Advice needed for stopover in DEL
 

Hi everybody

As I said in a previous post on the way back from Kathmandu me and my wife will stop in DEL from 5PM to 10AM before heading to Italy.

We got the Indian Visa now, and I’m about to book an hotel.

Our idea is to go trough immigration, check-in at Radisson airport, go in city center for a quick evening walk, have a nice dinner, back to Radisson

Questions:

1) Google maps shows three (!) Radisson near the airport and a fourth nearby. Is it an address mistake? Pls see http://tinyurl.com/38gthps (google map link made shorter)
2) How will it take landing/customs/CheckinRadisson/taxi to center? I’m landing at 5PM and I’m wondering whether I will arrive in centre for my short walk too late
3) I will probably have a walk in the Connaught Place area, which I suppose is safer than Old Delhi. Suggestions for a good restaurant nearby. Better area to have a short evening walk + dinner?
4) Taxi back to Radisson: are they metered? We have been to Delhi four or five times but last time was almost ten years ago..

Thanks for your advice
Pippo

there is only one & its less than a 5 minute drive from the airport....

if all goes well then you should be at the radisson about 30-45 minutes after your flight lands....getting to the city center between 5pm-8pm can take some time....traffic is crazy....it could take an hour if you are lucky & can even take a couple of hours....

if you are in cp then i can suggest 'rodeo'....one of my favourite restaurants in delhi....

best to get a prepaid taxi....just ask your hotel to arrange one for you....don't take the hotel car as it will be expensive....

Is the the Radisson open right now? It looked like it was under some serious renovation over the past few weeks - but maybe that was only part of it.

Going all the way into the city may not be worth it with the traffic.

Maybe try the Leela Kempinski, which is attached to a decent mall to kill some time in and much nicer than the Radisson anyway.

Jesus. If you want to drive from a distant suburb all the way downtown - 1 hour is an optimistic estimate. And if you land at 5 PM you'd be out of the airport by say 6:15, and in your hotel by 6:45.

If, after that, you want to take a taxi 75..90 minutes to go downtown ..

Old Delhi is just as safe as New Delhi. Nothing wrong with either place.

both times i used the new terminal, i was out of the airport 30 minutes after i landed....i had no checked in luggage the first time & one checked in bag the second time....

My advice would be to just take it easy at the hotel and enjoy a leisurely dinner at The Great Kabab Factory.

i agree....

And after all the gluttony, a well-deserved 10-hour rest :D

Indeed. It's quite difficult to gather the willpower to say "enough," and then they don't pay any attention to you anyway and keep bringing more goodies.

Warning to OP: If you don't handle spicy food well, this may not be the best option.

well said....

OK I got the message. Will follow your advice and stay nearby, taking it easy.

So... would you eat at Radisson or look for other options around?

Pippo

Um, did you miss posts 6, 7, and 8?

there is not too much choice around this area....but then again, there are a bunch of great options at the radisson itself....