Delhi
National Capital Of India; Holds Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Red Fort Complex (2007), Qutb Minar And Its Monuments (1993), Humayun'S Tomb (1993) · New Delhi, Delhi
India's capital and the usual first stop, a city of more than twenty million built on the ruins of at least seven earlier ones. It holds three World Heritage Sites: the Red Fort, the Mughal palace from which the Prime Minister still speaks on Independence Day; the Qutub Minar, a twelfth-century victory tower in the south; and Humayun's Tomb, the garden tomb that is the direct ancestor of the Taj Mahal. Old Delhi, the walled Mughal city of Shahjahanabad, is a crush of lanes around Chandni Chowk and the Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, and the best street food in the country. New Delhi, laid out by the British in the 1920s, is wide avenues, India Gate and government buildings. The Metro is excellent and joins them up. What gets underplayed is how hard the city can be: winter air pollution is among the worst of any capital on earth, summer heat is brutal, and arrival touts are relentless. Give it two or three days, use the Metro, and go to Nizamuddin on a Thursday evening for the qawwali.
Netaji Subhash Marg, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, Delhi, 110006, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: ASI monuments such as Humayun's Tomb and the Qutb complex are open from sunrise to sunset, daily; the Qutb Minar and some others have also had evening openings with lighting. THE RED FORT, THE LOTUS TEMPLE AND AKSHARDHAM CLOSE ON MONDAYS, and the National Museum keeps its own weekly closing day. Mosques close to tourists at prayer times, especially Friday midday. The Metro runs from roughly 5.30 or 6 am until about 11 pm. Old Delhi wholesale markets largely close on Sunday. The traps: planning the Red Fort on a Monday, reaching the Qutb complex at noon in summer, and road closures around Republic Day. Confirm days and times before planning.