Don't let your first impressions of Delhi stick like a sacred cow in a traffic jam: get behind the madcap faade and discover the inner peace of a city rich with culture, architecture and human diversity, deep with history and totally addictive to epicureans. Read the overview

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Points of interest

Jantar Mantar

Only a short stroll down Sansad Marg from Connaught Place, this collection of curious terracotta-red structures is one of Maharaja Jai Singh II's observatories. The ruler from Jaipur constructed this observatory in 1725, dominated by a huge sundial known as the Prince of Dials. Other instruments plot the course of heavenly bodies and predict eclipses.

Address

Sansad Marg
central New Delhi

Transport

walking
cycle taxi

Humayun's Tomb

Built in the mid-16th century by the senior wife of the second Mughal emperor, this is the first significant example of Mughal architecture in India. It's also one of the most beautiful buildings in the city and should not be missed. The elements of its design are echoed in the later Taj Mahal.

It comprises a squat building with high arched entrances topped by a bulbous dome and surrounded by formal gardens. The gardens also contain the red-and-white sandstone and black-and-yellow marble tomb of Humayun's wife and, somewhat surprisingly, the tomb of Humayun's barber.

Address

Bharat Scout Guide Rd
Central Delhi

Transport

train Nizamuddin

Admission

full US Dollar 5.00

Gandhi National Museum

The National Gandhi Museum has an interesting display of paintings and photos about the man who spearheaded the country's independence movement. Indians affectionately dub Gandhi 'the Father of the Nation'.