Delhi layover: what to do ?
 

Our domestic flight is scheduled arriving in DEL at 4pm (if not delayed or cancelled) and our international flights leaves at 1am.

- How is the transfer from the domestic to the international terminal ?
- What could we do inbetween ? Any shopping centre in that area ? Thenw e would drop or luggage in the airport and going somewhere by taxi... we are a party of 4, 2 children aged 14 and 8

thanks for your suggestions !

I don't think you'll be able to leave your luggage at the airport. There is a lounge facility at the international airport that you can enter 6 hours ahead of time - I doubt that it is very nice though. Alternatively, you might try and see if you can get a short stay rate at one of the hotels near the airport.

It might be worth it to arrange for a driver for the afternoon to pick you up and take you to some city sights and then back to the airport. It really shouldn't be too expensive to do this--maybe $30 for the "day". You could leave your luggage in the car and not have to worry.

Info and pics from our Delhi visit at http://patrinadoestheglobe.blogspot....lhi-india.html

katrinab - the OP is not arriving until 4 PM. Most, if not all sights close at sunset or earlier. If their flight arrives on time, the OP and his family might have an outside chance at seeing the Qutb Minar (which is fairly close to the airport) but not much else. Perhaps they should do that and have a (very) leisurely dinner at the Radisson afterward before heading to the airport at about 9:30 PM?

hi dear if your flight going to arrived at 4pm in delhi you may be come out at 5.30 pm so you cant see any think in delhi but if you want do some shopping you can hire a car and driver and go to cp market and do some shopping there have dinner in hotel broadway
very good food thanks

Hmm, that is a tricky time. But you could still visit Rajpath and see the India Gate. You could also do shopping and eating in Connaught Place or Karol Bagh if feeling adventurous. Chandni Chowk would be interesting after hours to get a taste of Delhi.

Traffic in Delhi is horrible in late afternoon. Many roads have detours etc. as a new Metro is being built.
Things at airport are not too quick. Thus it takes time to go through immigration etc. Not sure about luggage transfer, but if you have checked it to your final destination, I guess they will handle it well.
For the 1 a.m. you will definitely have to be at the airport before 11 p.m. Thus you have basically very little time to tackle too many adventures.
Good idea would be check in a nearby good hotel. Their car can pick you. You eat dinner at hotel and then the car can give you a bird's eyeview of Delhi. I am sure the driver will be able to tell you how much area he can cover in the given amount of time.
Qutab Minar is very closeby. So, you can begin there. Then if there is time, you can go to Dilli Haat that is lke an open air market with lots of creative handicraft booths. Its a good experience and not too far from airport.
Maybe you have already traveled in India, so dont want to waste time shopping. If there is time then the best idea is to ask driver to take you near the area of India Gate, Rastrpati Bhavan etc. This is neat and clean and symbolic buildings of the capital city.

thank to all

It is our first time to India and we will be already visiting Delhi in our first 2 days. Would you fix a driver before the flight from Varanasi, so waiting for us at Delhi airport or just after landing ? My concern is being all 4 of us at the domestic arrival area with lots of people and confusion around and not knowing where to ask for a driver. Is there a tour or taxi desk with fixed price ? I want to avoid having to negotiate with unreliable people,

I would have a driver in advance. I'd recommend Ramesh Meena (http://www.indiabycaranddriver.com). We arrived in Delhi from Khajuraho, mobbed by would-be helpers trying to get a gig with our luggage. Ram cheerfully, patiently, navigated the onslaught and took us to our car, then our hotel, then to the airport next day -- MP for an early morning flight, me for a late evening departure.

I'd also say that you have no guarantee that your flight will arrive as planned -- India is in a space all its own --- what happens in Europe or North America does not necessarily happen in India. What if your flight is delayed?

Probably the most you can do is go for dinner at a nearby hotel. Evening traffic into Delhi will be horrible as already stated. Find an upscale hotel with a few kilometers of the airport.

The international and domestic terminals are close (? maybe one mile apart), but you haven't seen traffic until you get to Delhi in the evening. There will be no time for shopping, sightseeing.

- the domestic and international terminals are 3-4 kilometers art. There is a free shuttle bus service which runs between the two; however it can be a pain, esp. with luggage, and runs on a rather infrequent schedule (only about hourly). If you don’t mind waiting a bit for the shuttle or schlepping luggage, then this is an option (and you certainly have time for it). Another option is to take a pre-paid taxi between the terminals, just look for the pre-paid taxi desk after you exit from baggage claim (the guys will also most likely be calling out to you). As mentioned above, you could arrange for a private car transfer, IMO unless you want to use the driver to go other places, I don’t think its worth the hassle of arranging this, and I would just take a pre-paid taxi.

-Unless you are flying the same airline on your domestic and international sectors (i.e. Jet Airways or Kingfisher), I believe it will be very unlikely that your bags will be transferred to your international flight. It is of course worth asking in Varanasi, but I don’t have a lot of hopes that it will be done. You will have to collect them at the domestic terminal and bring them over to the international terminal. You will also have to get your boarding pass at the international terminal as well, as unless you are on the same airline for both sectors, the airline in Varanasi will not be able to give you a boarding pas for the international flight.

- I agree that with a late afternoon arrival, and assuming you flights are on a weekday, you will have little time, given traffic and distance, to see much. Downtown Delhi without traffic is going to be about an hour each way, so I am not sure it is worth it, plus you have already been to Delhi and probably don't want to get invovled with sightseeing that late in the day with kids. You could, however go to a nearby hotel for a dinner. You might try the Leela Kempinski, which is about a 5-10 minute drive, and is attached to a largish shopping mall, which might amuse you for a while. See http://www.kempinski.com/en/delhi. There are restaurants in the mall, see http://www.ambiencemalls.com/

Or try the Radisson hotel which is quite near the airport which has a good restaurant called The Great Kebab Place, kind of like an Indian TGIF. Fun and very casual. (The hotel is called the Radisson Hotel Delhi, even though it is not in downtown Delhi; there are other Raddisons in Gurgaoan and Noida which you don’t need to go to). The Park Plaza in Gurgaon also has a Kabab Factory which is quite good (http://www.parkplaza.com/gurgaonin, this would be a bit further and could have some traffic issues.

Once again thank you for your inputs !!

We will be flying Jet Airways from Varanasi to Delhi and Swiss from Delhi. I would not go sightseeing in Delhi as already done at the beginning of the trip. A nearby hotel for dinner with a prepaid taxi looks the better solution !

Thanks !!
fabio

i would just take a taxi to a nearby hotel like the SAS Raddisson and have a nice dinner and then take a taxi to the airport...

if both flights are on the same airline, can't you just check your luggage through to your final destination, if not you will have to take it with you

Thanks but no: Jet Airways + Swiss !!

I could take the luggage to the international terminal, check them in and then going to the hotel from there, then back to the airport... !

You will not be able to check your luggage at the international terminal until 3 hours before flight time.

Craig is correct in that you can't check your luggage until three hours before departure. You yourself can't get into the main terminal either. There's a visitors waiting area across the driveway. When I was there in Dec., a young entrepreneur was attempting to charge those using the waiting area 50 rupees. What a scam! I told him no.

If you want to go somewhere, it would be best to get a car and driver to keep the luggage while you dine or sight see. There is always the issue that your flight arriving in Delhi will be late.

Ok ! nice to know !! It means no check in before 10pm !!
we will get the car and driver ! thanks

If you've already seen Delhi, I'll suggest Gurgaon Malls (Ambience Mall is closest, 10 minutes from Airport) where you can spend an evening and also have dinner. If you can find a reliable Car and Driver, just keep your luggage in the car and see around in the malls. It is probably the closest place you can pass some time near IGI airport. You can also catch a Movie at the cinema hall in this one, that'll surely pass your time easily.

Here are the English movies you can catch:

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (3D) 05:30PM
AMELIA 05:30PM

just back today from our trip.

We arranged a car with driver. We landed at 5pm in Delhi yesterday with 1 hour delay. The driver told us that he had no problem to drive us to Gurgaon but traffic at that time was horrible and he made us the proposal to go to another mall called Citywalk. We went there and spent 3 hours, back at the airport at 9:30pm. Bags stayed with the driver in the car. Yes, he was reliable as it was arranged by the same tour agency that had arranged all our 9 days itinerary.

Thanks to all of you for your hints.

Thanks for the update, Fabio! What was name of your tour agency?