article label
When you wake up to a warm Indian morning and step onto your balcony to a mixture of spicy smells and the sound of rumbling traffic in the distance, you know you’re in Delhi. Hop on a bike and weave through a mish mash of lanes – animal and motor – until you reach the crumbling walls of the old city. Dodge a few cows, kick up some dust, and you’re truly inside.
Seeing Delhi like a local brings out a new side to the technicolour city. On this bespoke Indian experience, be as intrepid or as comfortable as you like, spending four days living with a local family and immersing yourself in local markets, restaurants, cinemas, and even religous temples, with a little help from us.
a cow in the streets is a common sight
your local network
On arrival at your home-from-home, you’ll find a mobile phone complete with credit and useful phone numbers (such as your designated Delhi local guide who will be available for advice or bookings throughout your stay), and your Little Black Tomato Book of local recommendations.
Before your journey has started, we’ll take you through the options for experiences so you can decided how much (or how little) you want to do. Once in Delhi, you’ll be met by our team on the ground to help guide you around the city in a relaxed way. With no maps in sight, you’ll feel like a local in no time.
explore the city by bike
on your bike
Delhi is a vibrant city with strong contrasts of rich and poor. Feeling intrepid? We’ll arrange a bicycle for you, and guide you to through nooks and crannies which would be otherwise, unreachable . If a car is more your thing, then we’ll arrange for a chauffeur to take you wherever you like: this way you’re still acting like a local: it can take years to learn to negotiate Delhi’s super-busy roads. Or, for something in between, jump on a rickshaw running on CNG, making them the ‘green’ option, too.
dine, delhi style
Feeling peckish? On our ‘cook with the locals’ experience, you’ll spend a morning out in food markets haggling for bargains, before being welcomed in to the kitchen of a local lady, who will teach you to cook up an authentic local dish in her very own home. The question is, how spicy do you dare to go?
The local dining options are endless. Either enjoy a traditional dish created by your host, or alternatively your guide can take you to tourist-free Bengali Markets, containing tiny restaurants serving the best Mughali and Punjabi food. Here, sit back and taste exquisite tandoori dishes, which have been slow-cooked overnight, to the lively sound of Bhangra beats.
discover local markets away from the tourist path
go bollywood
After a sizzling dinner rubbing shoulders with locals, or perhaps a trip to the old town markets for quirky shopping with no tourists in sight, why not end up in an atmospheric local cinema for a true Bollywood experience? Watching the dancing kaleidoscope in its birth country with local residents is an authentic experience like no other. After the film, your guide will make sure you get back safely to your comfortable family home.
sikh for yourself
Want to dig deep into Delhi’s religion? Spend time in a Sikh meeting place for real insight into religious and social etiquette.
a sikh temple
Cover your head, remove your shoes and offer a gift to the guru, before kneeling and touching your forehead to the floor: the rituals here are very important, and fascinating to be part of. Your guide will show you the ropes.
And for afters, to experience the inner workings of the city, hop on the metro to one of the city’s best picnic spots and really see Delhi’s residents take a break from the non-stop chaos. For the night owls amongst you, we can guide you to the best local nightspots for some true Delhi-style dancing, and to recover, how about a traditional spa for a foot massage or soothing Indian head massage? You’ll need it after living the fast-paced, fascinating Delhi life.
