Delhi: eight cities stacked on one another

Old Delhi and New Delhi are different countries

Shahjahanabad — Old Delhi — is Mughal, dense, and best on foot or by cycle rickshaw: the Jama Masjid, the spice market at Khari Baoli, and the lanes off Chandni Chowk where the food has not changed in generations. New Delhi is Lutyens' imperial capital, wide and green, with India Gate and the government quarter. Between and beneath both sit Humayun's Tomb and the Qutab Minar complex, which are older than either.

If you have landed and have one day

You can reach the Taj Mahal and be back in Delhi the same night — by fast train in about two hours each way, or by car in three to four. It works, but only if the timings are handled properly. That is the most common single request I get.