Delhi's four seasons
- Winter
- November to February
- Spring
- February and March
- Summer
- April to June
- Monsoon
- Late June to September
- Winter nights
- Close to 5°C at times
- Summer days
- Often above 40°C in May
Winter, November to February
Days and nights: warm, sunny days, often around twenty degrees in midwinter, and cold nights that can drop close to five degrees in late December and January.
- The good side: the season of weddings, festivals and golden afternoon light in the gardens.
- The hard side: smog in November and December, and fog from late December into January. We plan around both carefully.
Spring, February and March
Short and lovely: the air usually clears, the gardens bloom and the trees along the avenues flower.
- Gentle warmth: the temperature climbs slowly towards thirty degrees by the end of March.
- Holi: the festival of colours falls in late February or March.
- Our pick: if we could choose just one time to see Delhi, this would be it.
Summer, April to June
The heat builds fast: by May temperatures often pass forty degrees.
- Wind and dust: hot dry winds called the loo blow off the plains, and dust storms can turn the afternoon sky orange.
- Hard at midday: the middle of the day is uncomfortable for sightseeing, though early mornings can still be pleasant.
- The rewards: quiet hotels and the arrival of the mangoes.
Monsoon, late June to September
The rains arrive: usually around the end of June, with heavy downpours, steamy heat and sudden green everywhere.
- The light: between the showers it is beautiful and the skies are dramatic.
- Expect: brief street flooding and high humidity.
- The reward: the parks and the tombs look their freshest.
The honest truth about Delhi's winter air
Stubble smoke: farmers in the neighbouring states burn the stubble left after the rice harvest.
Diwali fireworks: they add smoke in October or November.
All year: traffic, construction and industry add their share.
- Starts
- Usually late October
- Peaks
- November and December
- Main causes
- Stubble burning, fireworks, traffic, still air
- Changes with
- The wind, day to day
- Take care if
- Asthma, heart or lung conditions
- The inversion: in winter, cold still air settles over the plain and traps everything close to the ground.
- On the worst days: a grey haze hides the sun, the air smells of smoke and the air quality index reaches levels described as severe.
- Emergency rules: the authorities then bring in measures that can include bans on construction and limits on some vehicles.
- Not every day: it changes quickly with the wind. A breezy day can be clear even in November, and a still day smoky even in late January.
- Most healthy travellers: a short stay is fine with sensible precautions.
- Speak to your doctor first: if you have asthma, a heart or lung condition, or travel with very young children or elderly relatives. Consider keeping November or December to one night.
- More advice: our notes on health and safety cover the general picture.
How we plan around it
Forecast every evening: we check it and move outdoor sightseeing to the clearest mornings.
Walks for good days: long walks wait for better air. On the worst days we use the museums, the Crafts Museum and the hotel's spa.
- In your room: we ask for an air purifier.
- Outdoors: we suggest a good, well-fitting mask.
- Shorter Delhi: we often give the extra night to Rajasthan, where the air in places such as Udaipur and the desert is usually much cleaner.
Fog, flights and trains in midwinter
When it comes: dense fog is common from late December into late January, usually early in the morning and late at night.
Flights: it can delay them, especially those arriving or leaving between late evening and mid-morning.
- Fog season
- Late December to late January
- Worst hours
- Early morning and late night
- Flights
- Late evening to mid-morning hit most
- Trains
- Often delayed by hours
- Best departures
- Late morning or afternoon
- Trains: they are often delayed by hours.
- Roads: traffic slows and driving at night is less safe, so we avoid long drives in the dark in these weeks.
- Our timing: in December and January we prefer flights and trains that leave in the late morning or afternoon.
- Spare time: we build a little into every connection and keep the first day after a long-haul arrival free.
- Driving to Jaipur: we leave once the fog has lifted, not at dawn.
- Which connections work: our guide to airports and flights explains the best options in winter.
Delhi month by month
- Best months
- February, March and October
- Coldest
- January
- Hottest
- Often May
- Monsoon arrives
- Around the end of June
- Monsoon withdraws
- Second half of September
- Poorest air
- Usually November
January
Weather: the coldest month. Days often around twenty degrees and sunny once the fog lifts, with cold nights.
Fog and air: mornings can be thick with fog, especially in the first half. Air is often poor but usually better than in December.
- Lohri, 13 January: Punjabi families light bonfires.
- Republic Day, 26 January: the great parade moves along Kartavya Path.
- Beating Retreat, 29 January: military bands play at sunset at Vijay Chowk. Security is tight for days around both, and some roads and monuments close.
- Nearby: late January brings the Jaipur Literature Festival to our own city, a short drive away.
- Pack: warm layers for the evenings.
February
Weather: one of the best months. The fog fades, the air usually clears and days are warm and bright, with cool evenings.
Gardens: roses and spring flowers bloom, and the Mughal-style gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan, now called Amrit Udyan, usually open to visitors for a few weeks.
- Surajkund: just outside Delhi in Faridabad, a big crafts fair brings artisans from across India each February.
- Weddings: the season is in full swing, which means busy hotels and evening traffic.
- Holi: it sometimes falls at the very end of the month.
- The rest of the trip: our Rajasthan in February guide shows how well this month suits it.
March
Weather: spring at its peak, with days warming towards thirty degrees.
Clear skies: usually the clearest of the year, and the light in the gardens and tombs is wonderful for photography.
- Holi: it usually falls this month. Delhi celebrates loudly in the streets and quietly in the gardens of the grand hotels.
- Where we spend Holi: in Rajasthan, where it is wonderful. Our Holi guide explains why.
- Winding down: by the end of March the heat begins to build and the season ends.
April
Weather: temperatures climb into the mid and high thirties, and can touch forty by the end of the month.
- Our rhythm: start at dawn, rest through the afternoon by the pool and go out again after five.
- Baisakhi: the Punjabi harvest festival falls in mid-April and is celebrated in the city's gurdwaras.
- Quieter: hotels empty out, and the mango season is about to begin.
May
Weather: often the hottest month, with days above forty degrees and the dry loo wind in the afternoon.
- Storms: dust storms sometimes sweep in, followed by brief, dramatic thunderstorms that cool everything for an hour.
- Not for Old Delhi walks: keep sightseeing to the first two hours after dawn and to the air-conditioned museums.
- Compensations: empty monuments, quiet hotels and the first good mangoes, eaten cold after lunch.
June
Weather: hot and increasingly humid, and the first half is often fierce.
- The monsoon: it usually arrives around the end of June, sometimes earlier or later.
- First rains: children dance in the streets, families fry pakoras, and the smell of wet earth is wonderful.
- Travel: a quiet month, and a better time for the hills than for Rajasthan.
July
Weather: the heart of the monsoon. Heavy showers alternate with hot, steamy sunshine.
Greenest: the gardens, the ridge forest and the tombs are at their greenest.
- Roads: they can flood after heavy rain, and traffic slows.
- Hariyali Teej: the festival of the monsoon swings, in July or August. Women dress in green, swings hang from trees and there are sweets such as ghevar. Our Teej guide describes Jaipur's celebration.
- Value: hotel rates are low, and the city has a relaxed, local feel.
August
Weather: still monsoon, warm and humid, with heavy showers.
Independence Day, 15 August: the Prime Minister speaks from the ramparts of the Red Fort, and Old Delhi's rooftops fill with kite flyers from morning until dusk.
- Fort closure: the Red Fort closes to visitors for several days before.
- Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami: sisters tie threads on brothers' wrists, and Krishna's birthday follows. Both fall in August or early September.
- For Janmashtami: Mathura and Vrindavan are a few hours' drive away and extraordinary.
September
Weather: the monsoon begins to withdraw, usually in the second half, though the humidity lingers.
- The city: warm days, green parks and clearing light between the last storms.
- Quiet: good hotel rates and empty monuments in the early morning.
- Ramlila: by the end of the month the stages are going up in parks across the city, ready for Navratri and Dussehra.
October
Weather: the start of the season and one of our favourite months. Warm, dry days, cooling nights and golden light.
Navratri and Durga Puja: nine nights of devotion, and great pandals in Delhi's Bengali neighbourhoods.
- Dussehra: Ramlila performances end with towering effigies of the demon king Ravana burned in the parks. Our Dussehra guide has the Rajasthan side.
- Diwali: it sometimes falls in late October.
- Air: it usually starts to worsen in the last week or two, so the first half of the month is best.
November
Weather: pleasant temperatures, and honestly the month most likely to bring very poor air.
Diwali: it often falls in late October or November. In the weeks before, the markets glitter with lights, sweets and gifts.
- Weddings begin: expect brass bands in the streets in the evenings.
- Trade fair: the India International Trade Fair fills the exhibition grounds at Pragati Maidan in the second half of the month.
- Our plan: keep Delhi short, watch the air forecasts and spend Diwali itself in Rajasthan. Our Rajasthan in November guide explains why the rest of the journey is so good.
December
Weather: cool and crisp, with sunny days around twenty degrees and cold nights. The fog returns at the end of the month.
Air: often poor, particularly in the first half.
- Christmas: the old churches hold midnight services and the grand hotels decorate their lobbies. New Year's Eve is busy.
- Book early: flights are full and hotels fill up.
- Our guests: many spend Christmas and New Year in a Rajasthan palace and pass through Delhi on either side.
Crowds, weddings and holidays
Wedding peaks: the busiest evenings fall on the dates astrologers declare most auspicious. Hotels and banquet halls are fully booked and the roads are slow.
How we plan: we check the wedding calendar for your dinners and drives, and avoid long evening journeys across the city on the busiest dates.
- Wedding season
- Roughly November to February
- School holidays
- May-June, Diwali, Christmas
- Quietest
- Weekday mornings
- Tightest security
- Republic and Independence Days
- Dry days
- Some festival and election days
- Want to see a wedding? Our piece on Rajput weddings explained tells you what to look for.
- Busiest at the monuments: weekends, public holidays and school holidays, which fall mainly in May and June, around Diwali and over Christmas and New Year.
- Always quieter: weekday mornings.
- Conferences and state visits: they can close roads and fill hotels at short notice.
- Dry days: on some festival days and election days, alcohol is not sold in shops or served in most bars, and hotels usually follow the same rules.
- How dry days work: our guide to alcohol and dry days covers Delhi and Rajasthan.
Light, gardens and birds through the year
Best for photographs: February and March. The late afternoon light at Humayun's Tomb and the Qutub Minar is at its best.
Winter light: the low sun gives long golden hours, but haze can soften distant views.
Monsoon light: dramatic skies and wet stone make beautiful pictures between the showers. Our photography tips have more.
- Clearest light
- February and March
- Silk cotton blooms
- February and March
- Laburnum avenues
- April and May
- Birding season
- November to March
- Sultanpur
- About an hour away
- Red blossom: in February and March the silk cotton trees, semal, burst into flower, and the flame-of-the-forest follows.
- Yellow avenues: in April and May Lutyens' Delhi turns yellow with laburnum and pink with other flowering trees, loveliest in the early morning.
- Every season: Lodhi Garden and Sunder Nursery are lovely all year.
- Migrant birds: between November and March ducks, waders and raptors arrive from Siberia and Central Asia.
- Where to look: Sunder Nursery, the Yamuna floodplains and Sultanpur National Park in Haryana.
- The great birding of the region: head to Bharatpur on the way to Agra or Jaipur.
Eating with the seasons
- Winter
- Gajar ka halwa, saag, nihari
- Summer
- Mangoes, kulfi, aam panna
- Monsoon
- Pakoras, jalebis and tea
- Teej
- Ghevar
- Navratri to Diwali
- Barfi, ladoo, dry fruits
Winter dishes
Gajar ka halwa: red winter carrots slow-cooked in milk, ghee and sugar, in every sweet shop from November to February.
Saag and makki ki roti: Punjabi families eat sarson ka saag, mustard greens, with makki ki roti, maize flatbread, topped with white butter.
- Old Delhi mornings: nihari and paya are at their best on cold mornings.
- Daulat ki chaat: milk foam whipped in the night air, sold only in these months.
- From the carts: roasted sweet potatoes and peanuts on every corner.
Summer dishes
Kulfi: dense frozen milk flavoured with saffron, pistachio or mango.
- Aam panna: a sharp drink of raw green mango.
- Shikanji: spiced lemonade, sold everywhere.
- Mangoes above all: from April to July they arrive from Uttar Pradesh and beyond, in a sequence of varieties every Delhi family has opinions about.
Monsoon dishes
Something fried: pakoras, vegetable fritters in chickpea batter, with hot jalebis and sweet milky tea.
- The ritual: eaten on a covered balcony while the rain hammers down.
- For Teej: sweet shops stack golden discs of ghevar, a honeycombed sweet our own Jaipur kitchens are famous for.
Festival sweets in autumn
Navratri to Diwali: the sweet shops' busiest weeks.
- Gifts between families: boxes of barfi, ladoo and dry fruits.
- Where to eat them: our food of Delhi guide covers the dishes in every season.
What to pack for Delhi in each season
Winter, November to February: warm layers, a light down jacket or wool coat, a shawl or scarf and closed shoes. Evenings and early mornings are genuinely cold, and old buildings are not always heated.
Smog months, November and December: a good, well-fitting mask for days outdoors, and any inhalers or medicines you normally use.
- November to February
- Warm layers, shawl, closed shoes
- November and December
- A well-fitting mask
- March to June
- Cotton, linen, hat, sunscreen
- Monsoon
- Umbrella, quick-dry clothes
- All year
- Slip-on shoes, a head scarf
- Heat, March to June: light cotton and linen, a hat, sunglasses and a strong sunscreen.
- Cover up anyway: shoulders and knees for temples and mosques, even in the heat.
- Monsoon: a compact umbrella, quick-drying clothes and sandals or shoes that don't mind getting wet.
- Any time: comfortable walking shoes that slip on and off easily for the temples, gurdwaras and mosques, and a scarf to cover your head.
- The full list: our guide on what to pack covers Rajasthan as well.
Fitting Delhi into a Rajasthan journey
First-time visitors: mid-February to mid-March, or the first half of October, for the monuments at their best.
Festival lovers: October for Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra, or late January for Republic Day, with the Jaipur Literature Festival a short drive away.
Sensitive to pollution: February to April, or the monsoon months. Keep November and December to a single night.
- Late January to March
- Two nights
- October, first half
- Two nights
- November and December
- One night may be enough
- Late December and January
- A free first day
- May and June
- A single night
- Best hotel rates and quietest monuments: July to September, if you are happy with heat, humidity and showers.
- Families with school holidays: late October, Christmas or Easter. Over Christmas, plan around the fog with late-morning flights and a free first day.
- Birdwatchers: November to March, combining Delhi with Sultanpur and the wetlands of Bharatpur.
- A gentle start in any season: one free morning in Lodhi Garden or Sunder Nursery before you see anything at all.
- Where to start: two nights in Delhi work best at the start of the journey.
- Smog months: give the spare night to Jaipur, Udaipur or the desert.
- Fog weeks: allow a free first day and afternoon departures.
- April and the monsoon: Delhi works well with an early-morning rhythm and long rests, and the hotels are quiet.
- May to June: keep Delhi to a single night and head on to cooler places.
- Across the state: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan explains the seasons, and our Delhi itinerary shows how to spend one to four days here in any season.
