Delhi flights and travel guide

Many travellers who take cheap flights to Delhi will see it only fleetingly as they connect to other parts of India, but to do so is to miss a teeming, colourful, cosmopolitan and endlessly fascinating city.

Delhi's history stretches back two-and-a-half-millennia and today's metropolis is thought to be the 16th city that has been on this site. There are two Delhis, the old and the new.

Old Delhi is wonderfully chaotic, where New Delhi is mostly stately and well-ordered. Old Delhi is a warren of streets and a tangle of roads, a skyline with blocks upon blocks upon blocks. It centres around the Chandi Chowk, a bustling market where you can buy almost anything. This street runs from the Lahore Gate of the Red Fort (built by Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, in the 17th century) to the Fatehpuri Masjid (built by Fatehpuri Begum, one of Shah Jahan's wives).

New Delhi has wide, tree-lined boulevards, spacious parks and imposing buildings. It was constructed between 1912 and 1929 (Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker were the architects) to replace Kolkata as the capital of British India. The streets radiate out from Connaught Place and just two of the highlights of this part of the city are India Gate and Parliament House, but New Delhi also contains the Jantar Mantar, an outdoor astronomical observatory that dates from the 18th century, and the dargah of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya.

This collision of new and old, planned and organic is what gives Delhi its energy and, many Indians believe, its soul.

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Delhi climate

Delhi experiences very hot summers and very cold winters. The summers are long, extending from early April to October (taking in the monsoon season). Temperatures can hit 45 degrees Celsius. Winter starts around November and temperatures plummet in January. Average temperatures are about 4 degrees. Most of the rain falls between July and September.

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When to fly to Delhi

Peak Season: 

Delhi has a few peak times throughout the year - February-April and August-November. 

Off Season: 

December-January and mid-summer (May, June and July) are low season times.

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Getting into town Delhi

Taxis, provided by EasyCabs, are available at the airport. The Delhi Tourism Development Corporation provides hire cars at government-approved rates. There are regular bus services between the airport and ISBT (Kashmiri Gate).

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Getting around Delhi

Taxis (yellow top) and auto-rickshaws (which seat three passengers) are freely available. Cycle-rickshaws are popular too and used mostly in Old Delhi. Try to negotiate a fare before you set off.

DTC operates the city bus network. There are also pollution-free battery-operated buses that run between Connaught Place and Chandni Chowk and aIong Chandni Chowk.

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Delhi insider information

• Eat on the streets. Breakfast will usually consist of idlis (rice cakes), vadas, dosas (crepes), salty pongal, and chapatis with sambar (dhal and vegetables) and coffee. Cost? A couple of dollars. For a snack during the day, try to pick up some stuffed parathas from a stall. Wash them down Jal Jeera, a lime, cumin and mint concoction. 
• The legal drinking age in Delhi is 25 and cocktails are what the young, moneyed folk, drink. 
• The dargah (mausoleum) of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya is in New Delhi, near Humayun's Tomb. Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya is a famous Sufi saint. A settlement, known as Nizamuddin, has grown around the dargah. The shrine also contains the marble tomb of Amir Khusro, the great Persian poet of Delhi, and a number of fine Mughal buildings. On Thursday evenings Qawal (devotional music) is sung, from about 6-7.30pm. 
• To see the city at its most colourful, take cheap flights to Delhi around Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15) or Gandhi Jayanti (Gandhi's birthday, October 2). Delhiites celebrate with speeches, military parades and great pomp. 
• Paharganj is the busy backpacker district just west of the New Delhi Railway Station. It's a fantastic and frenetic introduction to Delhi. If you have the time to take a guided walk, take the Salaam City Walk during which former street children will share their stories of survival on the streets. The guides will also point out the contact points and shelters that the Salaam Baalak Trust provides. 
• There is a light and sound show at the Red Fort most evenings. The show, in English and Hindi, is held after sunset except when it rains.

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Delhi airports

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