Guides ·Essentials

The honest risk profile

Violent crime against foreign visitors in Delhi is rare, and the overwhelming majority of trips pass without incident more serious than an overcharged auto fare. The genuine risks, in rough order of how often they affect travellers, are commission scams and overcharging; road traffic, which kills far more people here than crime does; air pollution during the winter months; and stomach upsets from poorly handled food and unfiltered water. Petty theft happens in crowded markets and on packed Metro trains, but muggings are unusual and Delhi is not a city where you need to hide a camera.

That said, hassle levels are high and persistent, particularly around New Delhi Railway Station, Paharganj, Connaught Place, Janpath and the approaches to Jama Masjid. The correct posture is friendly but unavailable: a clear no, no eye contact with persistent touts, and a willingness to keep walking mid-sentence. Delhi's default assumption is that a visitor is negotiable. Once you demonstrate you are not, the city becomes an extremely welcoming place, and most people who approach you genuinely are just curious rather than selling anything.

The airport and station scams to expect

The classic Delhi hustle begins at the airport or the railway station. A driver, or a helpful stranger, tells you your hotel has closed, burned down, been overbooked, or is in an area shut for a religious festival. He offers to take you to his cousin's hotel or to a travel agency that will fix everything. The correct response is to phone your hotel directly from the arrivals hall, and to travel only by prepaid taxi from the official booth inside the terminal or by Airport Express Metro for ₹60. Never accept a lift arranged in the car park.

At New Delhi Railway Station, uniformed-looking men outside will insist the ticket office has moved, that foreign tourists must book at a special office, or that your printed ticket is invalid. The genuine international tourist bureau is upstairs inside the station building itself, and IRCTC e-tickets on your phone are valid. Anyone leading you across the road to a private office on Connaught Lane is taking you to a travel agency. The real India Tourism office is at 88 Janpath and does not solicit business on the pavement.

Commission culture, and how to shut it down

Delhi's shopping economy runs on commissions: a driver who delivers you to a marble showroom in Agra or a pashmina room in Karol Bagh earns 15–40 percent of whatever you spend. It is not dangerous, but it wastes hours and inflates prices. Set the rule at the start of any hired car day — you are not visiting shops, and you will pay only for the itinerary agreed. If the driver deviates, say so once, firmly. Most will comply immediately; the small number who do not can be paid off and replaced.

The same logic applies to the free-tour offer, the man who befriends you outside Jama Masjid, the student who wants to practise English before mentioning his family's emporium, and the woman who ties a thread on your wrist at a temple and then demands ₹2,000. None of these are threats. All of them cost money and time. If you want a guide, hire an approved one at a monument gate for ₹500–₹1,000, or book a walking tour with an established Delhi operator; the difference in quality is enormous and you will learn more in three hours than in a week of wandering.

Women travellers: practical measures that work

Delhi has a poor reputation for women's safety and it is not entirely undeserved, though the risk to visitors is more often staring, unwanted comments and crowding than assault. The practical measures Delhi women themselves take: use the women-only first coach on the Metro, which is enforced and comfortable; book cabs through an app so the driver's identity is recorded and share the trip link with someone; avoid empty carriages and unlit streets after 22:00; and choose neighbourhoods with evening footfall — Khan Market, Hauz Khas, Connaught Place, GK-1 M-Block — over quiet colonies.

Dress is less about modesty rules than about lowering attention: covered shoulders and knees draw markedly less comment, and a scarf is useful at religious sites and in dusty markets. Solo dinners are entirely normal in South Delhi restaurants. If someone is following you, walk into a hotel lobby, a shop or a Metro station and speak to staff, who will help without hesitation. The women's helpline is 1091, the general emergency number is 112, and both operate in English.

Air, water, food and heat

Air quality is a genuine health issue from late October to February, with AQI readings between 300 and 500 in the worst November weeks. Bring N95 masks if you are visiting then, check the SAFAR app or aqicn.org each morning, and swap outdoor sightseeing for museums when readings spike. Asthmatics should carry more medication than they think they need. In summer, heat is the bigger issue: 42–46°C in May and June means drinking three litres a day, staying indoors from 11:00 to 17:00, and recognising the early signs of heat exhaustion.

Do not drink tap water. Sealed bottled water costs ₹20 a litre and is everywhere; better still, carry a filter bottle to cut plastic. Street food is generally safe if you follow the crowd — a stall with high turnover is cooking fresh, a quiet one is not — and eat things fried or griddled in front of you rather than cut fruit or chutneys sitting in the sun. Ice in reputable restaurants and bars is made from filtered water and is fine. Carry oral rehydration salts, sold at any chemist for ₹20 a sachet.

Traffic, crowds and things worth knowing

Crossing Delhi roads is a learned skill: move steadily and predictably, never sprint, and cross alongside locals. Traffic does not stop for pedestrians, but it flows around them if you are legible. Use foot overbridges and Metro underpasses where they exist, especially on Ring Road, Aurobindo Marg and Mathura Road. Bike taxis are cheap and fast, but helmets provided are often poor; if you are not comfortable on a motorbike in dense traffic, do not start here.

In big crowds — Chandni Chowk on a Saturday, Sarojini Nagar on a Sunday, any festival — keep your phone in a front pocket and your bag in front of you. Monkeys around Lodhi Garden, Mehrauli and the government districts will snatch food and sunglasses; do not carry visible snacks and do not make eye contact. Save these numbers: 112 for all emergencies, 1091 for the women's helpline, 1363 for tourist assistance. Delhi Police tourist units operate in Connaught Place and Janpath, and your embassy's consular emergency line is worth having offline.

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