India - Delhi Travel and Holiday Guide.

Visiting and touring India, Delhi - airport, sightseeing and Delhi's accommodation.

Delhi Airport. Delhi's airport is called Indira Gandhi International Airport and is located someway out to the south west of Delhi. You need to allow plenty of time to reach the airport for outbound flights (the trip takes around one hour from Karol Bagh for instance) not only because of the always very heavily congested traffic on the City's roads but at the moment there can be increased delays due to the massive building work being carried out for the new airport. The airport is split into several terminals, Terminal 1a handles domestic/internal Indian Airlines and Kingfisher flights, Terminal 1b is for domestic flights on Jet, Kingfisher Red, Indigo and Go Air. Terminal 1c is for all domestic arrivals and finally Terminal 2 handles all international flights into India - Arrivals are on the lower level and departures are handled on the upper floor.

Getting Around. A new metro is being built but currently it does not service much of the city. Buses are to be found everywhere but generally these are well and truly packed out and not particularly nice to travel on anyway. Around the city you can use cycle-rickshaws but these are very vulnerable to other traffic and it's not unusual to see them being run into by other vehicles. Auto-rickshaws - or as they are widely known Tuk Tuks - are an excellent way to get around the congested city especially around Red Fort and the centre - it's quite amazing how they get through the tiniest of gaps etc. The only rule for vehicles seems to be who get can get into the gap first - traffic comes from any direction - buses and lorries never give way to anything including other lorries and buses and roundabouts are gone round in any direction half the time. Whizzing about on an auto rickshaw is to say the least very interesting and certainly an experience not be missed even if you don't want to go anywhere particularly.

If you are sightseeing away from the main centre of Delhi - i.e. to the south then the best way is to hire a car and driver for the day - perhaps costing 900 to 1000 rupees which will let you make up your own itinerary and at your own pace - you can go for around 80 to 90 kms over about 8 hours for that price which will get you to most places ok.

Delhi Accommodation. Hotels and accommodation can be either really low cost (400 - 500 rupees) but are often not particularly nice to stay in and in poor neighbourhoods or they go to being extremely expensive where you can easily pay 15000 - 20000+ rupees a night - with not a great deal of choice in between. Havelis and guesthouses are available - quite a few are located in Karol Bagh and many more can be found in South Delhi - prices again vary but you might expect to pay 3500 - 5000 rupees a night in these depending on room choice.
So where is the best location to stay? - this actually depends on how long you have in Delhi and obviously what you want to see and do. If only there for a short time say 1 full day then staying up in Karol Bagh might be a good idea since for sightseeing you would want to visit the Red Fort, Lakshmi Narayan Temple and Jama Masjid and perhaps the huge market at Chandni Chowk as well as India Gate. These attractions are within a 15 to 20 minute auto-rickshaw ride.
If you have say 3 days then quite a few of Delhi's places to visit are located in the south so staying in the more peaceful south part of the city as well makes sense as there will ultimately be less travel involved with just one 40 minute up to the Red Fort and everything else like the Lodhi Gardens, Railway Museum and the not to be missed Humayun's Tomb all within much easier reach.

A Holiday Sightseeing Guide to some of the excellent places in Delhi, India including Humayun's Tomb, The Red Fort, Jama Masjid Mosque, Lodi Gardens, India Gate, Railway Museum, Purana Qila, Qutb Minar and Tughlaqabad Fort.

Old Delhi Sightseeing and Places to Visit:

Chandni-Chowk: Located in Old Delhi Chandni Chowk starts off just by the Red Fort and apart from the road itself has many side streets and alleys full of market stalls and shops - the whole area is incredibly busy. There are several mosques and other interesting buildings along the road but they are quite difficult to see very clearly as they are somewhat buried amongst the general clutter of telegraph and electric pylons and other buildings.

The Red Fort. Delhi's Red Fort is one of the must see tourist places whilst in India - the fort's actual name is Lal Qila - it's the largest of Old Delhi's monuments and named because of the red sandstone from which it is built. Delhi Red Fort is closed on Mondays - the admission fee for non-Indians is 100 Rupees. To get into the Fort can involve some time firstly because of queuing for tickets but also the authorities have quite tight security at the entrance. You can really only take in personal items such as money, mobile phones, cameras and bottles of water - anything much else is likely to result in them refusing entry. Remember also to keep your entrance ticket stub since you may well be asked for it at various parts of the Fort such as individual museum rooms.

Jama Masjid Mosque. The mosque is situated near to Delhi's Red Fort - entrance is free in as much that you can get in ok but if you want to take a camera with you then you have to pay 200 Rupees. Also as this is a mosque you have to either go barefoot or you can buy some slippers - these might be a good idea as the mosque courtyard is pretty dirty and certainly well covered in bird droppings. Additionally if you are visiting the mosque during hot weather the surfaces get pretty hot for our delicate European feet. Women will also have to ensure they are pretty much covered - i.e. no bear arms or legs etc. before being allowed in - you can get suitable covering at the entrance gates if necessary - tips for any covers and footwear are of course required as this is India. The mosque is closed from time to time for non-Moslems - for instance at lunchtimes and during prayer times - but usually this is only for a short while.

Lodi Gardens, Delhi - located approximately 3kms west of Humayun's Tomb. These quite extensive gardens are free to enter and are located in South Delhi just off Lodi Road - any taxi or auto rickshaw driver knows how to get to there. The tree-lined roads in the area around the gardens are beautifully kept and in the gardens themselves the paths are also tree-lined. Their are lots of open areas and also a stream which runs through the top part of the gardens - where you will also find a really nice 18th Century stone bridge. Extremely popular with families, people jogging, taking yoga lessons or just strolling around enjoying a really peaceful part of Delhi the grounds also contain several tombs.

 

Delhi's India Gate. The red sandstone built India Gate is actually a war memorial which commemorates Indian and British soldiers who died in World War 1 and also those who perished in the North West Frontier Province and 3rd Afghan Wars. The area is quite open and very popular with people strolling around especially on weekends. There is a small boating lake - quite congested as there seems to be more boats than water... You can also wander on the extensive grassy areas and continue on up Raj Path road to see some of the Indian Government's really beautiful looking buildings - one way to do this if time is short is to take a rickshaw up to the end of the entrance road and then wander back down the shallow hill to India Gate again.

 

Humayun's Tomb - Nizamuddin East, Delhi. Any taxi and/or auto-rickshaw driver should know where this site is located - they really are somewhere not to be missed whilst staying in Delhi. Humayun's Tomb is open daily with a quite expensive entrance fee for non-Indians of 250 Rupees.

 

Purana Qila (Old Fort). Open daily this fort is located quite close to Humayun's Tomb and just south of Delhi Zoo - in fact it shares the same car-park as the Zoo. The entrance fee here is 100 Rupees for non-Indians.

 

Delhi's Railway Museum. This one of the cheapest places to visit in Delhi that we found with amazingly the same entrance fees being applied to non-Indians as well as Indians - just 15 Rupees each. The Museum is located only a 5 minute ride from the Lodi Gardens - note the Railway Museum is closed on Mondays. There are many old steam and diesel locomotives on display as well as various carriages and freight wagons. The entrance fee also allows you into an indoors museum where there are quite a few models as well as signal equipment and so on. For children and perhaps adults too there are "toy" train rides available - also a boating lake (both of these are at extra cost - you can buy relevant tickets at the entrance booth).

Lotus Temple and Gardens: The correct name for this Temple is Baha'i House of Worship - it's located in South Delhi and is open every day except Mondays - entrance is free. The Lotus Temple gardens have several water features and also some really beautiful flower gardens to wander around. The Temple holds services throughout the day and everybody is welcome to participate.

 

Sightseeing trips to consider a little further out from Delhi itself:

Qutb Minar Complex. Entrance fee to the Qutb Minar site is 250 Rupees for non-Indians and the complex is located around 14 Kms south of Connaught Place. This very interesting archaeological complex is open daily and usually very busy with both overseas tourists often on day-out coach excursions as well as with Indian families. The Qutb Minar (also known as Qutab or Qutub)itself is a 238 foot (72.5 metre) high red sandstone tower, has 379 steps up to it's top and is the world's tallest brick minaret. Building commenced around 1193 under the instructions of India's Qutb-ud-din Aibak who was India's first Muslim leader and was completed by Firuz Shah Tughluq around 1386 - the minaret and complex is listed as a World Heritage Site. It might be a good idea to visit the minaret sooner than later since apparently it is starting to tilt.

 

Tughlaqabad Fort (Tughluqabad Qila) - Delhi's Third City. Built 1321-1325 by Ghiyasud-din Tughlaq, Delhi's ruined Tughlaqabad Qila is huge - stretching along about 6.5kms - however quite a lot of the area is inundated with thorns and rough foliage. For some reason - maybe because it is in the far south of Delhi - many people on holiday in Delhi do not apparently bother to take the trip out to Tughlaqabad Fort - certainly that was the comments we received when we said we wanted to go there. When we arrived at the Fort nobody else was visiting and having woken the man at the ticket office up he seemed quite surprised to see us. This is a shame since despite the thorns blocking some of the paths there are still plenty of areas to see and wander around. The Fort has many old ruins inside - it is nice to go round "done up" or even semi-working forts like Red Fort but also nice to see - with a little imagination - just how these old Indian Forts were once like.

Opposite Tughluqabad Fort a causeway leads to a small fort-like building containing a mausoleum which is where you can see Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq's tomb - the mausoleum is built from red sandstone and is topped by a white marble dome which is raised on an octagonal drum. Apart from Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq's grave there are two other smaller graves - which are believed to those of his wife and of his son Muhammad bin Tughluq. Additionally in the north western bastion lies an octagonal tomb which is said to be that of Zafar Khan, a General who defeated an invading Mongol army near Jalandhar in 1299.

 

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