Guards in front of India Gate, Delhi.Credit: Reuters
Belinda Jackson picks the best on offer from the host city of the Commonwealth Games.
STAY
Budget
Cottage Ganga Inn is clean and has all the basics: luggage lock-up, internet and cheap food. Bonus points: it's off Main Bazaar, so rooms are quiet. Ask for rooms at the front because those at the back are dark. From 750 rupees/double (1532 Bazaar Sangtrashan, Pahar Ganj, 2356 1517). Nearby Vivek Hotel is clean with plenty of options, from 450 rupees to 2700 rupees/double — ask to check the rooms first. The staff can also arrange airport pick-ups from 600 rupees (1534-1550 Main Bazaar, Pahar Ganj, 4154 1435, www.vivekhotel.com). Part of a budget chain operating across India, Ginger New Delhi has 108 rooms, from 1300 rupees/double (200 metres from New Delhi railway station, Bhav Bhutti Marg, 6663 3333, www.gingerhotels.com).
Mid-range
Colaba House is a tiny, chic guesthouse run by its French owners. With just four rooms and two new serviced apartments, it serves its own organic products and cuisine and the vibe is chilled and cosy. From 4900 rupees/double including breakfast (B2/139 Safdarjung Enclave, 4067 1773, www.colabahouse.com). For location over style, the 10-room Bajaj Indian Home Stay lets you step out of your door and into the madness of Delhi's biggest market scene, Karol Bagh market, 5000 rupees/double (8A/34 W. E. A. Karol Bagh, 2573 8916, www.bajajindianhomestay.com).
Luxe
Just 15 rooms make up the sleek The Manor, from 8500 rupees a room, includes breakfast, one-way transfer and Ayurvedic toiletries (77 Friends Colony West, 4323 5151, www.themanordelhi.com). Amarya Haveli is a too-cute B&B with six colourful rooms in an arty gallery and cafe enclave in the south of the city, from 6900 rupees/double (P-5, Haus Khas, 4175 9268, www.amaryagroup.com). Design Hotels member The Park Hotel has been renovated by no less than Terence Conran. Think urban boutique instead of esteemed classic. There are 220 rooms and suites in the five-star hotel close to Connaught Place. From 12,000 rupees (15 Parliament Street, 2374 3000, www.theparkhotels.com).
Lash out
Aman New Delhi is a true city resort — each serene room has a divine outdoor plunge pool, floodlit at night, butlers aplenty and one of the best spas and hammams we've ever experienced, worldwide. From 25,600 rupees/double (Lhodi Road, 4363 3333, www.amanresorts.com). The white colonial architecture of the Imperial Hotel, in the city centre, hints at the luxuries inside: this hotel is the grande dame of the town, from 11,500 rupees (Janpath, 2334 1234, www.theimperialindia.com). Near India Gate, the five-star Taj Mahal mixes business and leisure tourists in 294 rooms. Rick's bar is always busy with locals and foreigners and there are Japanese tourists in Iron Chef Morimoto's Wasabi restaurant. Excellent concierge services, too, as befits a Les Clefs d'Or member, from 12,800 rupees (1 Mansingh Road, New Delhi, 2302 6162, www.tajhotels.com).
SHOP & PLAY
To market
Chandni Chowk is the first stop for market lovers in Delhi. Opposite Lal Qila (the Red Fort), it's a mess of touts selling everything from plastic toys to stationery. Grab a rickshaw and squeeze down through specialist markets, for diamantes and gold brocade for your wedding trousseau, to the Khari Baoli spice market (beware of pickpockets, closed Sundays). For a pan-Indian handcrafts hit, visit Dilli Haat (15 rupees/5 rupees admission, Aurobindo Marg), while Sarojini Nagar is where you'll find surplus Western clothes brands made in India — think Gap and Levi's (closed Mondays). Other haunts include the Karol Bagh market in central Delhi, broken into streets selling gold, fabrics and anything else you can think of — Mondays are heaving. The Tibetan Market on Janpath Road is the last stop to buy Tibetan gear — save your dosh if you're travelling north. It includes a cheap-clothes and sunglasses strip: worth a poke, bargain hard!
Go shop
Santushti shopping complex is a collection of boutiques set amid calm gardens, great for hassle-free browsing of Indian designers, while Khan Market is another fun cafe-packed shopping enclave — pick through Anokhi and Fabindia (one of several stores in Delhi) for affordable, doable Indian cotton fashions and Good Earth for divine, though not cheap, homewares. Stop in at Central Cottage Industries Emporium (opposite the Imperial Hotel in Janpath), a government-run, fixed-price souvenir shop, to get an idea of the going rate, then hit the streets haggling. Many shops are closed on Sundays.
Live music
Sikh temples are a haven of peace in frantic Delhi, with some pretty soothing devotional music going on. Slip off your shoes, cover your hair and step into the white-marble, gold-domed Gurudwara Bangla Sahib temple to enjoy its rhythmic chanting (Baba Kharag Singh Marg, New Delhi). For a high-energy bop to hip-swivelling Bollywood tunes, check the line-up of DJs at @live (12 K-Block, Connaught Place, 4356 0008) or wind down at Haze (pictured) in south-eastern Delhi with live jazz and blues acts, (8 Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar, 4166 9008).
Nightclubs
Just a year old, Lap officially goes off. It's a late-night venue with serious pedigree — a collaboration between Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal and a noted restaurateur — and you'll need friends to get in. Luckily, Delhiites are a friendly bunch (Samrat Hotel, Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, 2611 0606). If you can't get in, the journey's not a lost cause — nip next door to Capitol in the Ashok Hotel for a roadie. Indians know how it should be done: work up a hunger on the dance floor, then fall into deep sofas or cool off on the terrace and refuel by ordering up a storm from Q'BA's tasty, European-influenced menus (42/43 E-Block, Connaught Place, 5151 2888).
SEE & DO
Icons
The city's most popular monument, Lal Qila (the Red Fort), is beside the market of Chandni Chowk. Construction of the red sandstone Mughul citadel, consisting of a vast array of pavilions and gardens, began in 1539. Go early in the morning to avoid the heat. Cross the road to Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, which was built from 1651. Non-Muslims can't enter during prayer times. Built in 1931 in memory of the Indian soldiers killed in World War I, India Gate is a 42-metre arch inscribed with their names. Locals enjoy an evening promenade around its manicured gardens.
Culture
To get a grip on India's fabulous craftwork, go to the Craft Museum, where artisans work in little courtyards. The museum tracks the country's varied works, with textiles, jewellery and folk art from the Himalayan foothills to the warmth of southern India (opposite Purana Qila [Old Fort], on Bhairon Road, New Delhi). The Gandhi Museum celebrates the life of the man who shaped modern India, with personal keepsakes as well as paintings and photography of Gandhi (closed on Mondays, opposite Raj Ghat, Ring Road, Delhi). The New Delhi suburb of Haus Khas is an artists' enclave with galleries galore. Check out the Village Gallery for weaves and sketches and Delhi Art Gallery, which showcases many of the big names in Indian modern art.
On foot
Delhi's most classic walk is through Shahjahanabad, the Mughal city founded in the mid-1600s and its most famous landmarks, Lal Qila and the Jama Masjid mosque. Avoid the direct line between the two and go via Chandni Chowk, past the oldest Jain temple in the district, the Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir (opposite Lal Qila), and the Sikh temple Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, built to commemorate the beheading of the ninth Sikh Guru, who refused to convert to Islam. Through the laneways of this massive 400-year-old market, you can eat, get a cut-throat shave or shop for perfumes, fabric, spices and antiques.
Follow the leader
Intrepid Travel's Sunrise Delhi Urban Adventure is a four-hour early-morning romp through the streets, visiting Hindu, Sikh and Christian places of worship, as well as local flower markets and stopping for a brekkie of chai and paratha (tea and fried bread). Book and pay online, from $22.97 a person (www.urbanadventures.com). Yoga devotees should call Yogesh K. Saini, a young teacher who takes private groups or individuals around Delhi's spectacular parks, including Lodi Gardens. Pricey but absolutely inspiring (989 191 2030, www.yogeshyoga.com). Attend a puja ("respect") ceremony in a southern Indian Hindu temple, then cruise the president's residence, India Gate and Parliament House before zipping through Chandni Chowk to Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated, in one of Unique Group Travel's private tours. (02) 9424 3100, www.uniquegrouptravel.com.au.
EAT & DRINK
Cafe culture
Chain cafes have taken hold in Delhi; you'll find them spotted around Connaught Place. Old-world glam United Coffee House (pictured) is an institution (15 E-Block) and the British Costa chain is always a good alternative to Starbucks (L-Block). The Open Hand cafe in the backpacker refuge of Pahar Ganj is a Wi-Fi haven that sells truly great coffee (Main Bazaar, Pahar Ganj). While in India, explore its teas. Try Aap Ki Pasand for tasting teas from Darjeeling and Assam, as well as green and white teas (Sterling House, 15 Netaji Subhash Marg, Daryaganj, New Delhi, 2326 0373). Sweet, milky chai is sold on every street corner for a handful of rupees. Delicious — but take your chances on the hygiene factor.
Snack attack
You can actually gain weight in India thanks to its wonderful fried breads. Breakfast is a thin pancake, dosa, dipped in coconut or tomato dips and available from every hole in the wall. The Old Delhi market Chandni Chowk reportedly has the city's best paratha in the Paranthe Wali Gali (literally, "bread makers' street"). Try it stuffed with potato, dhal or plain with tart chutneys. For an energy hit, jalebi is a sticky, super-sweet, deep-fried batter cooked everywhere.
Top tables
Karim's is a staple for tourists and Indians alike, who queue for its rich, heartwarming Mughal royal cuisine. The Jama Masjid arm is the most famous but we like the secretive Nizamuddin branch, in Delhi's Muslim quarter, close to Humayun's Tomb. Closed on Mondays (168/2 Hazrat Nizamuddin West, 2435 5458). Latitude 28, above Good Earth in Khan Market, is stuffed with expats and well-heeled locals diving into the artichoke risotto and holistic fruit lassis, (Khan Market, 2464 7175). Newcomer Varq serves modern Indian cuisine, often contorted into fantastical shapes. Enjoy a delightful, elegant meal by top chef Hemant Oberoi, who's cooked for the world's heads of state and teamed up with Gordon Ramsay — and survived (at Taj Mahal Hotel, see left). The award-winning Spice Route is a Delhi benchmark for south-east Asian cuisine and does an express lunch for the budget-minded. But why rush? (At Imperial Hotel, see left.)
By the glass
Sexy and intimate, Veda is a licensed restaurant developed by Delhi's hot designer, Rohit Bal, and super-chef Suvir Saran. All dark red and black, with walls of mirrors, Delhiites drink first and eat later. Wine prices are steep (about $50 a bottle) and the cocktails flow when the DJ kicks in (27 H-Block, Connaught Place, 4151 3535). If on a budget, Sam's Cafe is a traveller hangout with a great rooftop — the perfect place for pizza and a few beers when the sun goes down (at Vivek Hotel, 1534-1550 Main Bazaar, Pahar Ganj). For an elegant glass of wine, try the Island Bar (at Shangri-La's — Eros Hotel, 19 Ashoka Road, Connaught Place, 4119 1030).
Hot tip
Hands-down the best guide to the city is Love Delhi, by super-savvy Australian expat Fiona Caulfield. Her manual for "luxury vagabonds" is printed on non-bleached handmade paper and made without child labour, from $35, lovetravelguides.com.
Getting there
Airlines flying Sydney to Delhi include Qantas, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
Visas and currency
Indian visas for Australian tourists cost $95, are valid for six months and take up to 10 working days to process. 1900 960 960, vfs-in-au.net. The currency is the Indian rupee, $1 = 43 rupees.
Calling Delhi
The Indian country code is +91 and 011 for Delhi landlines. So to call Delhi from abroad, add +9111 to the numbers listed. Grab a local SIM on arrival at the airport — mobile calls are dirt cheap and it's invaluable to hand your phone to the taxi driver when you're lost or running late, thanks to Delhi's tangled traffic jams.
Further information
The official Commonwealth Games site is cwgdelhi2010.org.
Delhi Tourism, www.delhitourism.nic.in.
See www.smartraveller.gov.au for the government's latest travel advice.
The writer was a guest of Aman Resorts, Taj Hotels and Intrepid Travel.
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