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New Delhi district, Delhi — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The New Delhi district is one of the eleven administrative districts of Delhi, laid out in the early twentieth century as the planned imperial capital of Lutyens' Delhi. Its cultural spine runs along Janpath, where the National Museum sets out sculpture and artefacts from across the subcontinent. The diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri lines the western side. Government buildings dominate.
About New Delhi district
Where to stay in New Delhi district
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
The district reads as formal and green, a place of wide plots and government offices rather than dense hotel strips. Most beds gather around Connaught Place, a short ride from the National Museum and Gandhi Smriti. It suits sightseeing.
Days fill with the museums of Lutyens' Delhi, while nights stay quiet once the offices close. West toward Chanakyapuri the embassy plots leave few rooms, so travellers wanting more choice look to the wider Delhi.
About New Delhi district
What are the main landmarks in New Delhi district?
The National Museum on Janpath ranges from Harappan seals to Mughal miniatures. Other collections open the machinery of state: the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum, the Parliament Museum, and the National Philatelic Museum. Gandhi's memory is kept close by.
The garden where Gandhi was shot survives at Gandhi Smriti, joined by the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum and the eleven-figure Dandi March sculpture of Gyarah Murti. Teen Murti Bhavan, the former prime-ministerial residence, now houses the Prime Ministers Museum & Library, while the National Rail Museum and Sacred Heart Cathedral sit out west.
What is the history of New Delhi district?
The district took shape when Britain shifted the capital of British India to Delhi, a decision proclaimed at the Durbar of 1911. Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker drew the avenues and the ceremonial core, and the capital was inaugurated in 1931. Teen Murti Bhavan served the Commander-in-Chief before it became the residence of independent India's first prime minister.
Partition and the assassination of Gandhi at Gandhi Smriti in 1948 fell within the district's first years as the capital of an independent India. Its grid has changed little.
Where is New Delhi district?
The district sits at the centre of Delhi, bounded by the older walled city to the north and the residential colonies of South Delhi to the south. Its grid of avenues radiates from the government estate, with Janpath and Sansad Marg among the main axes. Chanakyapuri fills the western side, its plots given over to embassies and the National Rail Museum.
Connaught Place caps the north.
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Updated July 2026