Delhi 6 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Six days is enough to add a genuine hidden-gem day to the standard Delhi spine without inventing filler. Days 1 through 5 cover Old Delhi, the four ASI monuments, Akshardham, and the crafts markets; day six goes to Agrasen ki Baoli and South Delhi’s food scene, the parts of the city most week-long trips never reach. For a tighter trip, see our 5-day itinerary; for the fullest version, our 7-day .
Book these before you go: an Old Delhi food and heritage walk , a second operator on Viator , and a hotel in South Delhi or Connaught Place that keeps day six’s neighborhoods within a reasonable Metro hop.
| Day | Focus | Neighborhood |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk food crawl | Old Delhi |
| Day 2 | Humayun’s Tomb, Qutub Minar, India Gate, Connaught Place | South & New Delhi |
| Day 3 | Lotus Temple, Akshardham, Hauz Khas Village | New Delhi & South Delhi |
| Day 4 | Lodhi Garden, Karol Bagh or Sarojini Nagar markets | Central & West Delhi |
| Day 5 | Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Dilli Haat, Khan Market | Central Delhi |
| Day 6 | Agrasen ki Baoli, Greater Kailash food crawl | Central & South Delhi |
Day 1: Old Delhi
Red Fort opens 9:30am, closed Mondays, foreigner entry around INR 600 (book online through ASI ). Go at opening, before the tour groups. Jama Masjid, a short walk away, has free courtyard entry, a INR 300 photography permit, and a INR 100 minaret climb worth every rupee.
Lunch at Karim’s, running since 1913, then Paranthe Wali Gali for parathas under INR 150. A cycle rickshaw through Chandni Chowk beats walking blind; agree the fare first.
Day 2: New Delhi and the monuments
Humayun’s Tomb, foreigner entry around INR 550, bookable through ASI , previews the Taj Mahal’s design by seventy years with a fraction of the crowds. Qutub Minar (also around INR 550) fits the same morning; the minaret has been closed to climbing since a fatal 1981 stampede, so the visit is the Iron Pillar and the ground-level view.
Afternoon: India Gate and Kartavya Path, best at early evening, then Connaught Place for dinner.
Day 3: Spiritual Delhi and Hauz Khas Village
Lotus Temple is free, closed Mondays without exception. Akshardham’s darshan hall is free too; exhibitions (around INR 250) and the water show (around INR 90) cost extra, and phones, cameras, and bags aren’t allowed inside, so use the lockers. Afternoon: Hauz Khas Village’s madrasa, reservoir, and cafe scene.
Day 4: Lodhi Garden and the markets
Morning walk through Lodhi Garden’s Lodhi and Sayyid-era tombs. Afternoon: one market, Sarojini Nagar or Karol Bagh, not both.
Day 5: Bangla Sahib and the crafts markets
Gurudwara Bangla Sahib’s free langar feeds thousands daily through volunteer labor; eat there with real respect, shoes off, head covered. Dilli Haat and Khan Market fill the rest of the day with crafts shopping and a proper sit-down lunch.
Day 6: Agrasen ki Baoli and South Delhi
Agrasen ki Baoli is a 14th-century stepwell hidden behind the office towers near Connaught Place, 108 steps down to the water level in a near-silent stone chamber; almost no first-time visitor knows to look for it, and it costs nothing to enter. In the afternoon, South Delhi’s Greater Kailash-1 M Block Market runs a genuine cross-section of North Indian street food at a fraction of the price of anywhere in Central Delhi. Treat this as a slow, low-key closing day rather than another monument sprint.
Do you need 6 days for Delhi, or is that too many?
Six days is generous, not excessive, if you actually use day six for something new rather than resting. The city has enough genuine depth, Agrasen ki Baoli, South Delhi’s food scene, a second look at a favorite neighborhood, to reward it, but if you’re not the type to seek out a hidden stepwell, five days covers the essentials just as well.
What’s the point of Agrasen ki Baoli if you’ve already seen Qutub Minar?
It’s a completely different kind of monument: quiet, symmetrical, and functional rather than monumental, and set incongruously behind glass office towers instead of in a park. Most Delhi guides don’t mention it at all, which is exactly why it’s worth the fifteen minutes it takes to see.
Getting around and staying safe
At six days, a three-day Tourist Smart Card (INR 500) covers half the trip; top up individually after that, since fares run INR 11 to INR 64 by distance (see DMRC’s official fare schedule ). Drink bottled water only, and keep ignoring anyone at a station or hotel entrance who tells you your room is unavailable; it’s the opening line of the city’s most common scam, not a genuine problem.
For a shorter or fuller version of this trip, see our 5-day and 7-day Delhi itineraries, our full Delhi guide , or whether Red Fort actually earns its ticket price.