2 Days in Delhi..need advice on hotels and sights
 

Hello. My husband and I will be in Delhi for 2 days on our way to Bhutan in September..around the 16th. (And one day coming back) Could someone please advise on a good premium hotel? The Imperial is booked and looks a little pricey anyway...just down from that would be ideal. Also, since we will have been traveling 20 hours on a plane, what can you recommend by way of sights to see and getting around. I think we would also like a little old Delhi with a nice place to relax. (If there is any!) We're also foodies......

Thanks.

The Park is near the Imperial and slightly less expensive. We spent one night there when the Imperial was overbooked upon our arrival and it was fine. Have your hotel arrange a driver and/or guide to take you to the major sites. You'll probably want to take it easy on your first day after the long flight(s) but in old Delhi, the Jami Masjid mosque, the requisite touristy rickshaw ride and possibly the red fort should be priorities. After that, check out Raj Ghat, the Mahatma Ghandi burial site which is nearby. In new Delhi, India Gate and Humayan’s Tomb are easy to get to and must sees. Gandhi Smriti, Mahatma Gandhi’s home where he was assassinated is also another very interesting site in the area.

Maybe others can chime in on food but hotel restaurants still seem to be the best (and safest) bet for those on a short stay - Spice Route at the Imperial might be a good choice.

The Hotel the Park (which I think Craig is referring to) is a nice location near Connaught Place, I have not been in the rooms but it has some good restaurants and a lively bar. It’s modern and stylish, sort of an Indian W, see http://newdelhi.theparkhotels.com/. Not too far from the Imperial and in the same general neighborhood, I would also look at the Shangri-La, which is quite new and Shangri-La of course runs wonderful hotels, see http://www.shangri-la.com/en/propert...elhi/shangrila.

I would definitely look at the Oberoi, a lovely hotel with a good pool and grounds, luxurious rooms with some nice open views (ask for the golf course side) great staff and spa and again several good restaurants. Not in old Delhi (neither is the Imperial for that matter), but not a bad drive to it. I have enjoyed many stays there and would certainly rank it with the Imperial, although they have a different ambience. Finally, you might also try the ITC Maurya (which is a renamed Sheraton) in particular “ITC One”, which is their boutique hotel-within-a-hotel property. Quieter and more luxurious than the regular Sheraton rooms. It may not be not specifically listed on the Sheraton website but is on the ITC website, see http://www.itcwelcomgroup.in. The Bukhara restaurant in this hotel is excellent and pretty famous, and the Dumpukth restaurant here is very good as well for a different Indian dining experience.

For activities, of course get a good guidebook or two and see what is of interest to you, as what I find interesting you may find dull. Generally the main sights for first-timers would be things like the Red Fort, Friday Mosque and Chandi Chowk area, the Parliament/Secretariat buildings around Raj Path, Ghandi’s cremation ground and perhaps the Qutab Minar. Others you may want to include are Indira Gandhi's home, Nehru's home, the excellent National Museum, the Crafts Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. The Raj Path area can be done as part of a walk to or from the Imperial Hotel and include lunch or tea at the Imperial and then walk on to Connaught Place stopping at the excellent Central Cottages Emporium for handicrafts and incredibly inexpensive fabrics and table linens and perhaps also a stop at the Tibetan market area. There is usually an evening sound and light show at the Red Fort which can be fun, and many hotel restaurants have live music in the evenings in their restaurants (the Taj Mahal Hotel or restaurants in Hauz Khas Village). Delhi is a centre for the arts, you can always find dance, music, etc performances on offer. As it is also the nation’s capital, you get visiting performances as well from the world over.

But you may have other interests and a good guidebook may help you to locate where you can find these. Sporting events like cricket may be something you are interested in and could be seen there.

It will be fairly hot in September in New Delhi, so with jet lag, etc you may want to be careful not to overdo yourself. On your way back from Bhutan, assuming you have an overnight only, I would strongly suggest you stay at a hotel near the airport, as you don’t want to spend time going back and forth in Delhi traffic to and from the airport. My first suggestion would be the Trident http://www.tridenthotels.com/home/index.asp, a gorgeous hotel, about 15 minutes from the airport. If that is not in your price range, other suggestions would be the Radisson (http://www.radisson.com/) about 5 minutes from the airport, the Crowne Plaza Gurgaon (http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/) or the Park Hotel in Gurgaon (http://www.theparkhotels.com, which are both in Gurgaon a big suburb about 15-20 minutes drive from the airport. (If you have read <i>White Tiger</i> Gurgaon plays a role in that book.

take a look at the nikko....we stayed there and found it to be a good mix of lux and upscale india....rooms are a bit small

Also look at The Claridge. It is near The Imperial and has some nice suites .Not 5 star but I have stayed there and was quite happy for a few days .

Undoubtly The Best is Imperial in Usd 225 aprx , next charming is The Trident { close to Airport }
and amidst ever existing presence of The Oberoi/Taj Mahal
in the Range of USD 200 { all inclusive } , The New opening is AMAN Resort

Thank you! Much appreciation for all the advice!

I also stayed at the Nikko a few years ago and like it.

Try The Lalit - it shall be the lowest amomgest the city hotels. Good value for money.

We have looked into many hotels...and have read many reviews!
We can stay at the Imperial or the Sheraton ITC Maurya. Both are nice for different reasons. However, we read reviews for horrible experiences and excellent ones for each. Any thoughts on this? We don't know which to book at this point due to the inconsistencies.

Imperial base Category Rooms could give you a bad experience .If staying there stay in Heritage Category atleast , ITC is good for business guest , as a leisure guest you may feel lost . Claridges would be other option in mid range .
TRY TRIDENT HOTEL - Its a amalgamation of Imperial & ITC . Superb hotel , reasonable price , best service

Could anyone give advice on if it's a stretch to try and see the Taj Mahal one day? What is the safest and/or shortest route?
Is it best to have a guide, or can you get around fine yourself?

Thank you!

I would never do Agra as a day trip, as sunrise and sunset are just too beautiful, and seeing the old city is really interesting. (I don't recco day trips to places like Pompeii or Venice either, and would put Agra in the same group.) I certainly would not do a day trip to Agra by car. The drive from Delhi takes about 4.5 hours each way. This is a trip via Indian roads, which while I love India, 9 hours on Indian roads in one day would be too much for me. Also, the round-trip fare by car will be in the US$200 range. ( Even taking a car for an overnight will be about the same price. ) Also, with a day trip, as you will hit town in the middle of the day, the Taj will tend to look a bit washed out (especially in photos), and will be quite crowded with lots of OTHER day trippers.

If you drive down, do NOT consider driving any portion of this trip in the dark, other than perhaps the portion actually IN Delhi or Agra, like the first or last 30 minutes if the drive. The Agra-Delhi road is not a place you want to be driving at night. I am not a fearful passenger in India, but this is something I would just never do. There are some, very few, Indian highways I would do at night, but the Delhi-Agra road is not one of them.


If you want to do this as a day trip, you really have to take an early morning train like the 6 am Shabtabdi Express that will get you to Agra by 8 am and would give you maximum time in Agra. The most expensive train will be about US$35-45 for first class/executive class.

However, if you really want to see the Taj, then you should do yourself a favour and spend a at least one night so you can see it at dawn when it is quite beautiful, esp in the winter months when cooler temps and cloudless days mean quite spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Also, you should really get out to Fatephur Sikri, the abandon capital city, and also try to see the Agra Fort. There is also Sikandra which I find impressive and the Itimad-ud-daula (the "baby taj"). Agra has its own version of the Red Fort as well, and a great old town area which is away from all the touts at the entrance to the Taj. You could possibly take late night train down, stay overnight, spend a day there and come back that night if you wanted to spend the sort of least amount of time. (If you are staying at one hotel the whole time in Delhi, you can leave big luggage in Delhi and just take a small bag to Agra for overnight.)

Many, many people do not like Agra. I believe that is because they breeze into town for 4-8 hours and only “see” the part of Agra which consists of the monument itself and the 100 yards surrounding the Taj which is, admittedly, full of touts who are relentless in trying to sell you things. They then get in their car or bus and drive out, seeing some very crowded, dirty streets on the way (with maybe a stop of the Baby Taj), and they think “this is just a horrible town”. They don’t take the time to explore the area around the Friday Mosque or even just the old town areas away from the Taj entrance itself. If they did, they might find a lot more of interest than just a quick look at the beautiful Taj Mahal.

There is one excellent hotel in Agra (Amarvillas, go to oberoi.com), and several other perfectly good ones, try the Gateway Hotel (formerly known as the Taj View and operated by the Taj group, see http://www.tajhotels.com/). The ITC Mughal is also perfectly nice, more like a motel, no Taj views (expect from a viewing tower which requires a climb), but perfectly acceptable. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury. I am not a fan of the Trident in Agra (a completely different hotel than the Trident Gurgaon). The Park Plaza also gets good reviews on tripadvisor.com, although I don’t know it (http://www.parkplaza.com/gurgaonin) I don’t like the location of the Jaypee Palace and rooms are quite uneven in quality.

You do not need a guide for the Taj. Read up on the history and then just enjoy it on your own. A guide for the Red Fort could be useful and is marginally useful for other sights. A car and driver to see the fort and other sights in town could be useful, although a rickshaw driver would also work for most areas as well.

Sorry, I should have noted that the Taj is closed on Fridays, so if you plan a day trip, you have to work around that. It is also not unknown for it to be closed for visits by dignitaries (Princess Diana, President Sarkozy, etc), so if you do a day trip confirm that the monument is open before you head down.

As far as a guide for the Taj Mahal - not necessary, but you could have a special experience with the right one. We lucked out on our first visit. We hesitatingly booked a "goverment guide" for some outrageously low fee. He insisted that we not wait with the crowds for the sun to rise, and instead ushered us up the walkway. As a result, we had the place all to ourselves. An elderly man, he even sang softly for us in the main chamber. It was a magical experience, in the midst of an otherwise silent dawn, and we remained one step ahead of everyone else. We took many wonderful sunrise photos, and it was worth whatever "perfect" photos we might have missed.

I wish we did have the opportunity to stay overnight in Agra, but it simply isn't possible. We arrive in Delhi late the night before and fly out to Bhutan the following day. One day to get to the Taj and back...and even then it sounds exhausting! I would hate to fly that far however and miss it altogether. Crowds or not. Thank you for the advice!

Make sure you see the Qutb Minar in Delhi, with regards to the Taj, I have been there 7 times, 8th now in June. I love Amarvilas....also good are Taj View and ITC Mughal (Formerly Sheraton). I drove from Agra last year and the road (four lane divided highway) is quite good... I got there in a little over three hours. I also have been to Fatehpur Sikri a bunch of times and I must say this last time (August) it was really bad (even for a very very seasoned indian traveler)..ie overwhelmed with a large amount of beggars and street sellers.

Plan to see these types of sights in the morning when possible as it is less crowded (Indians are still having breakfast at 10am).

I agree, to go to India, that far you gotta see the Taj.

Can't leave India without seeing the Taj, try to build it into your schedule. Day trip is fine...train at 6 am to Agra, back the same evening. There are several trains Delhi to Agra. Taj Express or Shatabdi are the best.

Great prices at Lalit. Used to be Grand Intercontinental.