Alternatively you can travel from north to south, picking only the prime attractions in the area.

Excursions from Delhi

[#dot-a]Agra tops the list at 230km from Delhi. Express trains takes approximately 2 hours to Agra from Delhi. Get down at Agra Cantonment station ( AGC)
[#dot-a]Neemrana Fort Palace on the outskirts of Shekhawati in Rajasthan is 125km southwest of Delhi. Neemrana is a short detour on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
[#dot-a]Jim Corbett National Park at Nainital in Uttarakhand is 250km northeast of Delhi. Take the 6 hours road route ( scenic). Or catch the overnight train Ranikhet Express and get down at Ramnagar (RMR), park is 12km by road from Ramnagar.
[#dot-a]Jaipur is 280km southwest of Delhi.Take one of the express trains to Jaipur from Delhi ( 5 to 6 hours). Direct flight takes 1 hour.

The Delhi-Jaipur-Agra circuit make a good tourism itinerary, often called as the Golden Triangle in tourism paralace.

Weather The best time to visit Delhi is the 6 months from October to March.

Avoid the peak summer & rainy season, if you are planning to explore the city on foot. Delhi is known to experience extreme temperatures ranged from −2 to 48°C ( about 28.0 to 119°F). Delhi's summer is intense & dry. So is the winter.
Late December & January are the extreme winter months. Summer heat picks-up from April till around Jun, till the monsoon rain arrives.

Access to Delhi : You'll find direct connections to almost any large city in India from Delhi, either by air or through one of those long distance trains ( see Indian Train and Railway Time Table for routes ).

International flights arrive at the Indira Gandhi International Terminal (IGI), Terminal 3. Some domestic flights too operate from Terminal 3. The main domestic operations are from terminals 1A,B,1C,1D and Terminal 2. Terminal 1 is 7km (4 miles) away from Terminals 2 and Terminal 1. Consider 20-30 minutes travel time.

Airport is in the south of the city center. There are two metro station near Terminal 3 and Terminal 1. (see how to travel from Delhi airport to New Delhi by metro in 20 minutes )

Delhi has a number of railway stations. Many long distance trains operate out of New Delhi ( NDLS) , Delhi Junction, Delhi Safdarjung (DSJ), Delhi Cantonment (DEC) , Hazrat Nizamudin (NZM). And there are many more railway stations around the suburbs of Delhi. ( See the 5 important railway stations in Delhi & pick the most convenient station. One these stations offer connection to anywhere in the country )

[#metro] Metro Train Delhi also has a metro rail network. You can cover a majority of Delhi's tourism attractions by metro trains.

[#auto] Auto Rickshaw Most the local areas can be covered with autorickshaw. Negotiate the rates and conditions up front. Some places like Connaught Place, Basant Lok, Dilli Haat etc has prepaid counters.

[#bus ]Interstate bus terminal The Maharana Pratap Inter-state Bus Terminus( locally called ISBT ) is one of the biggest Inter State Bus Terminals in India, operating bus services between Delhi and 7 states, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand states. State owned buses (often crowded) operate from here. There are many private operators ( Volvo/Mercedes type buses), with pickup point scattered around the city. Ask the booking agents for the pickup point near to your location.

[#ebike] E-Bike Rentals  Delhi has many operators rent out e-bikes ( battery powered bikes) .  The lighter version s like Furlenco, YULU etc are are good for very short itineraries ( a few kilometers ) . Also there  are larger bikes like Bounce, ZogoRides, Ghoom eBikeGo etc.  These are app based hourey based rentals. Some offer on a longer ( monthly ) as well .

[#jewel]Shopping In shopping, you can never run out of options in Delhi - be it textile, to jewelry to brassware to handicrafts. Dilli Haat where the entire weaving and fabric tradition of India is on display. The government run emporium has stalls from every states in india selling Handmade fabrics of various weaving traditions. For the more conventional cloth shops , explore markets in South Extension, Hauz Khas Village, Greater Kailash 1 and Connaught Place. ( see the categorised and recommended list of shopping options in Delhi )

The intellectually perplexed, roams the Khans Market dotted with bookshops and coffee shops. This U shaped upscale market area is a 20min (2km) walk from the India Gate area.

Upscale Hotels

[#dot] The Claridges This heritage styled hotel is a landmark in the Lutyens Delhi. This the place The Beatles stayed in 1968.

[#dot]Hyatt Regency This luxury hotel is located in Bhikaji Cama Place in South Delhi.

[#dot] ITC Maurya Located between the forested ridge and the Chanakya Puri, the diplomatic zone in the city.