Can you leave the airport?
Your hours, planned
Survive & recharge
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Connections at DEL: the honest numbers
The indicative minimum international-to-international connection at Delhi Indira Gandhi is 90 minutes on a single booking with bags checked through. On separate tickets, add roughly 90 minutes: you'll collect bags, recheck them, and re-clear security — and no airline is obliged to help if the first leg runs late.
Transfer specifics
- T3 handles international; T1/T2 are domestic and a landside shuttle away — international→domestic wants 2.5–3 hours with bags.
- Security is document-heavy: boarding passes get stamped and checked repeatedly, and transfer queues swing hard by hour.
Leaving DEL during a layover
India requires a visa or e-Visa for nearly all foreign passports — there is no general visa-free entry, so exiting on a whim isn't possible. The e-Visa is applied for online days in advance. If you're staying airside on one ticket, no visa is needed; separate tickets requiring bag recheck mean crossing immigration, which means having that e-Visa already. The city is about 45 minutes away one-way; as a rule of thumb you want 6+ hours before exiting is worth the queues, and you should be back through security 90 minutes before boarding.
Worth your hours in Delhi
- With an e-Visa arranged and 8h+: the Airport Express metro reaches New Delhi station in ~20 min — Humayun's Tomb or India Gate by cab from there
- 6–7h with visa: Aerocity, just outside the airport, for a proper meal without the traffic gamble
- No e-Visa arranged = stay airside, full stop
Staying airside instead
- T3 airside is genuinely good: food courts, shopping, and pay-per-use lounges
- Sleep pods and transit hotel inside T3
- Free drinking water stations — use them, Delhi layovers dehydrate
Sleeping, showers and lounges at DEL
Sleep: Sam's Snooze at My Space pods and the Holiday Inn Express transit hotel inside T3.
Showers: In the transit hotel and paid lounges.
Lounges: Multiple pay-in/Priority Pass lounges in T3, plus bank-card lounges if you hold Indian cards.
Overnight reality: T3 is open 24h and busy around the clock; pods or the transit hotel beat the seating. Note some seating areas require a same-day boarding pass.
DEL layover FAQ
Can I leave Delhi airport during a layover?
Only with a visa or e-Visa already arranged — India has no general visa-free entry for foreign passports. The e-Visa is an online application made days before travel; without it, plan an airside layover.
Do I need a visa just to transit Delhi airside?
Not if you stay airside on a single booking with bags checked through. Separate tickets that require collecting and rechecking bags mean crossing immigration — which requires that e-Visa.
Is 90 minutes enough to connect at Delhi?
For international→international in T3 on one booking, it's the working floor. International→domestic involves a terminal shuttle and re-clearing security — treat 2.5–3 hours as honest.
Where can I sleep at Delhi airport?
Sleep pods and a Holiday Inn Express transit hotel inside T3, both bookable by the hour. Free seating exists but is contested and patrolled.
Minimum connection times are indicative and vary by airline, terminal pair and season; visa notes are simplified general guidance, not immigration advice. This page is a researched draft awaiting its verification pass — treat specifics as provisional and confirm with official sources. If anything has changed, tell us and we'll fix it fast.