A Long Weekend in Delhi: The Offbeat Plan
Three days inside Delhi itself, no Agra or Jaipur day trip stealing a day, buys Old Delhi, New Delhi and Humayun’s Tomb, and Qutub Minar’s forgotten neighbor Mehrauli, all on the Metro. If a free stepwell and a mural district sound worth a fourth day, the 4 day version adds both; for the Golden Triangle angle, see Delhi as the gateway to Agra and Jaipur instead.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Old Delhi on foot and by rickshaw, the spice market included |
| 2 | New Delhi’s monuments and Humayun’s Tomb’s Sufi neighbor |
| 3 | Qutub Minar’s 100-plus forgotten neighbors in Mehrauli |
Book these before you go
- Reserve an Old Delhi heritage walk with rickshaw ride , the easiest way through Chandni Chowk’s lanes
- Book the Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb skip-the-line combo ticket , covering two of the weekend’s monuments in one booking
- Compare Delhi hotel rates on Agoda before picking a neighborhood for the weekend
Day 1: Old Delhi on foot and by rickshaw
Start at the Red Fort, roughly 550 rupees for foreigners, open 9:30am to 4:30pm Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays; book directly through ASI to skip the walk-up queue. Walk or rickshaw to Jama Masjid next, free to enter the courtyard, though a 300 rupee photography permit and 100 rupee minaret climb are genuine separate charges and the mosque closes to visitors during its five daily prayer times. Finish at Khari Baoli, reportedly Asia’s largest wholesale spice market, best before 10am, then dinner at Karim’s near the mosque, serving Mughlai food since 1913.
Day 2: New Delhi’s monuments and Humayun’s Tomb’s Sufi neighbor
Morning at India Gate and along Kartavya Path, the ceremonial boulevard renamed from Rajpath in 2022, both free and open-air. Then Humayun’s Tomb, bookable directly through ASI at roughly 550 rupees for foreigners, open daily sunrise to sunset with no weekly closure. A short auto ride away, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah hosts free qawwali most evenings, best on a Thursday after Maghrib prayer if the calendar allows it; donations are customary and a head covering is expected inside.
Day 3: Qutub Minar’s 100-plus forgotten neighbors in Mehrauli
Qutub Minar’s interior stairwell has stayed closed since a December 1981 stampede, so today’s roughly 550 rupee foreigner ticket, bookable directly through ASI , buys ground-level viewing only, still worth it for the 12th-century carving detail. What most visitors skip next door is Mehrauli Archaeological Park, free and ASI-protected, scattering more than 100 tombs and step-wells through actual forest rather than a manicured lawn.
Three days skips the free stepwell and mural district entirely, easy additions on the 4 day version of this same plan. Check current AQI readings before traveling if this trip falls between November and February, since Delhi’s post-harvest smog season is a genuine health consideration. Spend the last afternoon at Hauz Khas Village, a 13th-14th-century madrasa and tomb complex ringing a reservoir, before heading back via the Airport Express Metro , about 60 rupees and under 20 minutes from New Delhi Railway Station to Terminal 3.