Delhi Travel Guide
Travel guide to Delhi, India with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Delhi sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.
Delhi Overview
India's capital city is two cities in one: old Delhi, where the traditional and the modern mix in an intriguing blend of cluttered alleys, beautiful temples, and street markets; and the contrast of New Delhi, designed at the height of British power in India. A beautiful, spacious city boasting grand squares and open spaces surrounded by modern buildings, side by side with Victorian Architecture. Delhi is a city that revels in its status as the capital of one of the world's largest countries.
Delhi is the home to some 14 million people, and a similar number of sights of real interest, the city is also the gateway to the north of India, and is a popular starting point for people to pass through on their way to the Himalayas, the Taj Mahal in Agra and of course, the beautiful scenery of Jaipur and Rajasthan.
Delhi is a city at the centre of Indian life, and quite simply, the only place to see and be seen in the country. Mumbai may well claim the glamour of Bollywood, but it is Delhi where the pulse of India runs closest to the surface, and where all the different, disparate cultures are most preciously displayed.
Top Delhi Attractions
In Delhi itself, there are dozens of great attractions including the many ancient Mughal buildings that predate the Raj. The national museum of India is housed in a stunning building that showcases Indian craftsmanship, and hosts exhibits that explain the history of the country in some detail.
A short flight from Delhi is India's most beguiling tourist attraction. The Taj Mahal in Agra is described as being the most beautiful building in the world, and was build as the mausoleum for the wife of a Mughal emperor. It is worth spending a couple of days in Agra, as there are plenty of other attractions to see too including the famous Red Fort.
Shopping in Delhi
Although shopping modern Delhi is dominated by the kind of department stores and shopping malls that you get in the rest of the world, the real India is still to be found in the back streets and bazaars that hide behind the modern veneer of respectability.
The most famous of these markets is Chandni Chowk where you can get a real sense of the past in the scents of spice and incense that blend in the atmosphere as you shop. Prices in the market places are not fixed, so feel free to ask for a nice big discount.
Delhi Sporting Events
Cricket is India's national sport, and when people aren't playing, they're talking about results in the many teashops of the city. Games are played on any open space that people can find in Delhi, and if you want to be shown up by impossibly talented children, then ask to join in, and they'll be more than happy to accommodate you.
Polo is also popular - although only among the upper classes, and there is an impressive stadium in the north of Delhi where you can watch a chukka or two.