Delhi, India 6 Day Itinerary

There is no visa on arrival for US, UK, or most Western passport holders in Delhi, no matter what a fast-turnaround visa site implies. The eVisa is the only route, applied for at least four days ahead through the official government portal, running around 25 to 40 US dollars depending on validity length, with a small bank processing fee tacked on. Get this done before you book anything else, because a rejected or delayed eVisa unravels a six day trip fast.

Day 1: Arrival and Old Delhi

Land at Indira Gandhi International and settle into a hotel like The Lalit, The Oberoi, or The Imperial, depending on budget, before heading straight into Old Delhi rather than resting off jet lag. A cycle rickshaw through the packed lanes around Jama Masjid is the right way to see this part of the city; a car simply can’t get through half the streets that matter.

Lunch at Karim’s near the mosque is the obvious call for Mughlai food, and it earns the reputation. In the afternoon, Chandni Chowk rewards wandering without a fixed plan: the spice market, the old havelis tucked behind unassuming doorways, and chaat vendors doing a better version of street food than any restaurant nearby. In the evening, Kinari Bazaar covers wedding-trade shopping, and Gali Paranthe Wali lives up to its name if you want stuffed parathas over anything more refined.

Day 2: New Delhi and Humayun’s Tomb

Connaught Place, India Gate, and Rajpath cover the colonial and post-independence architecture of the city in a single morning loop. The Lotus Temple, the Bahai house of worship shaped like an opening flower, is genuinely striking and free to enter, though queues build fast by midday.

After lunch at United Coffee House or one of the kebab spots in CP, Humayun’s Tomb is the better of Delhi’s two major UNESCO sites for a relaxed visit, its Mughal garden layout directly prefiguring the Taj Mahal built decades later. Qutub Minar in the evening covers the other UNESCO listing, a 73 metre minaret dating to 1193 that’s the tallest brick minaret in the world. Dinner at Bukhara in the ITC Maurya or Olive Bar and Kitchen both deliver, though Bukhara’s tandoori dishes are the specific reason people fly in from other cities just to eat there.

Day 3: Agra and the Taj Mahal

The Gatimaan Express is India’s fastest train and the correct way to do this day trip, departing Hazrat Nizamuddin station at 8:10am and reaching Agra by 9:50, with the return leg departing Agra at 5:50pm. That gives a genuine seven to eight hour window in Agra, more than enough for the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort without rushing either. Book the train well ahead in peak season, November through February, since seats sell out.

Foreign tourist entry to the Taj Mahal runs about 1,300 rupees, with an additional 200 rupees to access the inner mausoleum chamber, and tickets book in two slots, 6am to noon or noon to 6pm, through the official ASI portal. Carry your passport, it’s required for foreign entry regardless of what other ID you’re holding. The monument is closed to visitors on Fridays, so don’t schedule this day for one. Agra Fort afterward gives useful context on the Mughal dynasty that built both structures, and it’s a fraction of the crowd size. Back in Delhi by evening, Bukhara again or a quieter meal closer to the hotel both make sense after a long day of travel.

Day 4: Hauz Khas and Lodhi Gardens

Lodhi Gardens in the morning holds the tombs of several Lodhi dynasty rulers scattered through genuinely pleasant green space, a rare quiet pocket in a loud city. Hauz Khas Village in the afternoon has become Delhi’s answer to a gentrified arts district, cafes and small galleries built into and around a 14th century reservoir and madrasa ruin; Cafe Turtle is a solid lunch stop in the middle of it. India Gate at sunset draws a genuine cross-section of Delhi’s own residents out for an evening walk, not just tourists, and it’s worth experiencing as much for that as for the monument itself. Copper Chimney nearby covers a reliable North Indian dinner if the food trucks don’t appeal.

Day 5: Gurgaon

Gurgaon, officially Gurugram now though almost nobody calls it that, is worth a day precisely because it looks like nothing else in Delhi: glass towers, corporate campuses, and DLF Cyber Hub’s dense cluster of restaurants and nightlife built for the tech and finance workforce based there. Kingdom of Dreams in the afternoon is a large-scale theatrical and cultural show, closer to a Bollywood-inflected Vegas production than anything traditional, and it’s a fun contrast to the historical sites earlier in the trip. Dinner at Olive Beach in The Leela Ambience or one of Cyber Hub’s restaurants closes the day well.

Day 6: Departure

Use the morning for souvenir shopping or revisiting anything missed, Akshardham Temple if you haven’t been, or the Lotus Temple again if the queue was too long the first time. Build real margin into the airport transfer; Delhi traffic doesn’t care what time your flight is.

Practical notes

The Delhi Metro is genuinely efficient and the fastest way to cross the city at rush hour, considerably better than sitting in traffic in a taxi. Ola and Uber both operate widely for anything the metro doesn’t cover directly. Bargain at markets as a rule, prices quoted to tourists start high, and stay alert for pickpockets in the most crowded lanes of Old Delhi specifically. Summer heat from April through June is genuinely punishing, well above 40 degrees Celsius some days, while winter mornings, especially in December and January, bring dense fog that regularly delays flights and trains alike, so build a buffer day into your schedule if your dates fall in that window.