New Delhi

New Delhi is at once two cities: the medieval, lane-tangled Old Delhi built by Shah Jahan around the Red Fort, and the spacious, tree-lined New Delhi laid out by Edwin Lutyens between 1911 and 1931. For the vegetarian traveller, both halves are essential. Old Delhi gives you the chaat lanes of Chandni Chowk, the kachori-jalebi counters of Paranthe Wali Gali, and the Mughal-era street kitchens around Matia Mahal. New Delhi gives you the white-tablecloth Awadhi thalis of Pandara Road, the heritage Bikaner House café, and the South Indian institution Saravana Bhavan on Janpath. The city's metro is one of India's best — six colour-coded lines covering 286 km of network — and it reaches almost every monument and market. The best season is November through February when the air is crisp, the monuments dressed in winter mist, and the street vendors fire up their tandoors against the cold. October and March are also pleasant; avoid May and June when temperatures cross 45°C and air quality plunges. Delhi rewards travellers who plan one neighbourhood per day rather than rushing across the city: a Mughal Old Delhi morning, a Lutyens monument afternoon, a Hauz Khas Village dinner. Three full days is the minimum to see it well; five is better. The four iconic sites every first-time visitor reaches — Red Fort, India Gate, Qutub Minar, and Humayun's Tomb — are all metro-accessible and free or under ₹50 entry. Akshardham (Swaminarayan Hindu) on the eastern bank of the Yamuna is one of the most visited contemporary mandirs in India and serves a vast pure-vegetarian community kitchen open to all respectful visitors.