Travel Log: Two Days in Delhi, India

You may have seen on my socials that I had recently had a wonderful opportunity to tour the "Golden Triangle" of India. My husband had a work trip come to fruition to the Delhi area, and while we were not originally planning to visit India this year we said "why not?" and planned out one week plus weekends itinerary after his work week that included visits to Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan/Ajabgarh, and Jaipur. We allocated eight days plus two full days of travel, so really one week plus weekends in terms of PTO or time off. We made the conscious decision to move around more to see more--a choice that meant packing up and switching hotels every two nights, but we felt was 100% worth it for our first visit to this country. Our itinerary included two days in Delhi, two days in Agra (travel log is here), two days in Rajasthan/Ajabgarh (travel log is here), and two days in Jaipur (travel log is here). We also spent almost two full days on travel, which is something to keep in mind if you are traveling to India from the United States as India is pretty much as far as you can go across the globe from our home airport of Seattle! Please continue reading to see more photos and details for how we spent our first couple of days in Delhi, India.

I left my home airport of Seattle Thursday afternoon and arrived in Delhi late Friday night after a short layover in Paris. My husband had already been in the Delhi area for a week, and I was very glad he met me at the airport with a driver so that I did not need to stress about traveling alone late at night. Because I had spend to much time traveling, and he had been working modified US hours the prior week, we took it easy on Saturday and relaxed at our hotel: The Leela Palace New Delhi located in the Diplomatic Enclave in the newer part of the city. The Leela Palace New Delhi has very comfortable rooms, four restaurants plus a library bar that is open late, a rooftop pool, a gym, and a club level lounge with snacks and drinks available for an additional cost. It is also located right next to a shopping mall, which was very convenient for us to walk around and for me to pick up my India Starbucks mug for my collection!

The Leela Palace helped us arrange a car and driver for our second morning in Delhi, so that we could get out to see a couple of Delhi's UNESCO World Heritage sites before the weather got too hot. Our late April visit was in the height of summer, very hot and dry, with temperatures soaring up to 106 degrees F (41 deg C) in the heat of the day. On the plus side, it was dry heat as the monsoon season does not start until mid-late June, so the heat was more bearable but we still only went out in the mornings and evenings. We visited the Red Fort and Humayun's Tomb, both designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2007 and 1993, respectively, and both have nominal entrance fees that you can either purchase in purchase or online in advance. A quick history on the Red Fort: this fort was built between 1638-1648 by Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor when he moved India's capital from Agra to Delhi. Its mixture of Hindu and Persian architecture and geometric designs is beautiful to see in person and has similarities to the Agra Fort and Amber Fort in Jaipur. We visited early in the morning when there were few people, but there is a particular hall where vendors set up and sell jewelry, scarves, souvenirs, and other items if you arrive a bit later.

After exploring the Red Fort, we jumped back in the car and were driven to our second UNESCO World Heritage site: Humayun's Tomb. Humayun was the second Mughal emperor and the great-grandfather of Shah Jahan mentioned above. His tomb was commissioned by his wife and constructed between 1565 and 1572 with Hindu and Persian architecture and geometric design elements similar to what I mentioned of the Red Fort. The tomb structure was built in the center of a 30 acre garden and we were very impressed by design elements such as the stone latticework that enables airflow through the building and the black and white marble inlays with the red sandstone. It is often said that Humayun's Tomb inspired the design of the Taj Mahal the following century, and now having seen both structures I can see the similarities!

We very much enjoyed our quick tour of Delhi, and after those two days we headed to our next destination of Agra (the home of the Taj Mahal). Please stay tuned for my next travel log on Agra and our sunrise tours of the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. 

Have you been to India? If so, please don't hesitate to share your itinerary and your favorite moments. Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope you have a wonderful week!

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