Saanvi Bhagatkar

One of the best things about Delhi is that most of the really good stuff it has on offer isn’t behind a paywall - loads of heritage sites, green spaces, cultural performances, and miraculously, even clubs with no membership fee. Free doesn’t have to mean you’re settling for a cheap, subpar experience – at least, not in this city.  What makes these experiences even better is that they’re often the same things locals love, and do regularly. You could spend a morning checking out the Mughal heartline of the city, watch the sunset wash over the Ridge, or find yourself at a concert inside a 12th-century monument that costs nothing but your time. Delhi has a way of rewarding curiosity without demanding hefty cash, but you just need to know where to look. And that’s exactly where this list comes in. 

The bookstore culture's not what it used to be, it's true. But come on – this is Delhi. Folks quote centuries-dead poets over beer at dimly lit bars. With a straight face. How could it not be a city of readers? The writing legacy here is absurdly rich – so rich that Delhi's housed and nurtured Meer Taqi Meer's romanticism, Khushwant Singh's bawdiness and Arundhati Roy's meteoric rise all within a single millennium. If that kind of history can't keep e-commerce book-shopping at bay, nothing can. Which is why bookshops in this city still manage to hold considerable sway over readers, and a lot of that has to do with the owners themselves, who've quietly shaped literary trends through the way they curate.  I’ve realised on my bookstore rounds in and around Delhi that browsing can be a wildly different experience depending on where you visit. Each shop here has its own die-hard fanbase and, strangely enough, several are even used to establish bragging rights over fellow readers. Such is the cult of personality. So if you're confused about which bookshop suits you best, here's a guide to point you in the right direction.  

There’s something quietly charming about Lodhi Art District, which sits plushly in the middle of Lutyens Delhi. The entire district, in effect, is a honking great art gallery – India’s first open-air art gallery, actually, and an ever-evolving one, at any rate. The colony used to be a sleepy residential quarter with an admittedly great location, and in 2015, a foundation by artist Hanif Kureshi breathed life into the walls around the quarters built for government employees by commissioning 50 murals painted by artists from over 25 countries.  Today, the district – which still slightly retains that laid-back, drowsy charm of colonial Delhi – bursts forth with colour. Unlike a real gallery, not every wall’s labelled, and there aren’t any directions to help you go on your way, and so it encourages aimless wandering and lots of experimental street photography. You never really know what’s around the corner – it could be a mural of a giant pair of eyes, or a kaleidoscope of birds stretching across a three-storeyed building.  Some murals, especially, demand attention – The Tourist by Avinash and Kamesh, Impressions of Lodhi by Yip Yew Chong, and New Delhi by Nespoon are some of the really eye-catching ones, so be sure to look out for those. Since the art project’s recent, several walls are still empty and in effect, are blank canvases for more artists to paint on. It’s a common sight to see new work every few months, or bump into muralists working through the day. And did I mention

What is it?  A historic green space spread across 90 acres, which is no mean feat given its prime location – in the heart of Delhi. Why historic? Because it’s dotted liberally with monuments from the late 15th and early 16th centuries – a time when the last emperors of the Delhi Sultanate ruled northern India. Besides the heritage appeal, it also features a 2.5-kilometre running track, a rose garden, a bonsai park, and a lake with lots of screeching ducks.  Why go? Since it’s a free park with multiple entry gates, the garden’s enjoyed several decades (centuries, really) as Delhi’s most popular central park. You’ll find tons of things happening here around the year – yoga and runs are popular in the mornings, whereas you’ll find folk engaging in generally more gregarious activities in the evening – chucking around a frisbee, light soccer practice, or even some rudimentary badminton. It’s also home to all sorts of club meetings. Regular suspects like book clubs, yes, but you’ll also chance upon drawing clubs, and groups of students singing or practicing their lines for a play.  The garden is a hugely popular picnic spot, especially on cooler summer evenings and winter afternoons. Since the topography’s diverse, there’s no stopping where you could lay down your blanket – the nicest spots are near the monuments, which also, incidentally, get the best spots of sunlight. The space is dog-friendly, and plenty of the city’s residents walk their dogs here, too. 

What is it?  A 14th-century Sufi shrine in Delhi’s Nizamuddin neighbourhood, built to house the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, a saint of the Chishti Sufi order. Having been around as a significant religious site for several hundred years, the dargah’s enjoyed a level of deep personal engagement with the public that other monuments in Delhi can’t claim – and remains as authentic a time capsule as the city can offer.The shrine’s home to a mosque and stepwell too – as well as the tombs of Amir Khusro, his favourite disciple and one of India’s most famous poets, and Princess Jahanara, the second child of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who also built the Taj Mahal. Today, the shrine’s best known for the ongoing, unbroken tradition of weekly qawwali performances – devotional Sufi music performed in open air by a group of musicians.   Why go? The lead up to the dargah’s almost as much of an experience as the dargah itself. The lanes of Nizamuddin are narrow, crowded, and jammed to the brim with vendors selling interesting wares – fresh roses, incense sticks, small bottles of perfume, and lots of kebabs. Before entering the main shrine, you’re expected to remove footwear, and you’ll probably be pressed by vendors offering you baskets of devotional items to offer up to the shrine. I do recommend purchasing the sacred thread called mannat – once you’re inside, it’s tradition to tie it to the latticed framework of the shrine – they say all your wishes come true if you do.Inside, the shr

The Bookshop Inc is the kind of bookstore you'll walk into with one book in mind, only to come out, slightly guiltily, with three or four. The store's a Delhi legacy – it had its beginnings in the charming neighbourhood of Jor Bagh in 1971, where the tiny, beloved shop stayed put for 52 years, until it shifted to a bigger location to the equally charming Lodhi Colony, cats and all.  Strangely, the larger space hasn't really changed much at all about what The Bookshop Inc boasts – which is a very well curated collection of books. Sure, they have more shelves to display their wares on now, but the selection still feels tight, carefully controlled. There's lots of stuff here from independent presses, loads of South Asian literature, and international selections, too. Their rotating displays are also organised by theme, like latest food writing, curated essay collections, and old world literature. The store really focuses on those overlooked corners of the literature world – the kind of books that wouldn’t usually get space in more commercial shops. The biggest draw here's the staff. They're usually sat behind the counter, reading – but they're less cashiers and more literary co-conspirators, if you will. They won't come up to you unless you go to them, but their knowledge of their stock (best seen, by the way, in the loving, careful way they run their Instagram page) is awe-inspiring, to say the least. They're a human BookTok algorithm, in some ways – a whole lot better, in fact

The Bookshop Inc is the kind of bookstore you'll walk into with one book in mind, only to come out, slightly guiltily, with three or four. The store's a Delhi legacy – it had its beginnings in the charming neighbourhood of Jor Bagh in 1971, where the tiny, beloved shop stayed put for 52 years, until it shifted to a bigger location to the equally charming Lodhi Colony, cats and all.  Strangely, the larger space hasn't really changed much at all about what The Bookshop Inc boasts – which is a very well curated collection of books. Sure, they have more shelves to display their wares on now, but the selection still feels tight, carefully controlled. There's lots of stuff here from independent presses, loads of South Asian literature, and international selections, too. Their rotating displays are also organised by theme, like latest food writing, curated essay collections, and old world literature. The store really focuses on those overlooked corners of the literature world – the kind of books that wouldn’t usually get space in more commercial shops. The biggest draw here's the staff. They're usually sat behind the counter, reading – but they're less cashiers and more literary co-conspirators, if you will. They won't come up to you unless you go to them, but their knowledge of their stock (best seen, by the way, in the loving, careful way they run their Instagram page) is awe-inspiring, to say the least. They're a human BookTok algorithm, in some ways – a whole lot better, in fact

Founded in 2012 by LeftWork Books, May Day Bookstore doesn't even try to pretend it's a regular bookstore – and thank goodness. It's immediately obvious upon walking in and finding only wall-to-wall Marxist theory, political critique, and independent presses –basically more leftist writing than you’ll see anywhere else in India. You'll find that Hindi and English titles are interspersed throughout the store, and they've also got a well-regarded section for used books, where many readers have found first-edition gems tucked away without any fanfare. The address – Shadipur, a working-class neighbourhood in West Delhi – is a very deliberate choice too, because May Day's not the type to associate itself with glossy malls or upscale Lutyens pin codes at all. The store – again, intentionally – shares a wall with Studio Safdar – a theatre space run by the legendary Jana Natya Manch, the city's most prominent leftist theatre group. The two spaces integrate seamlessly, and together, have created a wonderful little cultural community through books, performances and activism bleeding into one another. All sorts of events happen here, in all forms – poetry readings, film screenings, political discussions, neighbourhood street plays and children's programmes – and on most occasions, you'll find a melée of activists and theatre artists popping in for a quick chat as often as they do for books. May Day is unapologetic in its leftward leanings – they say so proudly on their Instagram page, t

Promenade's bringing some seriously cool, edgy new-kid-on-the-block energy to Hauz Khas Village – and loads of seriously cool, edgy new kids on the block to the neighbourhood with it. I mean, even the two young men who run the shop are – you got it – seriously cool, edgy new kids on the block. Obviously, it's not a run-of-the-mill bookstore. It's a pocket-sized, carefully-curated wonderland for people who have a life off of Instagram.  The shelves here are lined with vintage finds and indie press darlings, all arranged in a surprisingly neat and tidy way – which is a bit of a blessing, given that it's a tiny store. You'll be sure to find books that you never knew existed – and that's because most of them are probably printed on their own printing press with the intention of resurrecting out of print literature that's been unfairly buried under the weight of mass market fluff. They've also got a wonderful selection of Japanese literature, European classics, and desi pulp fiction. Promenade leans hard into nostalgia in a very distinctly Gen-Z way – kind of like happening upon your parents' cool records and reclaiming them as your own. If you go, you're going to end up browsing the blurb of Dostoyevsky's Notes From Underground with a grunge playlist blasting in the background. And honestly? It's a pretty fun (and strangely fitting) experience. Time Out Tip: Come here alone, please. Opening times: Mon-Sun 11am-8.30pm

Midland Book Shop's a longstanding bookstore in Delhi that's been in business since 1984. What's special about this place is how wonderfully ordinary it feels – yet you know it's one of those places of repute that most readers in Delhi swear by. The store is two-storied and supremely well-stocked, with fiction and nonfiction, academic and reference texts, magazines, children's books, classics, design and art books, cookbooks, graphic novels, indie press titles, and more. They've even got collectible hardbacks (the sort you'd normally try to hunt down and pay big bucks for online). It's very much a shop of solid familiarity over boutique frills. While they've sorted their store by genre, they've got a new and especially interesting section called 'Delhi and its History' – a big draw for curious tourists as well as local academics (of which there are plenty). Midland also has an active Instagram page, where they regularly post updates on deals, restocks, new releases, and limited signed editions. Time Out Tip: Weekday mornings are by far the best time to browse here if you want the place to yourself – and carry a list of books you're unable to find elsewhere, because they'll most likely have it here, and if they don't, they'll order it for you.  Opening times: Mon-Sun 10.30am-8.30pm