Delhi

Some of the lanes in Old Delhi have been continuously occupied since the 1640s. The Mughal capital that grew around them, with Chandni Chowk, the Red Fort, and the kebab grills at Jama Masjid, is loud, layered, and physically much older than what most travellers expect. South of it, separated by ring roads and politics, is the Delhi the British built and the Indians inherited: tree-lined avenues, Lutyens-era bungalows, embassies, and the restaurants and bars where the country's professional class actually spends its evenings. Most visitors arrive expecting the first and stay in the second.

When to go

February to March is the optimal window. Cool mornings (12–15°C), warm afternoons (around 27°C), and the cleanest air the city sees all year. October and November are also recommended but come with a serious caveat: crop-burning season in Punjab and Haryana from late October sends smoke into Delhi that pushes air quality past "hazardous" by mid-November. December and January are cold and the air is no better. The summer months from April to early July deliver temperatures above 40°C and are best avoided unless you are built for them.

What it's actually like

Delhi is for the willing. The pace is faster than London or New York, the noise denser, and the contrasts sharper: a luxury hotel on one side of a road and a slum on the other is normal. The good parts are an art and food scene that's grown unrecognisable in the last decade, Khan Market bookshops, gardens at Lodi and Hauz Khas that are properly green, and a metro that's clean, fast, and air-conditioned. The hard parts: traffic that turns 5km into 90 minutes, drivers who will quote you triple the metre, and a winter air-quality problem that doesn't appear in the brochures. The trick is to use the metro and pick neighbourhoods deliberately.

The neighbourhood you want

Stay in South Delhi. Hauz Khas is the obvious pick: a medieval village turned restaurant-and-bar district around a 14th-century reservoir, well-connected to the metro and easily accessible from the airport. Khan Market is the calmer alternative, an enclave of bookshops, embassy restaurants, and tree-lined streets in Lutyens' Delhi. Defence Colony is a quieter, more residential option suited to families. Avoid Paharganj near the railway station unless you're on the backpacker circuit; the area is functional but a poor first impression.

Don't miss

Paranthe Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk. It is a 150-year-old lane that has been doing one thing since the 1870s: stuffed paranthas. Three families still run the shops: Pt. Gaya Prasad, Pt. Kanhaiyalal, and Pt. Babu Ram. A plate of two paranthas with pickle and curd costs ₹100–150 and the menu includes options you've never seen elsewhere (banana, mixed papad, rabri). Go early; the lane gets uncomfortable by midday. If you've eaten and want kebabs, walk fifteen minutes to Karim's near Jama Masjid; it has been making the same mutton seekh since 1913.