Things to do in Delhi: the 6 worth your time, ranked

1 · Humayun's Tomb — unmissable

The first great Mughal garden-tomb (begun in the 1560s; ASI says 1569) and the model for the Taj — red sandstone and white marble in a four-part Persian garden, restored over six years to 2013. Go at opening; the light on the west gate is the arrival photograph. ≈ ₹600 foreign (₹550 online) · Indian ≈ ₹40 · sunrise – sunset.

2 · Qutb Minar complex — unmissable

A 73-metre victory tower begun in 1199 by the first Sultan, a mosque built from 27 temples, the rustless iron pillar, and the stump of a rival minar that was meant to be twice as tall. Late afternoon for the light on the fluting. ≈ ₹600 foreign (₹550 online) · Indian ≈ ₹40–50 · sunrise – 20:00.

3 · Red Fort

Shah Jahan's palace-fortress (1639–48): the Lahori Gate barbican, the marble pavilions along the river wall, the dry channel of the Stream of Paradise. Closed Mondays; the sound-and-light show runs every evening but Monday. ≈ ₹600 foreign (₹550 online) · Indian ≈ ₹40–50 · closed Mon.

4 · Jama Masjid & Chandni Chowk

India's great congregational mosque (1650–56), its courtyard built for 25,000, and the princess-designed avenue below it — Kinari Bazaar, Dariba Kalan, Paranthe Wali Gali, Khari Baoli's spice sacks. Climb the south minaret for the Red Fort view. Mosque: foreign ≈ ₹400, verify · minaret ≈ ₹100 · Chandni Chowk free, Sundays dead.

5 · Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

The shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi saint who told a sultan 'Delhi is still far' — and the Thursday-night qawwali after sunset prayers that is Delhi's most moving hour. Head covered; shoes at the stall. Free · qawwali Thursdays after maghrib (≈ 18:00–19:00 winter).

6 · Lodi Gardens

Fifteenth- and early-sixteenth-century tombs of the last Sultanate dynasties in a 1936 English park — Delhi's lungs, joggers and picnics between the domes. The golden-hour walk. Free · 06:00 – 20:00.

If you want to go deeper

Mehrauli Archaeological Park. A hundred monuments in scrub beside the Qutb: Jamali Kamali's painted tomb, Rajon ki Baoli, a Mughal noble's tomb that a Victorian turned into a weekend house. The quiet half-day the bus tours skip. ≈ ₹200 foreign · Indian ₹50 (DDA, from Mar 2025) · sunrise – sunset.

Purana Qila. The sixth city — Humayun's and Sher Shah's fort on the Indraprastha mound, with the library stairs that killed an emperor. ≈ ₹300 foreign · Indian ≈ ₹25 · 07:00 – 17:00.

Safdarjung's Tomb. The last great Mughal garden-tomb (1754), usually empty — the whole Humayun's Tomb idea, a century later and a little tired. ≈ ₹300 foreign · Indian ≈ ₹25 · sunrise – sunset.

Jantar Mantar. Sawai Jai Singh II's first masonry observatory (c. 1724), the prototype for Jaipur's. Worth an hour with the guide's notes. ≈ ₹300 foreign · Indian ≈ ₹25 · sunrise – sunset.

Sunder Nursery. The restored Mughal garden beside Humayun's Tomb — lakes, tombs, a nursery and the best picnic in the city. ≈ ₹200 foreign · Indian ₹50 · 07:00 – 22:00, last entry ≈ 21:00.

Agrasen ki Baoli. A 103-step stepwell between office towers on Hailey Road — Tughlaq-era fabric, medieval geometry, free. Free · ≈ 09:00 – 17:30.

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. The Sikh shrine by Connaught Place whose kitchen feeds thousands a day, free, to anyone. Cover your head; eat with everyone. Free · 24 h · langar ≈ 09:00–15:00, 19:00–22:00.

India Gate & Kartavya Path. Lutyens' war memorial (1931) and the ceremonial axis — floodlit at dusk, full of families and balloon-sellers. Free · 24 h.

Akshardham. The vast 2005 temple complex on the Yamuna's east bank — no phones or cameras inside, a cloakroom at the gate. Temple free · exhibitions ≈ ₹250 · closed Mon.

National Museum. The national collection on Janpath — the Harappan gallery and the bronzes; its move to the new Central Vista museum is planned, so check it is still open. ≈ ₹650 foreign · Indian ₹20 · closed Mon · verify status.

Lotus Temple. The Bahá'í house of worship of 1986 — 27 marble petals, silence inside, closed Mondays. Free · 09:00 – 17:30 · closed Mon.

Off the beaten path

Where Delhi stops being a monument circuit and shows you the cities underneath the city.

Jamali Kamali, Mehrauli. A Sufi poet's mosque and painted tomb of the 1520s, inside the archaeological park. Who 'Kamali' was — disciple, companion, brother — nobody knows; the ceiling is the best in the park.

Nicholson Cemetery, Kashmere Gate. Delhi's oldest Christian cemetery still in use (1857), 2,400 graves under trees, and the brigadier who died taking the city. Daylight only; free.

Majnu ka Tilla. The Tibetan colony on the Yamuna, settled after 1959 — momos, monasteries, a gurudwara named for a Sufi who met Guru Nanak here.

Watch out for

"The tourist office is closed". It isn't. The International Tourist Bureau is on the first floor of New Delhi station, Paharganj side — the railway's own sign says so. Climb the stairs.

The "Government Tourist Office". Private agencies in CP and around the station's gates dress as official. The Government of India tourist office is at 88 Janpath and nowhere else.

Muck on your shoe. Something lands on your shoe; a helpful stranger notices; a shoe-shiner appears and wants ₹1,500. Walk on in dirty shoes.

Keep going