9 Places to Visit in New Delhi

In common usage, however, the name covers the entire National Capital Territory, a 1,484-square-kilometre patchwork of colonial planning, Mughal ruins, medieval villages absorbed by expansion, and contemporary high-rises that refuses to cohere into anything like a conventional city.

For monument visitors, the itinerary divides naturally by geography and era. Shahjahanabad — Old Delhi — contains the 1638–1648 Red Fort complex and the 17th-century Jama Masjid mosque, reachable via Delhi Metro's Yellow Line at Chandni Chowk. South Delhi's Mehrauli neighbourhood, a thirty-minute Metro ride away, holds the 12th-century Qutub Minar complex, representing the earliest phase of Islamic architecture in the subcontinent. Between these extremes, Nizamuddin — accessible from the Violet Line — delivers Humayun's Tomb, the 1570 garden mausoleum that served as the direct architectural prototype for the Taj Mahal, sitting alongside the living Sufi shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya.

The Delhi Metro is the correct answer to almost every transit question. The network's four key monument corridors — Chandni Chowk (Yellow Line), Qutub Minar via HUDA City Centre (Yellow Line to Qutub Minar station), and Jangpura/Nizamuddin (Violet Line) — connect every major site with journeys under 45 minutes for ₹20–₹60. Auto-rickshaw fares should be metered in theory; in practice, quote ₹100–₹200 for cross-neighbourhood short hops and expect negotiation. App-based autos (Ola, Rapido) consistently undercut street-flagged rates.