4 Days in Delhi: The First-Timer Itinerary
Four days is where Delhi starts to feel complete rather than sampled. Old Delhi, New Delhi, the Qutub Minar/Hauz Khas side of town, and a full day for the Lotus Temple and Akshardham, Delhi’s two free (mostly) modern landmarks. Doing this with a fifth day free? The 5-day itinerary adds a market-and-food day. Tighter schedule? Drop back to 3 days .
Book these before you go
- Hotel dates, Booking.com , pick a neighborhood near a Metro line to keep four days of crosstown moves painless
- The Old Delhi Heritage Walk with rickshaw ride for day one
- A guided Delhi Mughal monuments tour covering India Gate, Humayun’s Tomb and Qutub Minar in one loop
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Old Delhi: Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk |
| Day 2 | New Delhi: India Gate, Humayun’s Tomb, Lodhi Garden |
| Day 3 | Qutub Minar, Mehrauli, Hauz Khas Village |
| Day 4 | Lotus Temple and Akshardham |
Day 1: Old Delhi
Red Fort at opening, 9:30am, foreigner ticket roughly ₹500-600, closed Mondays. Jama Masjid next, free courtyard, ₹300 camera permit if you’re shooting photos. The rest of the day belongs to Chandni Chowk: a cycle rickshaw through the lanes, Paranthe Wali Gali for lunch, and Karim’s for Mughlai kebabs, around ₹350-500 a head, a Delhi institution since 1913.
Day 2: New Delhi and Humayun’s Tomb
India Gate and Kartavya Path first, a straightforward Delhi Metro ride from most Old Delhi hotels, then Humayun’s Tomb (₹550 foreigner), the mausoleum whose double dome and garden layout directly shaped the Taj Mahal 60 years later. Lodhi Garden in the afternoon, free, quiet, scattered with Lodhi and Sayyid-era tombs. Connaught Place for dinner.
Day 3: Qutub Minar and Hauz Khas Village
Qutub Minar (₹550 foreigner) and Mehrauli Archaeological Park in the morning, remembering the minaret’s interior has been closed since a 1981 stampede, so this is a ground-level visit. Afternoon and evening in Hauz Khas Village, the 13th-14th-century madrasa and reservoir now ringed with cafes and rooftop bars.
Day 4: Lotus Temple and Akshardham
The Lotus Temple is free, no ticket, a genuine Baháʼí House of Worship rather than a Hindu temple, open 9am-7pm April-September and 9am-5:30pm October-March, closed Mondays. Afternoon at Akshardham , free to enter for darshan, though the exhibitions and evening water show carry separate tickets (roughly ₹100-250) and online booking isn’t currently available, so budget queue time. Leave phones, cameras and bags in the entrance lockers, they’re not allowed past security.
Is 4 days too many for Delhi if you’re not adding Agra?
No. Four days is close to the sweet spot for the city on its own; it’s the point where you stop triaging sights and can actually sit in Lodhi Garden or a Hauz Khas cafe without guilt. Adding Agra pushes you to 5+ days, which the 5-day itinerary and 7-day itinerary build in room for.
Do Akshardham and the Lotus Temple need a full day together?
Yes, mostly because of the security process, not the sightseeing itself. Akshardham’s strict no-phones-no-bags entry and the separate exhibition queues eat more time than the sights themselves, so pairing it with the shorter, free Lotus Temple visit fills the day without feeling rushed.
Check Akshardham’s evening water show start time before you go; it’s timed around sunset, not a fixed clock hour, so it shifts through the year.