Long Weekend Plans | 36 hours in New Delhi, India

Sunder Nursery is a sprawling garden restored from a forgotten 16th century heritage park. (Photo courtesy Aga Khan Development Network)

In India's capital modernity exists side by side with history. The new city, New Delhi, is only a century old, while the old city breathes traditions practised over centuries. A weekend in Delhi is just enough to absorb both modernity and tradition without worrying over the city's much-hated pollution. I would happily recommend the following schedule for a guest arriving from another Indian city or abroad:

Saturday — 12 pm: Check-in

1 pm: Sundar Nursery (estimated time: 3 hours)

The Sunder Nursery and its splendid spread of trees displaying their botanical names provides a perfect setting if you have been fed plentiful stories about Delhi's air pollution by the fellow passenger on the flight. It is your luck that several famed online kitchens have shed their virtual avatar and materialised in front of you with delicacies spread on the tables. As you savour the traditional food, the person sitting next to you will fill in on how a forgotten 16th-century heritage park was transformed into a majestic garden in the middle of the city. Though it is on Sunday mornings that you will find farmers' market, book-club readings, among picnicking families in the winter sun, and much more there. Bang opposite Sundar Nursery is Humayun's Tomb. So, you may as well cover two places in one go.

4.30 pm: Nizamuddin (estimated time: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

Nizamuddin Dargah. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Cross the road from Sundar Nursery and Humayun's Tomb in Nizamuddin East to Nizamuddin West and it is time to get soaked in Sufi culture at the nearby Nizamuddin Dargah surroundings. Visit the tomb of revered sufi saint, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya, and walk in the vicinity with pilgrims from around the world. The magical qawwalis are usually sung on Thursday evenings, but a Saturday afternoon is ideal for a feel of the place and a chai. There's Ghalib Academy and Ghalib Kebab Corner on the way to the dargah.

7.30 pm: Lado Sarai (estimated time: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

A weekend evening at one of the trendiest addresses in Delhi gives you enough time to appreciate artworks by India's finest contemporary artists in this urban village. There are many galleries lining the narrow streets and once you are inside one of them, it's a brave new world. Weekends are usually the time when a gallery decides to hold a preview of an important artist. Watch out for art, food and discussions.

9 pm: Qutab Minar at night (estimated time: 1 hour)

Qutab Minar by night. (Photo: Mayur Sable via Unsplash)

It just happens that you are near a UNESCO World Heritage site at this hour. The 73-metre high Qutab Minar is open until 10 pm, ready to dazzle you in a light show. Records say it is the tallest brick-built minaret in the world. The Mehrauli area housing the 13th monument is where many Delhiites head for a quiet dinner once in a while.

Visitors vie for a chance to reach and hold their hands around the Iron Pillar near the Qutab Minar with their back to the structure for their wishes to come true.

Sunday - Start at 8 pm

9 am: Lotus Temple (estimated time: 2 hours)

Lotus temple, Delhi (Photo: Brijender Dua via Unsplash)

This Baháʼí House of Worship invites followers of all religions to visit this peaceful place built in the shape of marble petals. It can accommodate 2,500 visitors at a given time. The architecture is a focus, especially when you consider the Aga Khan Award for Architecture presented by the same house that built the Lotus Temple.

12.30 pm: Agrasen Ki Baoli (estimated time: 1 hour)

Agrasen ki Baoli, Delhi. (Photo: Prashant Verma via Unsplash)

A stepwell from the 14th century that was used for supplying water to Delhi's residents, this site is a stark reminder to the water crisis faced by some of the world's most famous cities. It is 60 metres long and 15 metres wide. The stepwell houses a lot of history and was a community space inhabited by women.

The baolis or stepwells were the earliest interventions in water conservation.

2 pm: Chandni Chowk (estimated time: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

Red Fort. (Photo: Brijender Dua via Unsplash)

There is a lot of talk these days on the redevelopment of Old Delhi, making its beating heart, Chandni Chowk, a paradise for walkers. Walk around the Red Fort and Jama Masjid after a lunch of Mughal-era delicacies in one of the haveli-style restaurants in the area.

Designed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's daughter Jahanara, Chandni Chowk's main thoroughfare overlooking the Red Fort was where imperial processions flanked by elephants passed through.

4 pm: Akshardham Temple (estimated time: 2 hours) 

Akshardham temple. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Opened to visitors in 2005, the Akshardham is a vast temple complex displaying the rich heritage of India. With the help of paintings, films, robots, a boat ride and an IMAX theatre, you will be transported to a world of spirituality existing within a bustling city.

7.30 pm: Dilli Haat (estimated time: 2 hours)

At Dilli Haat. (Photo: Adam Waxman via Unsplash)

Delhi's showstopper that gathers under its various stalls artefacts and handicrafts from several Indian states under one roof. Another cultural space created above a large drain, Dilli Haat, opposite the INA Market, is one place that offers artisans and craftspeople for different tribal communities to offer their works directly to lovers of art. Sample foods at the various state stalls.