Delhi for Solo Female Travelers — Trip Planner

What first-timers get wrong in Delhi

Prepaid taxi counters at the airport and railway stations exist for a reason: touts outside will tell you your hotel has burned down or closed, then offer an alternative. It is a scam with a script. Buy a Delhi Metro tourist card, INR 200 for one day or INR 500 for three. Monument ticket counters shut an hour before the site itself does.

Delhi after dark

Drinking in Delhi is zoned and licensed, with last call generally one and clubs stretching to three at weekends. Hauz Khas Village stacks bars above a deer park and medieval ruins. Connaught Place's inner circle is the older, louder option, and Aerocity near the airport runs latest. Dry days are enforced on national holidays and around elections, when bars simply do not open.

Delhi with kids, realistically

The Metro is the family's best asset here: air-conditioned, cheap, with a women-and-children coach at the front, though most stations mean stairs and a security queue. The National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri lets children board steam engines and ride a toy train. Lodhi Garden is the good free run-around. Air quality collapses from late October into January, so check readings before outdoor days.

Delhi's museums, and which one to pick

The National Museum on Janpath shuts Mondays and gazetted holidays and charges foreigners INR 650; its Harappan rooms hold the Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro and a relic casket attributed to the Buddha. For twentieth-century painting, the National Gallery of Modern Art at Jaipur House has the Amrita Sher-Gil holdings. The Crafts Museum beside Purana Qila is quieter, cheaper and more tactile.

What to eat in Delhi

Old Delhi settles arguments: Karim's behind Jama Masjid for mutton burra and nihari, Paranthe Wali Gali for stuffed fried parathas, Natraj on Chandni Chowk for dahi bhalla, Kuremal for kulfi frozen inside whole fruit. South Delhi runs the other register, with butter chicken at Moti Mahal Daryaganj, chaat at Bengali Market, and momos traceable to the Tibetan colony at Majnu ka Tila.

When to go to Delhi

The month to avoid is July — around 34°C (93°F) with roughly 22 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: February is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.