Delhi in 6 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Six days in Delhi: the market route plus a genuine slow day
Six days keeps the 5-day plan’s full route, Old Delhi, New Delhi, Qutub Minar, the free UNESCO pair, and Karol Bagh’s markets, then adds a sixth day built around Purana Qila and the National Museum, deliberately lighter on walking than the first five. Nothing earlier changes. Figure Rs 1,800-3,200 a day per person, with day six the cheapest of the trip.
| Day | Focus | Rough spend (1 person) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Red Fort, Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid | Rs 1,800-2,800 |
| Day 2 | Humayun’s Tomb, India Gate, Connaught Place | Rs 2,200-3,500 |
| Day 3 | Qutub Minar, Hauz Khas Village, Lodhi Garden | Rs 2,200-3,200 |
| Day 4 | Lotus Temple, Akshardham, Dilli Haat | Rs 1,500-2,500 |
| Day 5 | Karol Bagh markets, Bangla Sahib Gurdwara | Rs 1,000-2,000 |
| Day 6 | Purana Qila, National Museum, slow evening | Rs 1,200-2,000 |
Book these before you go:
- Old Delhi food and heritage walk : weekend slots fill up days ahead.
- Red Fort skip-the-line ticket : worth doing with this many monument days stacked together.
- Your Delhi hotel : six nights in peak season needs booking well ahead.
Where to stay for 6 nights
Karol Bagh or Hauz Khas Village both work as a single base for the whole week, budget-to-mid rates, and every day’s sights stay within a reasonable Metro ride. Splitting your stay, central for the first four days and Karol Bagh for the last two, only makes sense if you’ve found a genuinely better rate; otherwise the packing and re-checking-in cost more time than it saves.
Day 1: Old Delhi on foot and by rickshaw
Red Fort at opening, Rs 500-600 foreigner ticket, closed Mondays. Cycle rickshaw into Chandni Chowk, fare agreed first, lunch at Paranthe Wali Gali, Rs 60-150. Jama Masjid’s courtyard, free outside prayer times, dinner at Karim’s, Rs 200-400.
Day 2: Humayun’s Tomb, India Gate, and Connaught Place
Humayun’s Tomb in the morning, Rs 550 foreigner ticket, open daily. Metro to India Gate and Kartavya Path, free. Afternoon in Connaught Place’s arcades, cheap thali lunch.
Day 3: Qutub Minar and the trendier side of South Delhi
Qutub Minar in the morning, Rs 550 foreigner ticket, ground-level viewing only since the minaret’s 1981 closure. Hauz Khas Village in the afternoon, Lodhi Garden before sunset, free.
Day 4: Lotus Temple, Akshardham, and a crafts market dinner
Morning at the Lotus Temple , free, closed Mondays, then Akshardham in the afternoon, free darshan, exhibitions extra at roughly Rs 170-260. Dinner at Dilli Haat, gate fee under Rs 50.
Day 5: Karol Bagh’s markets and a free meal that isn’t a gimmick
Morning shopping Karol Bagh’s markets, genuinely cheaper than the central tourist core. Afternoon at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, free entry and a free vegetarian langar meal served to thousands daily.
Day 6: A slower day at Purana Qila and the National Museum
Spend the morning at Purana Qila (Old Fort), a 16th-century fort on the Yamuna’s edge that most itineraries skip entirely, and it’s usually far less crowded than the Red Fort. In the afternoon, the National Museum covers Indian art, history, and archaeology at a fraction of the pace and crowd of the outdoor monuments, a genuine rest for your feet after five days of walking. Spend the evening back at Connaught Place or Khan Market for an unhurried final dinner, no fixed agenda.
Is 6 days enough time for Delhi?
Enough for every major paid and free sight plus a real rest day, which is the thing most Delhi itineraries skip. What’s left for a longer trip is mostly a buffer day: a second food crawl, a market you didn’t get to, or slack for a delayed flight. The 7-day plan adds exactly that.
How much does 6 days in Delhi actually cost on a budget?
Figure Rs 12,000-19,000 per person total: five nights in a budget-to-mid room, three monument tickets at the foreigner rate, Metro fares across six days, and meals split between street food and one free langar meal.
Push toward hostel dorms and street food throughout and that falls closer to Rs 9,000-11,000, since days five and six both cost very little beyond a museum ticket.
Buy the three-day Tourist Smart Card for the first three days, then single tokens for the rest; a second three-day card rarely pays off once your remaining days involve less Metro-heavy sightseeing.