Delhi, India 5 Day Itinerary

A driver at IGI Airport will tell you the prepaid taxi counter is closed for the night. It is not. That single lie costs first-time visitors more money than any other scam in the city, so walk past every tout in Arrivals and look for the Delhi Traffic Police prepaid taxi booth, where a ride to Connaught Place runs somewhere between 350 and 500 rupees on the meter, not the 1,200 to 1,800 rupees an unregistered driver outside will try to quote you.

Day 1: Arrival and Heritage Tour

If your flight lands between 4:45am and 11:30pm, skip the taxi argument entirely and take the Airport Express metro line from T3 to New Delhi Railway Station. It takes 20 minutes and costs 60 to 150 rupees depending on your exit station, which makes it the fastest and cheapest way into the city bar none, luggage rack included. Outside that window you are stuck with a car, so use the prepaid booth or book Uber or Ola in advance so the fare is locked before you get in.

For sleeping, The Lodhi sits at the luxury end with excellent grounds, The Park in Connaught Place is a solid mid-range option close to the metro, and Hotel Surya in Karol Bagh covers the budget end without being grim. Start the morning at Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters or Cafe Turtle, both reliable for a proper coffee before a day of ruins.

Qutub Minar costs 550 rupees for foreign visitors as of this year and the site opens at 7am, which matters in summer when the sandstone starts radiating heat by 10am. It is a genuine UNESCO World Heritage Site and the tallest brick minaret standing anywhere, but the real draw for me is the Iron Pillar in the courtyard, a 1,600-year-old column that has barely rusted and nobody fully agrees on why. Humayun’s Tomb, also 550 rupees for foreigners, is the better photographed of the two and arguably the more important building historically since its garden-tomb layout became the template Shah Jahan later scaled up for the Taj Mahal. Do Qutub Minar first while it is cool, Humayun’s Tomb after.

Lunch splits two ways: Paranthe Wali Gali for stuffed parathas eaten standing up, or Hauz Khas Village for a sit-down meal with better plumbing. In the afternoon, Mehrauli Archaeological Park is free, sprawling, and mostly empty of other tourists, which makes it a genuinely calmer counterpoint to the crowds at Qutub Minar next door. Chattarpur Temple complex is worth the detour if you have any interest in contemporary Hindu temple architecture, since it was built mostly in the last few decades and looks nothing like the Mughal-era stone you have just spent the morning inside.

End the day in Hauz Khas Village itself for the boutiques, street art, and rooftop cafes. The Delhi Metro is genuinely excellent and I would use it over an auto-rickshaw for anything longer than fifteen minutes, since traffic makes rickshaw travel times unpredictable at rush hour.

Day 2: Old Delhi

Breakfast is either parathas from a stall near Jamun Juice Centre or the Mughlai classics at Karim’s, which has been serving mutton korma near Jama Masjid since 1913 and remains busy enough at lunch that arriving before noon saves you a real wait.

Jama Masjid itself has no entry fee, but bring cash: photography costs 300 rupees per camera and climbing the south minaret is another 100 rupees, so a couple shooting photos should budget 600 rupees just for the privilege of pointing a phone at the courtyard. Dress modestly, robes are loaned at the entrance if you show up in shorts. From there, walk or take a cycle rickshaw into Chandni Chowk, the market street that has functioned continuously since the 17th century and still sells everything from wedding saris to bootleg electronics within a hundred metres of each other.

Lunch options cluster right here: Karim’s again, Al Jawahar Restaurant nearby, or the chaat stalls near Fatehpuri Mosque if you want to eat standing in the chaos rather than sitting above it. In the afternoon, the Red Fort is the big Mughal set piece, built by Shah Jahan in the 17th century as his seat of power, and the marble inlay work inside the Diwan-i-Khas is worth slowing down for even though most of the original jewel inlay was stripped by looters long ago.

Evening belongs to Dilli Haat, a crafts market with stalls run by artisans from across India’s states, rotated periodically so it does not feel static even on a repeat visit. Rickshaws are the honest way to move around Old Delhi’s narrow lanes since cars simply cannot fit; agree the fare before you climb in, not after.

Day 3: Modern Delhi and a Food Walk

Breakfast at Olive Bistro or Toit Brewpub, both firmly in New Delhi’s more Western-leaning cafe scene, a useful reset after two days of street food.

India Gate is a war memorial built to commemorate Indian and British soldiers from the First World War, and the lawns around it are where Delhi families picnic on weekend evenings, so go at golden hour rather than midday heat if you want the full local flavour of the place rather than just a photo of the arch. Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President’s residence, is visible from Raisina Hill and the surrounding government quarter is worth a slow drive-past even though you cannot enter without prior arrangement.

Lunch options: The Fatty Bao for Asian fusion, Social Offline if you want a casual cafe with decent wifi, or Guppy by Ai for a genuinely good Japanese menu that outperforms its unassuming Khan Market location. Spend the afternoon in Connaught Place, the colonial-era circular market that is still the city’s commercial anchor, and note that despite its polish this is also where the fake tourist-office touts operate most aggressively, so ignore anyone who approaches you unsolicited and remember the real Government of India Tourist Office sits at 88 Janpath, not inside the station or a random shopfront someone points you toward.

In the evening, book a guided food walk. A local guide threading you through unmarked stalls in under three hours will show you more of the city’s actual food culture than a week of guessing on your own, and it is one of the few splurges in this itinerary I would not skip.

Day 4: Lotus Temple and Khan Market

Start at Sakura Art Cafe or Theobroma for breakfast, then head to the Lotus Temple, a Bahá’í House of Worship shaped like a lotus flower with 27 marble petals, completed in 1986. Entry is free and it remains genuinely serene despite being one of the most visited buildings in the world, largely because the interior enforces total silence.

Lunch: Gunpowder for South Indian food that punches well above its casual setting, Kake Da Hotel for Punjabi classics, or Masala Library if you want a proper fine-dining tasting menu and don’t mind the bill. Khan Market is officially Asia’s most expensive retail street by rent, which tells you more about Delhi real estate than about the shopping itself, but it is a genuinely pleasant place to browse bookshops and boutiques between meals. Lodhi Gardens next door is free, shaded, and dotted with 15th-century tombs that nobody bothers roping off, making it my pick over Khan Market’s shops if you only have an hour to spare.

Evening: South Extension market for more local, less touristy shopping, where prices are noticeably lower than Khan Market for near-identical goods.

Day 5: Departure

Breakfast at Baking Bad or Cafe Turtle again if you liked it the first time. Before you head to the airport, factor in Delhi traffic realistically: a daytime run from central Delhi to T3 can take well over an hour even though the distance looks short on a map, so build in more buffer than you think you need, especially if your flight is in the evening rush window.

One last practical note: keep small notes on you for the camera fees and rickshaw fares that never seem to have correct change, and always confirm a price before the ride or the photo, not after.