Attraction
Red Fort
Shah Jahan's red sandstone citadel, completed in 1648, with audience halls, palace pavilions, gardens and several museums inside a UNESCO-listed complex in Old Delhi.
There are enough things to do in Delhi to fill a week, spread across several historic cities that grew up one beside the other. Old Delhi, the walled city of Shah Jahan, holds the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid and the markets of Chandni Chowk. To the south, New Delhi was laid out around Kartavya Path and India Gate, with Connaught Place as its commercial heart. Further south again are the Mughal garden tomb of Humayun, the Lodi tombs in Lodhi Garden, the medieval ruins of Hauz Khas and Mehrauli, and the Qutub Minar.
Food is one of the main reasons to come. Old Delhi is known for Mughlai kebabs, curries and sweets, while the city's restaurants range from state bhavan canteens and roadside dhabas to Indian Accent and Bukhara, and its cocktail bars now feature on Asia's 50 Best Bars list. Three days covers the main monuments, a food walk and some shopping; four or five allow a slower pace and a day trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Attraction
Shah Jahan's red sandstone citadel, completed in 1648, with audience halls, palace pavilions, gardens and several museums inside a UNESCO-listed complex in Old Delhi.
Attraction
A 72.5-metre sandstone minaret begun in 1199, standing in a UNESCO-listed complex in Mehrauli with the Iron Pillar and the ruins of Delhi's earliest mosque.
Attraction
The 16th-century garden tomb of the emperor Humayun, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose red sandstone and marble design set the pattern later followed by the…
Attraction
Lutyens' 42-metre memorial arch on Kartavya Path, inaugurated in 1931 to honour Indian soldiers who died between 1914 and 1921, surrounded by wide public lawns.
Attraction
Shah Jahan's great congregational mosque in Old Delhi, completed in 1656, with a courtyard for 25,000 worshippers, three gateways and two 41-metre minarets.
Attraction
The Bahá'í House of Worship in Kalkaji, opened in 1987, whose 27 marble-clad petals form a lotus and whose prayer hall is open to people of…
Café
A Connaught Place bakery with roots in a Swiss couple's 1920s catering business, known for plum cake, shortbread, lemon tart, patties and pastries.
Café
A no-frills, worker-run coffee house on the top floor of Mohan Singh Place, serving cheap coffee, dosas and omelettes to a crowd of regulars since the…
Café
A long-running open-air café at the Triveni Kala Sangam arts centre in Mandi House, overlooking a garden amphitheatre and known for its spiced carrot cake.
Café
A courtyard café at the National Crafts Museum that reinvents regional Indian dishes with local grains, in a setting styled on a roadside dhaba.
Café
A long-running Delhi café with several outlets in Khan Market, known for Italian comfort food, ice cream, cheesecakes and walls of classic film posters.
Café
A Chandni Chowk sweet shop frying jalebis in desi ghee since 1884, served hot and crisp in sugar syrup, with rabri poured over for extra richness.
Hotel
A heritage luxury hotel on Janpath, welcoming guests since 1936, mixing Victorian, Art Deco and Lutyens styles with several restaurants, the 1911 Bar and a spa.
Hotel
A five-star deluxe hotel opened in 1965, overlooking Humayun's Tomb and the Delhi Golf Course, with modern Indian, Chinese and international restaurants and indoor and outdoor…
Hotel
A palace-style luxury hotel in Chanakyapuri's Diplomatic Enclave, inspired by Lutyens' Delhi, with restaurants including Le Cirque, Megu and Jamavar.
Hotel
A calm contemporary luxury hotel on Lodhi Road designed by Kerry Hill, with private plunge pools, a 50-metre lap pool, a spa and the restaurant Indian…
Hotel
A five-star design hotel by Connaught Place, conceived by Terence Conran and Priya Paul, overlooking the 18th-century Jantar Mantar observatory.
Hotel
A restored Old Delhi haveli near the Jama Masjid, now a heritage boutique hotel with the Lakhori restaurant, kathak performances and views over the old city.
Bar
A craft cocktail bar in Greater Kailash II founded in 2018 by Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, ranked on both Asia's and the World's 50 Best…
Bar
A modern speakeasy in Vasant Vihar with a film-noir-style monochrome interior, ranked number 8 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025.
Bar
Delhi's best-known speakeasy, Pass Code Only, entered through a phone booth in Vasant Vihar with a passcode shared among its regulars.
Bar
A live music venue in Malviya Nagar's Eldeco Centre with a weekly programme of jazz and other genres, plus food and custom cocktails.
Bar
The Imperial's art deco bar, with leather seating, a mahogany counter and lithographs, offering cocktails in a setting inspired by 1930s glamour.
Bar
The Oberoi's open-air rooftop bar, with views over the Delhi Golf Course and Humayun's Tomb, landmark-inspired cocktails and a weekend brunch.
Restaurant
Chef Shantanu Mehrotra's modern Indian restaurant at The Lodhi, on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list since 2015, known for inventive tasting menus.
Restaurant
The celebrated tandoor restaurant at ITC Maurya, serving north-west frontier kebabs, raan and its famous black dal in a rustic stone-walled dining room since the late…
Restaurant
Old Delhi's best-known Mughlai restaurant, opened in 1913 in a lane by the Jama Masjid by a family descended from cooks to the Mughal court.
Restaurant
ITC Maurya's elegant Awadhi restaurant, where biryanis, kebabs and pulaos are slow-cooked in sealed pots in the old royal 'dum' tradition.
Restaurant
A Mediterranean restaurant in a restored Mughal-era haveli in Mehrauli, with a bougainvillea-draped courtyard, a terrace bar and European small plates.
Restaurant
A family-run Paharganj institution serving chole bhature, spicy chickpeas with puffed fried bread, since two brothers began selling from a bicycle in 1970.
Thing to do
Old Delhi's main market street, laid out in 1650 by Jahanara Begum, lined with temples, a gurdwara and a mosque and branching into specialist bazaars and…
Thing to do
An open-air crafts bazaar and food plaza opposite INA Market, opened in 1994, where artisans from across India rotate through the stalls every couple of weeks.
Thing to do
A 90-acre heritage park beside Humayun's Tomb, restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and opened in 2018, with Mughal monuments, gardens and Delhi's first…
Thing to do
A 14th-century madrasa and tomb overlooking a medieval reservoir, with a deer park alongside and the galleries, boutiques and restaurants of Hauz Khas Village around them.
Thing to do
A 200-acre park beside the Qutub Minar with more than 100 monuments, including Balban's tomb, the Jamali Kamali mosque and two medieval stepwells, linked by heritage…
Tour operator
A two-hour walk through Old Delhi led by young people who once lived on the city's streets, run by the Salaam Baalak Trust, which has supported…
Tour operator
Food tours of Old Delhi and beyond designed by founder Anubhav Sapra, from breakfast and night walks in the old city to vegetarian street-food trails.
Tour operator
A Delhi company offering guided heritage, food, photo and rickshaw walks in Old Delhi, Mehrauli, Lodhi Gardens, Hauz Khas and Nizamuddin, winner of a National Tourism…
Tour operator
Early-morning guided bicycle tours through the lanes of Old Delhi, started by Dutch journalist Jack Leenaars and billed as India's first cycle tour company.
Tour operator
A Delhi heritage walk group led by Asif Khan Dehlvi, known for three-hour walks through Mehrauli, Feroz Shah Kotla and Khirki, plus storytelling baithaks and food…
Three days covers Old Delhi, the Mughal and Lodi monuments of New Delhi and the Qutub Minar; allow four or five if you want a day trip to Agra or a slower pace
Connaught Place and Janpath are central and well connected by metro, Paharganj has many budget hotels near New Delhi railway station, and South Delhi has quieter upmarket hotels and good restaurants
The Airport Express metro line runs from Terminal 3 to New Delhi railway station in about 20 minutes; prepaid taxis from the official Delhi Police booths are the alternative
Delhi can be very affordable, with cheap metro fares, street food and budget hotels, though luxury hotels and top restaurants are priced in line with other major cities
Most visits are trouble-free, but ignore touts at stations and airports, use official taxis or ride-hailing apps, agree rickshaw fares in advance and take normal care with valuables in crowded markets