All Inclusive Old and New Delhi Full-Day Private Guided Tour

Both Delhis in one day

Old Delhi and New Delhi are two different cities that happen to share a name. One is Shah Jahan's walled capital of 1648, lanes three metres wide, still trading. The other is Lutyens' imperial grid of 1931, avenues sixty metres wide and roundabouts named after princes. Doing both in a day is the only way to understand either.

Old Delhi

Jama Masjid first — India's largest mosque, red sandstone and white marble, a courtyard that holds twenty-five thousand people. Shoulders and knees covered; robes are lent at the gate for a small charge. Women should carry a scarf.

Then the cycle rickshaw through Chandni Chowk, which is the right and only way to travel that street. Spice market, silver lane, wedding-trim bazaar, and a driver who threads gaps that do not exist.

Raj Ghat, the black marble platform where Gandhi was cremated in 1948, with a flame that has not gone out since.

New Delhi

India Gate and the drive past Rashtrapati Bhavan on Rajpath. Humayun's Tomb, the 1560s Mughal garden tomb that the Taj Mahal was modelled on sixty years later. Qutub Minar, 73 metres of 12th-century brickwork with the famous non-rusting iron pillar in its courtyard.

Three options

Guide only, if you have transport. Guide with private car and driver. Or the all-inclusive version with lunch and every entrance ticket covered — Humayun's Tomb, Qutub Minar and the Red Fort are ₹600 a head each for foreign nationals, so the sums are closer than they look.

Practical

Pickup from Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad or the airport. Jama Masjid closes to visitors during prayers, and Red Fort is shut on Mondays; your guide will order the day around whatever applies.