The Best Sight in Delhi, India

Background Illustration for Sights

Most of sprawling Delhi is best navigated on wheels—hire a car, taxi, or auto-rickshaw to get around. In contrast, the narrow lanes of Old Delhi are a walker's delight, though you can hop on a cycle rickshaw if you get tired. Most people speak workable English, so don't assume there will be an insurmountable language barrier.

The challenge Delhi presents is to find areas—beyond the Old City—in which walking is a viable mode of exploration. One of these areas is the central British-built commercial hub, Connaught Place. "CP" is a tourist magnet for its travel agent bucket shops, restaurants, and shops, as well as proximity to a number of mid-range and budget hotels. It’s also the location of Delhi’s main Metro station and can be a pleasant area to meander along colonnaded circles, or people-watch in the central park. There are plenty of shopping options nearby, including the street market, Janpath, where everything from brightly colored kolhapuri slippers to designer overstock to incense and natural soaps can be found. Keep in mind that even though it's commonly referred to as Connaught Place, the name was officially changed to Rajiv Chowk, which is what you'll see on metro stops and maps.

Around the hubs of Connaught Place and India Gate is the British-built city. This is the seat of the Indian government, with Rashtrapati Bhavan (the Presidential Palace), the North and South Secretariats, Sansad Bhavan (Parliament House), and India Gate (a monument to British Indian Army soldiers killed in World War I and the Afghan wars) within a tight radius. Getting ice cream at India Gate’s huge lawns or boating in the ornamental canals here are "very Delhi" things to do. Many museums are nearby, including the National Gallery of Modern Art and the National Museum.

Also here are the palatial residences of the affluent and lavish government bungalows. Khan Market, one of Asia’s most expensive retail locations, is perfectly at home in this setting. It’s also the place where Delhi’s expats feel most at home, with its coffee shops and multiple ATMs. Down the road is Delhi’s green lung, Lodhi Gardens, and several cultural centers, including the elite’s mainstays the India International Centre and the India Habitat Centre (performances are pretty much on tap, especially in winter).

The mostly residential areas of South Delhi, West Delhi, North Delhi, and East Delhi (across the Yamuna) all have their own flavor, but visitors are most likely to venture into the neighborhoods, markets, and monuments of the first, roughly defined as south of Lodhi Road. In between semi-gated colonies are a good mix of urban villages, hectic alleyways, posh markets, and office complexes. Some of the city’s oldest monuments can be found here, as well as some of its newest monuments to modernity: the massive malls squatting southward, en route to mega-suburb Gurgaon. The hippest of Delhi’s hot spots though, is not a mall, but a gentrified urban village—Hauz Khas Village—with boutiques and trendy restaurants nestled atop each other along narrow alleys, next to a 13th-century reservoir and several Sultanate ruins.

Lutyens' Delhi

Central Delhi Fodor's Choice

Formerly known as Rajpath, Kartavya Path—the broadest avenue in the city—leads to Delhi's British capital: Sir Edwin Lutyens' imperial city, built between 1914 and 1931 in a symbolically heavy-handed design after the British moved their capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911.

Starting from India Gate, at the lowest and eastern end of Rajpath, nearby land was allocated to numerous princely states, each of which built small palaces, such as the Bikaner House (now the Rajasthan tourism office) and Jaipur House (now the National Gallery of Modern Art). It might be said that this placement mirrored the British sentiments toward the princes, who lost much of their former power and status during the British Raj. Here, too, are the state Bhavans (houses), where you can taste the cuisine of each state.

Moving up the slowly inclining hill at the western end of the avenue, you also move up the British ladder of power, a concept inherent in the original design. First you come to the enormous North and South Secretariats, facing each other on Kartavya Path and reflecting the importance of the bureaucracy, a fixture of Indian society since the time of British rule. Identical in design, the two buildings have 1,000 rooms and miles of corridors.

The new triangular parliament building, Sansad Bhavan, utilizes green construction techniques and ornamentations inspired by traditional Indian crafts. It has chambers for the Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha; joint sessions of parliament can now accommodate up to 1,272 seats.

At the top of the hill is the former Viceroy's House, now called Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the president of India (not the prime minister) resides. It was built in the 20th century, but the building's daunting proportions seem to reflect an earlier, more lavish time of British supremacy. The Bhavan contains 340 rooms, and its grounds cover 330 acres. The shape of the central brass dome, the palace's main architectural feature, reflects that of a Buddhist stupa (shrine). The execution of Lutyens' design has a flaw: the entire palace was supposed to fill the vista as you approach the top of the hill, but the gradient is too steep, so only the dome dominates the horizon. Just a few years after the imperial city was completed, the British packed up and went home, and this lavish architectural complex became the grand capital of newly independent India.

Permission to enter Rashtrapati and Sansad Bhavan is almost impossible to obtain; unless you have contacts in high places, you'll have to satisfy yourself with a look at the poshest address in town from outside.

Parts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, including the extensive gardens, are accessible to the public on prebooked tours, which are fully booked out much in advance. Book online and if you do get tickets, carry your passport. Heavy security is in place (no bags or cell phones, for instance).

For an experience of imperial Delhi, stop for tea at the Imperial Hotel on Janpath; for a glimpse of Delhi's contemporary elite, browse at Khan Market. A stroll through Lodhi Gardens is a relaxing break and Habitat World or the India International Centre are good bets if you have a taste for culture.