carrom

Has anyone been to Gurgaon? We are staying south of Delhi for a week in a hotel which is 20 minutes away from Gurgaon. I read that it's an amazing newly sprung up city typical of the "India shining" phase of development in the country. Is it worth visiting? Are there any interesting shopping/architectural sights? I won't have much time for sightseeing in central Delhi might this be a good alternative close by?

davyd

20 minutes r u sure? I lived three last years near Qutub Hotel and thought Gurgaon was farther than North Delhi (two roads are extremely busy) whenever I was visiting it.
Actually there is nothing to do in Gurgaon unless you visit friends or on business (as I did). For shopping paradise there are enough malls cum entertainment centres in South Delhi, you can try Saket and Vasant Vihar.

carrom

The hotel where I am staying (Tivoli Gardens) is on On the main Chattarpur Temple road in south Delhi. It says it is 15 minutes from Gurgaon and 25 from city centre. I don't know much about South delhi, I'll check out the places you mention. Thanks!

davyd

It's better to have a look at the map. From my home in South Delhi it was 22-23 km ride to IFFCO Chawk (almost all malls are located nearby) and 45 km there and back. I was unlucky to pay for taxi each time I would visit Gurgaon 450Rs for 4 hours instead 300Rs (if total covered distance is less than 40 km). Plus 25 Rs for entry into Haryana.
Your hotel seems to be closer by 4-5 km to Gurgaon, and therefore farther from Delhi's centre. Still more realistic estimates are half an hour to your destination in Gurgaon and around an hour (not in rush hour) to Connaught Place. Consider how less roads of Delhi consume time comparing to Europe - in big cities an hour between home and job place is nothing for daily commuting.

carrom

Hmmm Davyd...I am a bit confused. It took me a good 3 hours last time I was in Delhi to drive the 70 odd km to Meerut so am not sure about roads in India consuming less time....but maybe things have changed since I was there last. We'll probably have someone to drive us around so the issue is just time. I'll try to find a decent map. Did you go anywhere else while you were in India?

davyd

I have visited almost all regions in India (except 5 small states in North East) and surely all considerable cities right from Leh and Kargil down to Kanyakumari and Kochi.
I don't know where you was jammed on the road to Meerut and on what transport but Delhi most of time is wonderfully easy to move around. I never took buses though, only tuk-tuks and taxis. Tuk-tuk takes an hour to cross Delhi from Saket to Majnu-ka-Tilla. Of course sometimes there were jams, especially when Mr Vajpai or Ms Gandhi were going outside, also in rush hour 5 days a week. In a jam it's best to be on auto - it may maneuvre easily on back lanes, there are plenty of back lanes to avoid traffic.

Cicerone

I do a lot of work in Gurgaon as it is a business hub and I have several clients with their head offices there. It has appeared from nowhere in the last 5-7 years. I agree that there is not a lot worth visiting beyond looking a number of glass office buildings and a very large number of residential offices blocks and good number of shopping centres, with more coming up all the time. I think the hotel included its location as “close to Gurgaon” as they want to point out that they are close to a major business hub of Delhi so that people with business there will stay at the hotel, not because Gurgaon is a major tourist attraction. (It might be at some point, several tourist theme parks are planned.)

There is a lot of construction going on there with the road building and many new town areas planned. As noted above, there are shopping centres, but many shops are branches of places you will already find in Delhi. I agree that the Qutab Minar area is much more interesting, as is Khan Market, the Bhabar Gardens, there is a lot in south Delhi. I am not a huge fan of Saket as I think the traffic is awful, but there are some very interesting ruins in the area there.

All in all, I would not go to Gurgaon in favor of the main tourist places in south New Delhi, the Rajpath area or old Delhi. Gurgaon is a surprise because it is so modern and high-rise compared to most of Delhi, but then Delhi is really more about history to me.

The Hilton Trident Gurgaon is beautiful and like a little Mughal dream and worth a stop for a meal. Its what it must have been like when the Maharajas were around (but with air con….)

Traffic can be quite bad in parts of Delhi, esp getting into Delhi from the airport areas, perhaps davyd has not been there in a while, at least for 2-3 years with the reference to Vajpayee....

carrom

Thanks Cicerone. In fact what you say about Gurgaon is what I was expecting and I think I would like to go there. I have read about some of the architecture - the Nestlè building for example, being quite innovative. I have been to Delhi several times (last time 2000) and have seen most of the historical sites. I will be playing in the World Carrom Championships which are being held in the Tivoli garden hotel so won't have that much time to wander around but a quick look at Gurgaon if it's not too far and a drink in the mega hilton may be just the thing!

carrom

PS Thanks for Bombay restaurant tips too! I will e mail Indigo.