Humayun's Tomb

Humayun's tomb was built in the 1560s by the emperor's widow, and it set the pattern that Mughal architecture followed for the next century, the Taj included. A red sandstone mass inlaid with white marble sits on a high arcaded plinth in the middle of a walled garden divided into quarters by water channels, with a double dome above and deep recessed arches on every face. The gardens were replanted and the channels made to run again during a long restoration, so the setting now reads roughly as it was intended to. The wider enclosure holds dozens of other tombs, among them the older octagonal tomb of Isa Khan behind its own wall, always quieter than the main lawn.

What you actually see

• The main tomb - red sandstone with marble inlay on a high plinth, under a white double dome.
• The charbagh garden - the quartered layout with restored water channels and causeways.
• Isa Khan's tomb - an older octagonal tomb in its own sunken walled garden near the entrance.
• The plinth arcades - the vaulted chambers under the platform, holding further graves.

When to go

October to March is the workable season in Delhi; May and June are extreme and the garden gives little shade. Come at opening, when the light is low on the west face and the lawns are empty, or in the last hour before closing. Winter mornings can be lost to heavy haze, so a clear afternoon is sometimes the better bet.

Honest expectations

Delhi's air quality can flatten the view entirely for weeks at a time in winter. Ticket prices for foreign visitors are several times the local rate. The main chamber is plain inside and takes five minutes. Weekend afternoons bring large groups and the lawns become picnic ground. Persistent guides work the entrance path.

Nearby

Sunder Nursery adjoins the site, and the lanes of Nizamuddin with their food stalls are just across the road.