Trip for · First-timers
Delhi for first-timers
Rich in history; heat, smog, touts and noise are the price.
Key facts
- Days
- 4
- Matching items
- 11
- Verdict
- works
A 4-day outline
Grouped by walking cluster where the guide gives one. Order inside a day is loose: the timed day plans check opening hours and walking.
Day 1
Why it fits: A Sikh temple with a pond and gold dome; the free langar meal is offered to everyone.
From: Top 10
Why it fits: An 18th-century stone observatory ten minutes from Connaught Place.
From: Top 10
Why it fits: One of India's biggest mosques, a huge courtyard and a minaret view over Old Delhi.
From: Top 10
An Old Delhi food walk: parathas, jalebi, chaat
Why it fits: The lanes of Chandni Chowk feed the city: stuffed parathas, hot jalebi, dahi bhalla and kulfi.
From: Top 10
Day 2
Why it fits: Wholesale spices and dried fruit under handcarts and porters; a sensory hit for half an hour.
From: Top 10
Why it fits: The palace-fort of Shah Jahan: the Lahori Gate bazaar, the audience halls and the lawns, before the heat and the groups.
From: Top 10
Why it fits: The first big Mughal garden tomb, calm and shaded; the model for the Taj Mahal.
From: Top 10
Day 3 · Humayun's Tomb & Sunder Nursery
Why it fits: A level garden park with tombs and a café next to the tomb; the cool half-hour that makes the morning bearable.
From: Top 10
Nizamuddin Dargah on a Thursday evening
Why it fits: A Sufi shrine in a lane of flower and food stalls; the qawwali after sunset is the reason to go.
From: Top 10
Uber or a prepaid taxi from the airport
Why it fits: fixed fare, no haggling on night one.
From: Good for · first-timers
Day 4
Qutub Minar and Mehrauli
Why it fits: A 73-metre minaret and the ruins of the early sultanate; the best of the south on a second half-day.
From: Top 10
Timed version: Delhi in 3 days → (Good for · first-timers)
Where to stay
Sleep areas the guide points first-timers to.
metro hub, cars to the door, restaurants nearby.
From: Good for · first-timers
Before you go
What the guide flags for first-timers.
- Rich in history; heat, smog, touts and noise are the price. (Good for · verdict: ok)
- 'Closed' stories: someone at the airport, New Delhi station or Connaught Place says your hotel, the ticket office or the sight is closed and offers a 'better' shop or travel agent. Use the official counter or your app. (Scams)
- Fake tourist offices near New Delhi station and Connaught Place sell overpriced tours and rail tickets; the official tourist booking office is upstairs at New Delhi station and at 88 Janpath (check). (Scams)
- Autos without a meter or with a 'broken meter' near stations and airports: use the prepaid counter, the metro or an app car. (Scams)