Delhi

Estimate Your Taxi And Auto Fare Before You Travel

Sometimes it really gets difficult to manage your travel becuase of few errant Taxi and Auto drivers, who tend to extract more money from a newcomer or outsider. Its best to know in advance the estimated fare from your starting point to destination.

(http://www.taxiautofare.com) is a Taxi and Auto fare calculator that you want to visit. It shows you a the distance, detailed fare, and also shows you a Google map with the route marked on it.

By Metro

The fast-growing Delhi Metro (http://delhimetrorail.com/) network provides a cheap, quick, hassle-free and air-conditioned way of zipping around the city. As of February 2011, the following lines are open:

Red Line

Dilshad Garden - Rithala

Yellow Line

Jahangirpuri - HUDA City Centre, Gurgaon

Blue Line

Dwarka Sector 21 - Vaishali/ - Noida City Centre

Green Line

Inderlok - Mundka

Violet Line

Central Secratariat - Badarpur Border

Airport Express

New Delhi Railway Station - Airport - Dwarka

Fares range from Rs 8-30, just buy a token, change lines as necessary, and deposit the token in the slot as you exit. Tokens can be used only from the station they are bought, so you can't buy two and use the second to return home. If you're planning on sticking around for a while, you can buy a "Smart Card" for Rs 100, which is worth Rs 50 and includes a Rs 50 deposit; using this saves 10% and, more importantly, lets you avoid the queues. There is also a "Tourist Card" allowing unlimited use for Rs 100 1 day or Rs 250 3 days, but it's highly unlikely that you'll travel enough to make this pay off. Special fares apply for travel on the Airport Express.

Line 2, in particular, is useful for getting to the Old Delhi Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid and New Delhi railway stations, the ISBT bus terminal, the backpacker ghetto of Paharganj, Hauz Khas and Qutub Minar. Line 3 is also handy for visiting Akshardham and accessing the western parts of Paharganj through RK Ashram Marg station.

Beware: Metro stations all use the new, official, Indianized names, so Connaught Place is "Rajiv Chowk", Old Delhi Railway Station is "Chandni Chowk" and ISBT is "Kashmere Gate".

On foot

Much of Delhi is quite pedestrian-hostile. Distances are long, road signage is poor, and in the more tourist oriented areas, you'll be constantly accosted by beggars and touts. Crossing roads often involves wading across multiple lanes of heavy traffic. Try your best to move in a predictable straight line, so vehicles can weave around you. Better yet, latch onto a group of locals and cross in their shadow. If you really want to walk around, these places would be good:

Walk from Rashtrapati Bhavan President's house to India Gate on the Rajpath a walk of close to 3-4 km.

Walk from Jama Masjid to Red Fort in the Chandni Chowk area.

Far South Delhi go walk about in the forest. Try starting from south of Indian Institute of Technology through Sanjay Van to Qtub Minar. Note however that Sanjay Van is not always safe, and it is advisable to go there in a group, preferably during daylight hours.

South Delhi-Green Park-Hauz Khas Village, then to the Hauz Khas ruined madrasa, offers a newer shopping area, an up-market arts village, old ruins, and some quality gardens.

There are many walks that you can do in Old and central Delhi

By Auto Rickshaws

Auto rickshaws also called three-wheeled scooters, tuk-tuks or simply autos are good for shorter trips. Always in a distinctive yellow-and-green livery, auto rickshaws are three-wheeled partially enclosed contraptions no doors! that run on CNG and can seat three people in the back. In general, they are much cheaper than taxis and can be hailed from the street. Although by law the rickshaw drivers should charge according to the meter in their vehicle Rs 19 for the first two kms, Rs 6.50/km after, this rate is unrealistically low and they will almost always try to haggle for price. As rules of thumb, even the shortest journey costs Rs 30, but you should not need to pay over Rs 150 for any trip within the city. If you're overquoted, don't be afraid to walk away. It's usually easy to find another one soon, usually with a driver who won't rip you off.

If you have any trouble with them, go to any of the numerous tourist police stations in the city center and they will give you a complaint slip which will result in a Rs 500 fine for the auto driver. There should also be a telephone number written on the vehicle to call in case of any complaint.

There are a number of "Pre-paid" Auto stands run by the Police. Tell them where you want to go and pay them upfront. The charge will include Rs 5 for the service. You then take the coupon and stand outside where a policeman will direct you to the next available Auto. When your journey is completed you hand the coupon to the auto driver and that's it. Nothing more to pay despite what they may say.

By Cycle Rickshaws

Cycle rickshaws are three-wheeled, pedal-powered rickshaws with seats in the back to seat passengers and a driver in the front. They are good for short distances, or places which are too far to walk but too short for taking a bus/taxi/auto rickshaw. Cycle rickshaws don't use meters, so establish a price before getting on. Rs 20 is reasonable for most journeys of 1-2 km.

Cycle rickshaws are best to use in Old Delhi to visit the intricate galis walkways and to enjoy the smells and sounds of the city.

By bus

All parts of Delhi are well connected by buses and with tickets ranging from Rs 5-15 they are very cheap, but they are also quite crowded most of the time. The red coloured buses are air-conditioned and the green coloured are not. As bus stops do not have bus routes written properly, it can be difficult to find your way. Asking other people at the bus stop is often the best way to find out about bus routes to your destination. However, the buses are pretty frequent, running every 15-20 min or so on most routes. There are two kinds of buses in Delhi:

Government run DTC (http://dtc.nic.in/) buses red and green coloured with big windows

Privately run Blue-Line buses orange coloured

If you have a choice, please go for a DTC bus. They will stop less frequently and will generally be less crowded too. Note that many buses, DTC ones too, will stop pretty much anywhere if there are enough people getting on or off.

Board buses at the back and pay the ticket seller sitting right next to the door. Be sure to hang onto your tickets, as ticket checks are fairly frequent. Some seats on the left side of the bus may be reserved for women and the handicapped. When it's time to disembark, move to the front of the bus. As you might expect, all these guidelines are regularly ignored when buses are very crowded.