Places to visit inDelhi

Planning the places to visit in Delhi? This guide covers the main Delhi attractions, from the Red Fort and Qutb Minar to Humayun's Tomb, India Gate and Akshardham, with timings, weekly closures and entry fees checked against ASI and Delhi Tourism wherever possible.

Delhi is the National Capital Territory of India. The city has been rebuilt many times, and its layers show in its monuments. In the south, the Qutb Minar complex marks the Delhi Sultanate. Its tower was begun in 1199 next to the fourth-century Iron Pillar. Humayun's Tomb, completed in the 1570s beside the Nizamuddin shrine, was the first grand Mughal garden tomb and a model for the Taj Mahal.

In the 1640s Shah Jahan moved his capital from Agra and built Shahjahanabad, now Old Delhi, with the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid and the Chandni Chowk bazaar. The British built New Delhi to Edwin Lutyens' plan in the 1920s and 1930s, around the ceremonial axis now called Kartavya Path, with India Gate at its eastern end. Modern landmarks include the Bahá'í Lotus Temple of 1986 and Swaminarayan Akshardham, opened in 2005.

The city is also a working capital of faith and trade: Gurudwara Bangla Sahib feeds thousands at its langar every day, and Old Delhi's wholesale lanes still supply much of north India. Lodhi Garden, with its 15th- and 16th-century tombs, is where many residents walk in the morning. Delhi Tourism gives October to March as the best time to visit. Summers are very hot, and winter mornings can be foggy. The Delhi Metro reaches most of the attractions.

Several ASI monuments sell cheaper tickets online than at the counter, and some major sites close one day a week: the Red Fort, Lotus Temple and Akshardham close on Mondays.