Excursion in Delhi
 

My husband and I will be arriving a day or two early in Delhi before joining with a group. We would like to hire a car and driver to see something that is not part of the regular tourist agenda. We will be taking an organized city tour later in the week. Does anyone have any suggestions?

If you will be there in the February-March timeframe, the Mughal Gardens at the Presidential Palace are a must-see. They are truly spectacular and were a highlight of our stay in Delhi.

As you don’t indicate what is already included in your tour, it is hard to give suggestions. If you can provide an itin for what your tour will cover, that might help people to make better suggestions. I am assuming the tour will cover the Red Fort, Friday Mosque, Chandi Chawk and perhaps Connaught areas, but it is hard to know if it will include the Gandhi cremation grounds and the Qutab Minar, which are two places you might want to do on your own.

Some suggestions for things which I am fairly sure your tour may not be covering would be the excellent National Museum (there is a good audio tour), Indira Gandhi’s home, her father’s rather impressive palace-like home which is every bit as elegant as he was, and the Museum of Modern Art (latter is small and can easily be seen in a hour or just a bit). There is also the interesting Crafts Museum which has a good shop as well selling handicrafts. You may also want to see Humayan's Tomb if that is not on the tour itin.

The whole area of the Parliament buildings around Rajpath makes for a nice walk to see Lutyen’s vision of an imperial city (your tour may merely pass through this in a bus), and this can be combined with a stop for lunch or tea at the lovely colonial-era Imperial Hotel http://www.theimperialindia.com), and perhaps also a walk past the Imperial toward Connaught Circus, stopping at the excellent Central Cottage Industries Emporium and/or the Tibetan market shopping area.

Another place to consider might be Khan Market, especially to buy coffee table picture books of India, leather bound books (very inexpensive) and paper back and hardback books in English at very cheap prices. (Hotel bookshops are often good, although more expensive. The Sheraton and the Oberoi have good ones.) Khan Market is in South Delhi, not far from the Oberoi and not the Qutab Minar. Every taxi or car driver knows it. Other than bookshops, there are some clothing stores and shoe stores here as well a branch of Fab India which sells fabrics and just about everything else. Two good bookshops in Khan Market are Bahri Sons right at the entrance and Faqir Chand & Sons at #15 A. There is also a Christian book store around the corner (past the McDonalds on the left), that has Bibles at good prices, including leather bound editions.

For a good reliable local car service in Delhi, contact Kumar Tourist Taxi Service.

Kumar Tourist Taxi Service
14/1 K- Block
Connaught Circus
Tel: 91-11-2341-5390
Fax: 91-11-2341-8859
Cell: 91-98-1143-1783
e-mail: [email protected]

Send them an e-mail and they will give you a quote for picking you up at the airport, plus car service around Delhi. Last time I used them they charged about Rs600 (about US$13) for an 8-hour day of touring within Delhi. They have older cars but perfectly clean and fine, if you want an Ambassador (a fun way to see Delhi) ask for one. They also have Toyota Qualis SUVs, not really necessary in Delhi, and would probably cost more. Your hotel can also arrange for a car, albeit it will cost more.

If you are planning to arrive a day or two earlier than ideally stay at a centralised Hotel - like the superb Imperial and than do a trip to Old Delhi - See the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial and than head towards Chandni Chow area - and do a cycle rickshaw ride through the lanes and bylanes of the amzing local bazaars - Kinari Bazaar, spcie market, silver market etc and go on to see the Jamma Masjid and Red Fort if you like.

Later you can visit Humayun Tomb and Qutab Minar.

If you are in delhi on Thursday - than I shall suggest visit The Dargah at Nizammudin where there are devotional songs every Thursday and the entire ambience is magical.

Take one of the approved Gudie and a nice Acc Vehicle from a decent company if you wish to be safe and have a ncie experience. A Gudie and a driver makes huge difference to the content of any tour.

Yatrik.com - ([email protected]) - is a good service provider - as you shall be able to see from previous travellers and Fodorites.

All the best

Our city tour covers the usual--the Red Fort, Raj Ghat, Jama Mosque, Humayan's Tomb, India Gate, President's House, Parliament Buildings, and Qutub Minar Tower. We would like to see some local neighborhoods, or some interesting areas not on the typical bus tour.

Check out these guys:
www.delhimagic.com

I haven't tried them but I think this is what you're after. Good luck.

For neighbourhoods, there is Hauz Khas Village near the Qutub Minar for little boutique shops and restaurants (it’s sort of the SOHO of Delhi), and I find the Karol Bagh area quite interesting for more local markets and people-watching (and for Ahujason shawlwallah see http://www.ahujasons.com/home.htm), I think the latter street areas are esp good in the late afternoon and early evening when it seems to be even more crowded with shoppers stopping by after work. There are restaurants in both areas as well. Connaught Place is worth a wander for its remaining colonial architecture. While not a “neighbourhood” the the Santushti Shopping Complex is an outdoor shopping area owned and operated by wives of Navy officers. It is a series of small cottages surrounded by lawns. Extremely pleasant as it is enclosed and no beggars or hawkers are allowed. Very good handicrafts shops and some great fabric stores (including an Anokhi shop, there is one in Khan Market too; if you go to Jaipur do go to their museum/store, see http://www.anokhi.com/anokhi/anokhi-home.html). There is a very good restaurant here called Basil and Thyme which is a nice for lunch. Not too far is another place for handicrafts, again not a “neighborhood” is the Dilli Haat market which offers some very good bargains. The Lodi Gardens would be not too far from this area, as would the Khan Market. If you have time, go to, or drive through, the suburbs of Noida and Gurgaon to see the “new India” (shopping malls, high rise apartments and office parks). Traffic getting there or back can be bad during the day, so with a limited time, this may not be a doable excursion.

Any of the museums mentioned above would be worthwhile, IMO, as your tour is not covering them, esp the National Museum or the Crafts Museum. As mentioned, you might want to walk the Raj Path area on foot, as your tour may just pass this in a bus.