Delhi is really two cities that never merged. Old Delhi is Mughal, dense and best seen on foot or from a cycle rickshaw; New Delhi is colonial, broad and best seen from a car. Doing both properly in one day is possible and slightly mad.
Most itineraries use Delhi as the arrival point: land, sleep, see the two or three things that are worth the time, and drive to Agra or Jaipur the following morning. That is usually the right call — a first day in India is not the day to attempt a capital city.
October to March, like everywhere else in the north. Winter mornings can be foggy enough to slow the road to Agra, which is worth building into the plan rather than discovering.
Shah Jahan’s fort, and the reason Old Delhi stands where it does. Chandni Chowk runs west from its gate, and the market is the other half of the visit — a cycle rickshaw is the only sensible way through it. Closed on Mondays.
A seventy-three-metre victory tower begun in 1193, the oldest thing on most Delhi itineraries. Around it stand the ruins of the first mosque built in India and an iron pillar from the fourth century that has still not rusted.
Delhi is part of our multi-day private tours of Rajasthan and North India. You travel in your own car with an English-speaking driver who knows the roads, the opening times and where to stop — no group, no fixed schedule.
Other destinations: Jaipur · Agra · Jaisalmer · Jodhpur · Udaipur · Pushkar
