Day Trips from Delhi
 

I am taking a tour in India arriving in Delhi the night of 10/14/24. My tour doesn't start till 10/16/24 so I will have all day on 10/15/24 on my own and was thinking of doing a day trip somewhere the tour doesn't go. We will be seeing the sights in New and Old Delhi and we move on to Varanasi, Agra, and Jaipur as well as Udaipur. I will be doing some reading from the Fodor's Travel Guide for India and other sources but thought I would ask fellow Fodorites if there is some place they've been they would recommend.

I’m not sure where you are going specifically.

If you are not going to see the home of Gandhi, which is now shrine to her life and legacy, I would suggest doing that

I did a bunch of trips to India between 2005 and 2016. Should be trip reports here if you type in my name LCUY and India. I liked Delhi a lot and always did a little time there on each trip. Some of my fav places were the Tomb of Itimad-ud-daulah ("Baby Taj") and Gandhi"s home. Don't know if you'll go there on the tour, but worth checking.
I would alsmost recommend that you take it easy the first day, maybe go shopping or just wandering. (Disclosure: I have no idea if these places survived the pandemic. check online or with your hotel.)Near the imperial Hotel is the Cottage industries Emporium. It is )was?) 5 floors of crafts from the many regions of India- fabrics, clothes, handicrafts, jewelry, carpets, and more. Prices were very good, and clearly marked. If nothing else, you can get an idea of what you might want to pick up later....If you walk, be warned that multiple people will stop you, ask where you're headed, then either tell you it is closed or you're going the wrong way. They just want to steer you to their own shop where they can get a commission. about two blocks away is the Hanuman temple where Mendhi artists will give you a nice henna tattoo for a low price.If you have a taxi or driver, Santushti Market if a loverly oasis with some nice lpaces to get lunch and unique little shops, not touristy at all. Khan Market is another nice little market..lots of tiny (good ) dining places and even a market to stock up on snacks for your trip!

[size=13px]Here are some of my trips.. I trip just copying the links, but they don't seem to work anymore.
Lcuy's August 2005 trip to Bangkok, India, Boston...[/size]
[size=13px]Lcuy's Second India trip Dec 2005, [/size]

Lucy's third indian adventure Oct 2007.
Lucy's firth Indian Odyssey May 2006
Not sure where the others went!

Thanks for the suggestions. The itinerary is pretty general for Delhi:
An orientation drive with a preview of the city's landmark sights. Then next day explore Hymayun's Tomb, Qutto Minar Victory Tower and provides for some free time even during these days. So I'll definitely be looking at trying to visit Gandhi's home and perhaps other sites. I think I'll receive a more detailed itinerary later in August. Not only do I have a full day at the front end, but my international leg also going home gives me almost a full day at the end of the tour. One of the reasons I was thinking at the front end of a possible side trip outside of Delhi proper but we'll see.

I confess I'm not much of a shopper. Everyone keeps telling me I'll see things I want - but I've learned I don't want something unless I'll use it. The one thing I always make a point to get is a tree ornament since we have a metal tree we set out every year and all it has are ornaments from the places we've visited over the years.

This will be my first organized tour in years! But since I'm going without Hank our comfort level was more tour than on my own. I'm really looking forward to the trip. It's with Tauck, "Portrait of India" is the trip name.

I looked at the itinerary and I did not see where you would go to the Lotus temple. That is a B’’hai Temple in New Delhi and I think it’s certainly worth seeing.

Thank you!

I will certainly be doing some research on the places mentioned. Along with reading up on recommendations for a guide.

you have one full day to enjoy a nearby place in Delhi. To be very honest there is not many enjoyable places to Delhi but in my view, there are two places which are little bit far away from Delhi but you can easily cover one of them in one day. these two are Kurukshetra ( the land of Mahabharata ) and Rishikesh.
If you are interested in historical and spiritual places you can blindly go for Kurukshetra or if you have an interest in activities like rafting, hiking, etc. you can go to Rishikesh