UNESCO sites in Delhi: Everything you need to know

Delhi – part of which is New Delhi – is a huge city – upwards of 20 million people. It’s loud and chaotic and very spread out. It’s also an important transportation hub, meaning if you travel to India on business or just for sightseeing, you may very well pass through Delhi.

So what if you have only a short time in the city but want to see a major sight or two? UNESCO sites are pretty much always reliable choices, and Delhi has three of them. Here I’ll give you a look at all three (in historical order) to help you choose which to see, followed by some tips about how to see them.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. Making a purchase through an affiliate link will mean a small commission for this website. This will not affect your price.

Qutb Minar and its monuments

The oldest of the UNESCO sites in Delhi, this group of monuments dates to the 12th century and the succeeding few centuries. It consists of mosques, tombs and, its most impressive element, the Qutb Minar itself: a tall stone tower (sometimes written as Qutub Minar or Qutab Minar). They were all built at a time when Islamic rulers first took power and were eager to show their status and power as well as to establish their religion.

The tower – originally a minaret for the mostly ruined mosque next to it – is 72.5 meters (238 feet) tall. It is largest at its base and tapers gradually to the top. Started in the 12th-century, later rulers completed it. It reached its current height in the 15th century.

Book accommodations in Delhi.

It’s a remarkable structure: with balconies marking its levels, the vertical fluting that covers it changes at each level, gradually and perfectly getting smaller, yet lining up for the entire length of the tower. It changes from alternating square and round flutes to all rounded to all square as it rises. The ornate Indo-Islamic-style detail on the walls and balconies is wonderful: decorative patterns and calligraphy.

Other elements of the Qutb Minar UNESCO site

Nearby is Alai Minar, which was intended to be a tower twice as large as Qutb Minar. It was never finished, so it’s really just a cylindrical pile of rough stones, meant to be the base of the newer tower. Yet it’s clear when you see it just how big it would have been if it had ever been completed.

The mosque (Quwwatu-Islam Masjid) next door to Qutb Minar is mostly in ruins, but the galleries along the sides have fascinating carved pillars made of pieces from 27 ruined Hindu and Jain temples. Despite their piecemeal construction, they end up having a pleasing style of their own. Some of the mosque’s arches also still stand, covered with beautiful calligraphy and floral images.

One of the mosque’s gateways dating to 1311 has survived the centuries well. Its outer façade still has much of its detailed stonework calligraphy in pink and white stone.

The square tomb of Iltutmish is rather plain on the outside – just stone blocks – but the inside has ornate carvings.

This private guided tour of Qutb Minar includes pick-up and drop-off. Qutb Minar is also open in the evenings from 19:00-22:00, when it is lit up for a sound and light show. This tour combines a guided tour with seeing the show.

Qutb Minar: Mehrauli, New Delhi. There is a Qtub Minar metro station but the Saket station is possibly a bit closer to the ticket booth at Qutb Minar. They’re both on the yellow line and are a short walk away. Open daily 7:00-17:00.

Humayun’s Tomb

Dating to the 16th century, Humayun’s tomb is the resting place of the 2nd Mughal emperor, commissioned by his first wife. Many more Mughal family tombs were added over time. It is a UNESCO site because it was the first “garden tomb” in India. That means it is in a style that became a hallmark of Mughal architecture, later becoming a model for the Taj Mahal.

While this tomb is not built in white marble like the Taj Mahal, it is similar in outlines: a domed tomb on a high platform, perfectly symmetrical, with a garden around it divided by shallow watercourses into four equal parts.

Like the Taj Mahal, entering the grounds through a large archway provides a “wow-moment” as you get your first sight of the tomb. Its design, in red and white stone, is elegant from any angle.

There are a number of other tombs and mosques scattered around the 30 acres (12 hectares) of the site: all of them much smaller but several quite pretty. The well-kept grounds around the tombs are remarkably quiet and tranquil, considering they’re in the middle of a mega-city.

Try this private guided tour of Humayun’s Tomb.

Humayun’s Tomb: Nizamuddin, Nizamuddin East, New Delhi. Nearest metro station: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (JLN) on the violet line, which is two kilometers away. Take a tuk-tuk if you don’t want to walk that far. Nizamuddin train station is a bit closer; exit the station on the west side of the tracks and take a tuk-tuk the two kilometers from there. Open daily, sunrise-19:30.

Red Fort Complex

The Red Fort (also called Lal Quila) dates to the 17th century. It’s a UNESCO site because it’s such an important example of Mughal architecture. At the same time, it shows a progression of uses: originally a fort for Emperor Shah Jahan, the 5th Mughal emperor, it became a garrison for the British later. Then, at India’s independence, it was the place where India’s flag was first raised in 1947. It is the most-visited of the three UNESCO sites in Delhi.

To me, the walls are the most impressive thing about this fortress. Made from the red stone that gives the fort its name, the walls are high and imposing, topped with Mughal-style crenelations and punctuated by two elegant gateways and many watchtowers.

When you enter through Lahore Gate, you’ll first walk through a vaulted marketplace called the Chhatta Chowk. Nowadays it is home to souvenir shops, but it was also a marketplace from the beginning, when it housed shops for the women of the emperor’s court.

Leaving the Chhatta Chowk, you’ll come into a very large park-like area enclosed by the fortress walls: 255 acres or 103 hectares, according to Wikipedia. The park contains a number of buildings. Some are from the original fortress: pavilions with watercourses around them – now dry – the emperor’s residence, a hammam, and a mosque. The condition of these structures varies from ruins to still intact and well-preserved. Generally you can only see them from the outside.

Other structures are from the British era: rectangular garrison buildings of red, brown and white stone. Many have been restored and are used for various purposes, including housing museums.

Museums inside the Red Fort

Entrance to the following museums inside Red Fort is included with your admission fee:

• The Azaadi Ke Diwane Museum chronicles the fight for independence from Britain, from the First War for Independence in 1857 to India’s independence in 1947.
• The Indian War Memorial Museum is dedicated to the Indians who fought for the British in World War I. It also honors the victims of the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre (1919), when British troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians.
• The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Museum: A museum dedicated to Subhash Chandra Bose, a nationalist who was a leader in the fight for independence from the British.
• The Drishyakala Museum houses historical and modern Indian art.
• Aatmanirbhar Bharat Centre for Design: an agency that promotes development of indigenous traditional arts and crafts. Examples are exhibited and sometimes demonstrated here.
• The Red Fort Museum: Inside the Mughal-era Mumtaz Mahal, this archeological museum holds a variety of items related to the Mughal emperors.

Take this guided tour of the Red Fort, then stay to visit whichever museums most interest you.

There’s also a Sound and Light Show in the evenings daily except Mondays: the English one is at 21:00 in May to August; 20:30 in September-October and February-April; and 19:30 in November-January.

Red Fort: Netaji Subhash Marg, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi. Nearest metro station: Red Fort a.k.a. Lal Quila on the violet line. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9:30-16:30.

Tips on visiting the UNESCO sites in Delhi

Which UNESCO site in Delhi is the best? In my view, if you can only visit one of these, it should be Humayun’s Tomb. It’s the most intact and beautiful of Delhi’s UNESCO sites. Second would be the Red Fort. Visit the Qutb Minar if you have time or if you have a particular interest in medieval Islamic art and architecture.

I should also mention that these three UNESCO sites are not nearby each other in Delhi. Given the travel time between them it would surprise me if you could see more than two in a day. (This guided tour claims to cover all three, plus some other sights, but it just passes by the Red Fort.)

There are many tours available – private or group; half-day, full-day or multi-day – that include one or more of these UNESCO sites. See a listing here, or click on the images below:

All of these sites have well-maintained grounds – a pleasant escape from the perpetual noise and chaos of Delhi. Since locals pay a far lower admission price than foreigners, these sites serve to some extent as parks. People may not be there to see the sights, but rather to enjoy the peace and quiet.

These UNESCO sites are at least partly wheelchair accessible, with well-maintained, smooth walkways and, in some places, wheelchair ramps. At Humayun’s Tomb you won’t be able to enter the tomb itself, but the outside is distinctly more impressive than the inside anyway.

Visitors may not bring food into these sites, but you can and should bring water. It’s easy to get dehydrated and you should not drink tap water.

There are toilets at each site, and they’ll all have “bum guns” but often won’t have toilet paper. Bring your own. Disinfectant hand wash is probably a good idea too.

If you’ll be travelling to Agra, read about the UNESCO sites in Agra as well.

Where to stay in Delhi

We stayed in a remarkably quiet little B&B called Two Green Park. Located in the Green Park neighborhood south of downtown, it is clean and modern and well-run, and the owner is very helpful. The quiet was an enormous relief after two months traveling around India. It is walking distance to a metro station as well.

There are plenty of other accommodations all over Delhi, from the most basic hostel bed to five-star grandeur.

I’d suggest looking at a map view of the accommodations and thinking about how you plan to get around. If it’s by metro, find a place near a station. Keep in mind, though, that the metro system is huge, so a central location is your best bet.

Look to see if the hotel is on a major or minor road. The hotel we first stayed in in Delhi was good enough in terms of cleanliness and quality of the room, but I wouldn’t recommend it because it stood on a major road that was very loud night and day. The B&B I mentioned above, by contrast, was in an upper-middle-class residential area, which meant it was blissfully quiet at night.

Getting to the UNESCO sites in Delhi

Metro

In the boxes above, I’ve given the nearest metro station to each place. I’d certainly recommend taking the metro over any other form of transportation. Delhi has a terrible problem with traffic and the badly polluted air that comes with it. Sitting in traffic in a tuk-tuk takes a long time and forces you to breathe the emissions from the surrounding vehicles.

The metro is far cheaper (about 30 rupees) and cleaner. You never have to wait more than five or ten minutes for the next train to arrive, and it’s faster because you’re not sitting in traffic. It’s also far quieter than being on the streets. The metro is often quite crowded, however, so avoid rush hours and keep your backpack in front of you. Some of the trains have a women-only car. Look for the markings on the platform.

Tuk-tuk (or taxi)

When you get out of the metro, tuk-tuk drivers are likely to accost you, offering to take you the rest of the way. If you want to walk, a firm “No” should suffice. If you want to take a tuk-tuk, make sure to agree before getting in on what the price will be. Make sure to clarify if any given price is for all passengers or per person. Also, say the word “rupees” after naming a price. This never happened to me, but I’ve heard of drivers, after taking tourists to their destination, saying they meant US dollars.

Walking

If you walk, walk carefully. Sidewalks are often either blocked or missing entirely in Delhi so you’ll have to walk along the edge of the traffic. That’s not a problem – everyone does it. Just be aware of your surroundings and traffic that may come out of side roads or from the wrong direction. To cross a street, locals just start walking and the traffic flows around them. I never had the nerve to do this and generally waited until there was a gap in the traffic. Crosswalks are meaningless. Make sure to look both ways because even on divided roads, people – particularly bicyclists and tuk-tuk drivers – will sometimes ride on the wrong side of the road.

Getting to and from Delhi

I’m assuming that you will arrive in Delhi by plane from your home country. To get into the city, take the Delhi Metro Rail, which intersects with several regular metro lines. You can buy a ticket on the spot – no need to reserve.

Getting around within India can be by plane, bus or train. The best way, I found, to book transportation from outside of India is to use the website 12Go, where you can book all three forms of transportation, as well as taxi transfers.

Flying is obviously quicker and generally domestic flights are not expensive. The reason we didn’t choose this option was that, given the comprehensive train system in India, and the fact that we had plenty of time, we wanted to choose the more environmentally-friendly option.

I’ll write a separate article about our experiences on the train system, so I’ll just put some general advice here:

• Book second or first class AC so you’ll have reserved seats with air conditioning. Unreserved third class can get frighteningly crowded. First class costs about the same as flying. Second class is about half that. In quality there’s very little difference between first and second.
• Digital signs in the station will tell you what platform your train (identified by number) will be on. So will announcements over a loudspeaker. At the platform, digital signs along the track will start to indicate the wagon numbers as the train approaches. Go to where your wagon number is displayed to board as near as possible to your seat.
• Don’t expect any kind of luxury, even in first class, but it’ll get you from point A to point B. It’ll often be on time, or nearly so, but be patient if it’s not. It’s part of the experience.
• Bring food and drink – a travel agent warned us off buying any food on the trains.

Which of these UNESCO sites in Delhi would you most like to see? Leave a comment below!