Things to do in Delhi
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Delhi
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weeks of the year: mild weather, gardens in flower and the clearest air.
Summer heat climbing to 42 to 47C: dawn starts, museums and pools only.
Monsoon: humid, greener and cheaper, with flooding and traffic jams after downpours.
Festival autumn with the best sights calendar, but pollution peaks from mid-October.
Cold, festive and foggy, with poor air through December improving by late January.
What's on
- Republic Day 26 January
Parade on Kartavya Path, ticketed, with central Delhi restrictions to plan around.
- Lohri 13 January
Bonfires and Punjabi winter feasting.
- India Art Fair late Jan / early Feb
South Asia's biggest art fair, a genuine reason to time a design-led trip.
- Surajkund International Crafts Mela early Feb
One of India's biggest crafts and food fairs, in Faridabad near South Delhi.
- Amrit Udyan opening Feb-Mar
The presidents' gardens open free but ticketed online for a short late-winter window.
- Holi March
The colour festival: join an organised event or a host family, in clothes you will bin.
- Janmashtami Aug / Sep
Temples fill across the city, and crowds in Mathura-Vrindavan are overwhelming.
- Dussehra Sep / Oct
Ramlila performances and giant Ravana effigies burned at Ramlila Maidan.
- Qutub Festival typically Oct / Nov
Classical music and dance at night against the floodlit Qutub Minar.
- Diwali Oct / Nov
The city of lights, with markets and Diwali melas at Dilli Haat.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Delhi
Humayun's Tomb
The first great Mughal garden-tomb and the Taj Mahal's ancestor, best seen almost empty at opening.
Old Delhi
A guided early walk through Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk and Khari Baoli is Delhi's essential first morning.
Qutub Minar
Delhi's oldest monumental layer, strongest when paired with the quiet tombs of Mehrauli Archaeological Park.
Lodhi Gardens
A free park of Lodhi tombs near the Lodhi Art District and Khan Market, and the antidote to monument fatigue.
Sunder Nursery
A restored heritage park of Mughal monuments, Persian gardens and a lake, made for picnics and lingering.
Gurudwara Bangla Sahib
Delhi's most welcoming religious site, where sitting for the free langar is the most moving hour of many trips.
Nizamuddin Dargah
Thursday-evening qawwali in the Sufi shrine courtyard is Delhi's great night out that is not a bar.
National Museum
India's flagship history collection, from Harappan artefacts to miniature paintings, needing focused hours.
Where to stay in Delhi
Lodhi Road / Khan Market / Golf Links
first trip, all-round base
Delhi's greenest, quietest quarter, with Lodhi Gardens, Khan Market and Humayun's Tomb minutes away.
Connaught Place
centrality, metro and a first night out
Delhi's exact centre and biggest metro interchange, with restaurants and bars at the door.
South Delhi
longer, food-led or repeat stay
Leafy residential colonies where Delhiites live and eat, near the Qutub and Hauz Khas monuments.
Old Delhi
one deliberate experience night
A restored haveli base by Jama Masjid with hotel-arranged transfers, not a sightseeing base.
Aerocity
layover, early flight or smog-season cocoon
A planned airport hospitality district with international chains, pools and filtered air, but no Delhi character.
Karol Bagh
honest mid-range compromise
A dense market-and-hotel district on the metro with better-value rooms and excellent everyday eating.
Think twice about
- Paharganj / Main Bazaar
Delhi's scam epicentre opposite the station, with fake tourist offices, drug peddling and filthy lanes at night.
- Old Delhi / Chandni Chowk
Magical at dawn but exhausting as a base: no car access, market noise from before dawn and nowhere to walk at night.
- Mahipalpur
A noisy highway motel strip by the airport with tout-run tour desks and nothing to walk to, not Aerocity.
Best restaurants in Delhi
Indian Accent
India's most decorated modern-Indian table, reworking street and home dishes in inventive tasting menus.
Bukhara
The tandoor institution: dal Bukhara, whole leg of lamb and family-sized naans, eaten with your hands.
Dum Pukht
Royal Awadhi cooking, with biryani sealed and slow-cooked in handis and kebabs that dissolve.
INJA
Indian spices married to Japanese technique, the most original cooking in Delhi right now.
Comorin
Small plates from across India's states with excellent cocktails, worth the cross-border trip to Gurugram.
Karim's
Since 1913: mutton korma and seekh kebabs eaten fast at marble tables after an Old Delhi walk.
Paranthe Wali Gali
The Old Delhi graze: ghee-fried parathas, fresh jalebis and kachori-sabzi assembled as one meal.
Moti Mahal
Butter chicken at its claimed birthplace, unpretentious, with dal makhani as the other essential order.
Outdoor things to do in Delhi
Delhi Golf Club
Golf among Mughal tombs on a storied central course, if you can secure limited visitor play.
DLF Golf & Country Club
India's most acclaimed course, but effectively private: treat it as an aspiration, not a bookable plan.
Qutab Golf Course
Delhi's first public 18-hole course and the bookable round for a visitor who simply wants to play.
Delhi By Cycle
Riding Shahjahanabad at dawn as markets open, with chai stops and breakfast, is Delhi's best active hour.
Mangar Bani
Guided rides from South Delhi into Aravalli hills and sacred forest reach rural Haryana an hour away.
Aravalli Biodiversity Park
Restored Aravalli scrub forest with trails, butterflies and birdlife where South Delhi runs and walks.
Sanjay Van
A large, quiet Aravalli forest near the Qutub for daylight walks, runs and weekend mountain biking.
Sultanpur National Park
The winter birding day trip: storks, pelicans and migratory waders around a shallow lake with watchtowers.
Best hotels in Delhi
The Lodhi
Delhi's consensus best hotel: low-rise stone-and-water calm with Lodhi Gardens across the road.
The Claridges
A 1950s landmark with lawns and a clubby feel, the old-school alternative at well under Lodhi prices.
Ambassador, New Delhi - IHCL SeleQtions
A 1947 heritage building by Khan Market, the mid-range way into Delhi's best quarter.
Ahuja Residency, Sunder Nagar
A well-run guesthouse in leafy Sunder Nagar, the budget way into the Lodhi and Khan Market quarter.
The Imperial
Delhi's grand 1936 hotel, all marble, palms and museum-grade art, with a storied bar history.
The Oberoi, New Delhi
The business-luxury workhorse, rebuilt in 2018, with flawless service and Delhi Golf Club views.
Radisson Blu Marina Hotel, Connaught Place
The mid-range CP pick, three minutes from Rajiv Chowk metro with clean, compact rooms.
bloomrooms @ Janpath
Small, bright, design-led budget rooms in Connaught Place, endlessly re-booked by repeat visitors.
Is Delhi expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₹2,200 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₹4,600 a person |
| Splurge | ₹12,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Old Delhi: weeks ahead
- Akshardham Temple: a few days ahead
- Delhi Golf Club: weeks ahead
- DLF Golf & Country Club: months ahead
- Qutab Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Delhi By Cycle: a few days ahead
- Mangar Bani: a few days ahead
- Sultanpur National Park: a few days ahead
- Book the Taj Mahal day trip, train and monument tickets, 2 to 4 weeks out in season, and never on a Friday.
- Book Indian Accent, Bukhara, Dum Pukht and INJA 2 to 4 weeks out for prime dinner slots.
- Many museums, the Red Fort and Akshardham close on Mondays: build Mondays around Humayun's Tomb and the Qutub.
Is Delhi safe?
- Learn the closed-hotel, cancelled-train and shopping-stop scripts, disengage politely and go to your destination anyway.
- Carry N95 or KN95 masks from October to January and check the AQI each morning. Emergency number 112.
- Drink only sealed bottled or filtered water and eat where it is busy and cooked hot in front of you.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Delhi travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- There is one official Delhi Tourism office in Connaught Place: anyone stopping you in the street to take you to one is running a scam.
- Any driver or guide detour to a carpet, marble or emporium shop is a commission stop with inflated prices.
- Red Fort interiors and the Lotus Temple rarely repay crossing the city: do them only if nearby.
Getting around Delhi: public transport and more
- Use the Delhi Metro for most journeys and app cabs for the rest, and cluster sightseeing by zone.
- The Airport Express reaches Aerocity and the airport in about 20 minutes from central Delhi.
Who Delhi suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Delhi your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store