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| Historical Places in Delhi |
Delhi isn’t just a city of monuments. It’s a living, breathing story where emperors once walked, where British planners drew grids, and where modern families now walk through parks and hospitals, laptops, and luggage in hand. For a visitor, travelling through Delhi feels like flipping through pages of a multi‑layered history book, where every monument has tales of glory, loss, rebellion, and rebirth.
What makes this city special for today’s travellers—especially medical tourists—is that you don’t have to choose between history and healthcare. Around almost every major heritage site, you’ll find serviced apartments that feel like temporary homes and hospitals that provide world‑class care, so you can step out from a 400‑year‑old archway into a quiet, clean apartment kitchen… or into a consultation room when needed.
Below are six heritage‑rich corners of Delhi, told humanly, with their stories, nearby service‑apartment pockets, and hospitals that you can actually reach without a crusade.
1. Red Fort and Chandni Chowk – Where Mughals, Markets, and Modern Life Collide
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| Red Fort, Delhi |
A walk through the emperor’s “home away from home”
Imagine a time when elephants walked where rickshaws do now, and the sound of the ghat‑clock echoed where chai‑wallahs now shout “chai‑thanda‑hai!”. The Red Fort (Lal Qila) is where Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who also built the Taj Mahal, moved his capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad in the 1640s.
He envisioned this red‑sandstone citadel as the heart of a new imperial city, with grand halls, gardens, and delicate water channels. The palace where the emperor lived once opened out to look at the Yamuna, but today, if you climb up the ramparts, you’ll see trucks, metro trains, and high‑rises where the river once flowed. That contrast is part of what makes Delhi feel so real.
Every Independence Day and Republic Day, the Prime Minister hoists the national flag here, reminding visitors that this is not just a “tourist spot”—it’s a living national symbol.
Where to stay so you’re not swallowing dust all night
The Chandni Chowk and Old Delhi lanes are full of sensory overload—bangles, parathas, kirana shops, and narrow, crowded streets. For a tourist, it’s magical for a few hours, exhausting for a full day, and nearly impossible to live in for weeks.
That’s why so many families and medical‑tourism guests choose serviced apartments in nearby Lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony, or Connaught Place belts. These are just 10–15 km away by cab, but they feel like a different world: quieter streets, cleaner air, and 24×7 guard at the gate.
Inside these apartments, you’ll usually find:
A small but functional kitchen for light cooking (good for patients on special diets)
Simple bedrooms with attached bathrooms and enough space for a family of three or four
Housekeeping, Wi‑Fi, and often a “help desk” to call you autos or cabs
It’s the kind of place where you can come back from a long day at Red Fort and Chandni Chowk, soak your feet, cook a simple dal‑chawal, and still feel like you’re in that same city, just a little less chaotic.
Hospitals are close enough to feel safe nearby.
From the Old Delhi–Chandni Chowk side, you don’t need to travel far for serious medical care:
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Rajendra Place – A huge general hospital known for cardiology, critical care, and transplants.
AIIMS, New Delhi – An iconic government hospital with strong services in oncology, internal medicine, and paediatrics.
Max Smart / Max Super Speciality, Saket – Good for specialist treatments, scans, and follow‑up check‑ups.
All of these are within 20–30 minutes by cab from the Red Fort, and several are directly connected by Delhi Metro Yellow Line, so you don’t need to feel stranded if you or a companion needs a doctor’s visit.
2. Humayun’s Tomb – A Mughal goodbye that became a garden of peace
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| Humayun's Tomb, Delhi |
The “grandfather” of the Taj Mahal
If you think of the Taj Mahal as the most famous Mughal tomb, Humayun’s Tomb is its quiet, older cousin. Built in 1565–1570 for Emperor Humayun, it was commissioned by his wife Hamida Banu Begum and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What makes it special is the charbagh layout—a garden split into four by water channels. This very design later inspired Shah Jahan’s architects when they built the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Walking through the wide lawns, you can see domes, arches, and red‑sandstone structures that feel both ancient and peaceful, especially early in the morning when the city is still waking up.
Scattered around the main tomb are other smaller tombs and structures, including Isa Khan’s tomb and Nila‑Gumbad, which are often missed by tourists but worth a slow 10–15‑minute detour.
Staying near a garden, not just another Marriott
Unlike the hotel‑heavy areas near India Gate or Connaught Place, the Humayun’s Tomb side is best explored from Lajpat Nagar and Green Park serviced‑apartment belts. These are the kind of neighbourhoods where:
Auto‑drivers still know all your neighbours by name
You can step out to buy vegetables from the corner vendor
You’re far enough from the main tourist buses to get a good night’s sleep
Many serviced apartments here are 1BHK or 2BHK flats in normal residential buildings, with:
Kitchen for cooking light meals
Daily or weekly cleaning options
Basic nursing‑room‑style comforts (like lift access, 24×7 water, and power backup)
These setups are especially comforting for medical‑tourism families who need to balance doctor visits, scans, and home‑style food.
Doctors are just a park‑walk away.
From Humayun’s Tomb, you are within a short distance of some of Delhi’s most trusted hospitals:
AIIMS, New Delhi – About 4–5 km away, reachable by cab or metro, famous for complex internal medicine and cancer care.
Safdarjung Hospital – A large government hospital located in the Safdarjung Enclave, useful for general and emergency care.
Max Super Speciality, Saket – Connected via the Yellow Line metro, good for speciality scans and follow‑ups.
Staying near Humayun’s Tomb is like having a green, quiet base that still keeps you close to lab reports, specialist consultations, and pharmacy shops.
3. Qutub Minar and Mehrauli – Where tombs sleep under banyan trees
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| Qutub Minar, Delhi |
A 700‑year‑old needle to the sky
If Delhi were a playlist, Mehrauli would be the “chill” track. The Qutub Minar stands tall here, begun in 1192 by Qutb‑ud‑din Aibak and completed later by Iltutmish and Firoz Shah Tughlaq. At about 73 metres, it was once the tallest brick minaret in the world and still holds a quiet, powerful presence against the Delhi sky.
Around it, you’ll find:
Quwwat‑ul‑Islam Mosque – One of the earliest mosques in India, built from dismantled temple stones, a reminder of conquests and reuse.
Iron Pillar – A 4th‑century monolith famous for its rust‑resistant iron, which still puzzles metallurgists.
Alai Minar – A half‑finished tower meant to rival the Qutub Minar, frozen in time.
Not far from the main Qutub complex, Mehrauli Archaeological Park spreads over 200+ acres, filled with tombs, stepwells, and forgotten structures from the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal eras. For a history‑loving visitor, this is like walking through an open‑air puzzle of Delhi’s past.
Flats with a view of tombs, not just traffic
Mehrauli is a mix of old havelis, dense lanes, and new apartment blocks, and it’s becoming a popular choice for short‑stay serviced apartments.
Options include:
Mehrauli‑based serviced apartments – 1BHK units like Divine India Service Apartment and Bamboo Cabin with Qutub Minar view, which cater to both tourists and medical‑tourism guests.
Saket‑area service apartments – These are a bit more polished, with 24×7 security, housekeeping, and metro access, yet still within 10–15 minutes’ drive from Qutub Minar.
These places are ideal for families who want to:
Reach hospitals in Saket and Gurgaon without staying in the city’s core
Keep a quieter, semi‑residential vibe while still being close to the metro and main roads
For medical tourists, Mehrauli feels like a “transition zone” between heavy Delhi chaos and suburban calm.
Health worries? Hospitals are closer than you think.
Despite its “village‑feel”, Mehrauli is well connected to major hospitals:
Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Sarita Vihar – About 10–15 minutes by car, with strengths in transplant, oncology, and cardiac care.
Fortis C‑DoT, Saket – Good for cardiology and orthopaedics, easily reachable by cab or metro.
AIIMS, New Delhi – Slightly farther but still reachable via the Yellow Line metro and a short cab ride.
Staying near Qutub Minar or Mehrauli lets you tour ancient ruins during the day and reach modern hospitals the same evening if needed.
4. India Gate – A monument that hums with life after sunset
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| India Gate, Delhi |
India Gate feels like Delhi’s living room. By day, it’s a war memorial; by evening, it’s a picnic spot, a jogging lane, and sometimes even an ad‑hoc food court lined with hawkers. Built between 1921 and 1931 as a tribute to over 70,000 Indian soldiers who died in World War I and the Third Anglo‑Afghan War, it was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti (eternal flame) under the arch was added after the 1971 Indo‑Pak war, turning the monument into a living tribute rather than just a stone structure.
If you sit on the lawns in the evening, you’ll see:
Families sharing parathas and chai
Joggers pounding the pavement around the canal
Couples taking selfies under the arch
For a visitor, India Gate is never “quiet”—it’s deliberately human, a place where history and daily life shake hands.
Where to live if you want to watch the gate every night
Most tourists don’t stay in India Gate, but many choose serviced apartments in Lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony, or Malviya Nagar, which are easily within 10–15 km and well connected by metro and road.
You’ll find:
PAJASA and similar serviced apartments offering studios and 1BHKs with kitchens, Wi‑Fi, and housekeeping.
Budget‑style rentals on platforms like RentMyStay, where you can book 1BHK units from around ₹7,000/month, are useful for long‑stay guests or medical‑tourism family caregivers.
These are great bases for:
Visiting India Gate, Connaught Place, and nearby parks
Balancing tourist days with metro‑linked visits to hospitals like AIIMS and Saket‑area hospitals
Because everything is so connected, you can be at India Gate by sunset and at AIIMS or Fortis by morning without feeling like you’re at war with Delhi’s traffic.
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