History Museums in New Delhi
THE 10 BEST New Delhi History Museums
History Museums in New Delhi
- Traveler favoritesThings to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, photos, and popularity.
- Traveler rankingHighest rated attractions on Tripadvisor, based on traveler reviews.
Category types
Types of Attractions
Museums
Museums
Traveler rating
Neighborhoods
Good for
11 places sorted by traveler favorites
Speciality Museums • History Museums
Open now
History Museums
History Museums
What travelers are saying
- JenAnnieNottingham, UK679 contributionsThis was a beautiful place to visit a must if you are in New Delhi. We spent so much time here & had a guide to tell us all the details of Gandhi's stay here. Lots of photographs & memorabilia, cab recommended this visit.Written May 3, 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- ghoomboomNew Delhi, India107 contributionsThis is a small Haveli in a small crowded street of Chandni Chowk In Old Delhi. It was here that Mirza Ghalib spent last nine years of his life. The visit takes you back 150 years in history and brings in mind the images when Ghalib would have lived here. Sheer delight. The place has now been converted into a small museum of sort where things related to Ghalib are kept and his poetry is written. I had visited Chandni Chowk so many times earlier but was not aware of this historical jewel in one of the alleys. Quite clean and calm, must visit if you love Ghalib and his poetry.Written January 13, 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Madhulika LNoida, India4,599 contributionsThe Rashtrapati Bhawan Museum is located in what were once the stables and the garage of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The entrance is located opposite the Talkatora Stadium, so it’s advisable to park at the Talkatora Stadium parking lot on Mother Teresa Crescent and then cross the road to enter the Rashtrapati Bhawan grounds through Gate #30. Note that you have to book your tickets in advance, online at the Rashtrapati Bhawan website. Tickets are issued in slots that last for two hours, and cost Rs 50 per adult Indian. You have to carry photo identity cards (Aadhaar), and while a phone is allowed, you can’t take in cameras. Bags or other large items - including umbrellas - must be deposited at the locker room at the museum reception.
When you enter the Rashtrapati Bhawan grounds, you’ll be issued a pass that you have to retain through the duration of your trip, and return once you’re leaving. After the security check at the gate, walk straight down the path, past the Clock Tower/Ghanta Ghar, and on to the museum. Here you can either go around the museum on your own, or if there’s a large enough group, a docent from the museum will take you on a guided tour (for free).
The museum spreads across two buildings. The one on your left as you come from the main gate is the main one: this has three floors (two floors in the basement). On the ground floor are the exhibits ranging from Lutyens and Baker’s designs for the presidential palace they built; furniture designed by Lutyens; lots of gifts received by presidents as well as personal belongings of presidents. There are dioramas depicting the freedom movement; photos and copies of documents (including the constitution), etc. On the lower floors are a fascinating exhibition of the Rashtrapati Bhawan’s kitchens of yore, including lots of old crockery, glassware, silverware, and cookware. There is plenty of art too, encompassing both beautiful full-length portraits of viceroys, as well as paintings by famous Indian artists.
In the other wing of the museum (across the narrow road that separates the two) are more memorabilia, mostly artworks as well as gifts received by various presidents.
This is a superb museum. The collection is fascinating, as well as well-maintained. Well worth a visit.Written September 1, 2022This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - rishikochharAmritsar103 contributionsThis place situated just at the intersection of chanakyapuri and the teen murti road, is the former residence of first prime minister of India Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru. this museum has room.Written March 7, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Madhulika LNoida, India4,599 contributionsThe zenana, the women’s quarters at the Red Fort, spread over several palaces and contained many hundreds of ladies who were related to the Emperor: not just wives and concubines, but also other women who were under his protection, including aunts, cousins, daughters, nieces and so on, along with their hundreds of servants, maids, women soldiers, and so on. One of the palaces of the zenana that still survives is the Mumtaz Mahal, marked by scalloped arches with some remnants of paint work on the insides of the arches.
Till some years back, the Mumtaz Mahal—its four sides then closed off by thick white-painted wooden walls—had housed a small museum. This has since been removed, and with it have gone the outer walls too. You can now see the palace as it might once have been, though of course without the decorations, drapes and more.Written April 1, 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - arpitamGurugram (Gurgaon), India693 contributionsDr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam needs no introduction and so does his memorial needs no recommendation. One should pay visit (a way of paying homage) to our great leader and inspiration for the Indians. The place is very well maintained although there is no entry fee. Backpacks and camera are not allowed inside, but one can carry mobile which has to be switched off. The memorial is very organized with hundreds of photographs framed and walled depicting the work of the great leader and scientist. It also houses his personal belongings and showcases the last baggage he carried to IIT Shillong.
Just one suggestion; all the photographs displayed here are having historical significance; so those really need appropriate captions for the visitors to comprehend.Written March 25, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - macedonboyGlasgow, UK179,494 contributionsThe National Charkha Museum is a museum exhibiting the history and evolution of humble spinning wheel, the Charkha. The museum is housed in the garden area in the middle of Connaught Place. The building itself is a one roomed Neoclassical building that completely white. I understand that the Charkha was important tool that Gandhi thought would be a point of national rejuvenation for India. The exhibits are beautifully exhibited, but there’s not much information and to be honest, I actually didn’t learn very much.
The two steel sculptures on the grounds of the were more interesting. One is a lion made up of charkha wheels, the order a giant sculpture of a charkha wheel. The entrance fee for the museum is basically pocket change, so plus one star for that.Written December 29, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - neha763397 contributionsThis place is related to theatre. All about theatre items are kept as art in this museum or gallery.Written June 29, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Madhulika LNoida, India4,599 contributionsThis is one of four museums that have been opened in the Red Fort grounds recently in the former British barracks that dominate the fort. The Museum of 1857, as its name indicates, focuses on educating visitors about the uprising of 1857. Spread across several floors, the galleries cover interesting aspects of the uprising, from its causes to its spread, the way it was planned (with fascinating insights on how chapatis, red lotuses, tree bark and more were used to convey secret messages), how it played out, and how it was suppressed. The text and images are well-arranged: just enough text to explain, lots of large, interesting photographs, paintings, maps and more.
There are separate galleries on how the uprising played out in different parts of India: in Lucknow/Awadh, for example; or the Ajnala massacre (a particularly brutal instance of how the British put down those who had revolted). There’s one gallery devoted completely to the uprising in Delhi, and this—besides the usual text and images—also has some artefacts, most of them belonging to the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’: a brocade robe, a pen holder, a powder horn, and so on.
In order to be able to visit the museums within the fort, you need to buy a ‘monuments + museums’ ticket at the ticket counter: for foreigners, this costs Rs 950; Indians pay Rs 80. If you want to visit more than one museum, keep your ticket safe; you’ll need to show it at each museum you want to enter.Written May 1, 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Madhulika LNoida, India4,599 contributionsOn April 13th, 1919, more than a thousand people—men, women and children included—had gathered at Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the oppressive Rowlatt Act, recently passed by the British to clamp down on anti-Raj activities in India. To disperse the crowd, a contingent was sent in under General Dyer, who ordered his men to open fire. More than 1,500 people were injured; hundreds died, many of them by jumping into the well in the garden in an attempt to dodge the bullets.
While Jallianwala Bagh marks this massacre, the newly-opened Yaad-e-Jallian (‘Memory of Jallian’) Museum in the Red Fort provides more context for the event. The museum is spread over several galleries, and though it’s not huge, there’s plenty of interesting stuff here, in the form of text (not too much, just enough to inform) in English and Hindi, as well as lots of images: photographs and so on. A large section is devoted to the backdrop: how India was suffering under the British, and how (especially) Punjabis had been sent to fight for Britain in the First World War (in fact, the insights into their experiences in the war, including ‘anthropological studies’ of Indian POWs by Germans; letters in Gurmukhi; photographs etc, are among the most poignant of the exhibits here).
Well worth seeing. The museum also has a small replica of the memorial at Jallianwala Bagh.Written May 1, 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions about New Delhi
- These places are best for history museums in New Delhi:
- Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum
- Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex
- Mirza Ghalib Ki Haveli
- Nehru Memorial Museum
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Memorial
- These are the best places for budget-friendly history museums in New Delhi:See more budget-friendly history museums in New Delhi on Tripadvisor