15 Must-See Museums in Delhi

Apart from the historic sights and delicious food, there are some must-see museums in Delhi that you should explore if you are a history buff. From modern art to ancient sculptures, regional handicrafts to the history of toilets – here is our list of the 15 must-see museums in Delhi. Are you already planning a trip? Our guide on getting around in Delhi is sure to help as well!

India National Museum Center (Photo Credit – Gary Todd)

National Museum

One of the largest and most popular museums in India, the National Museum is a must-visit for anyone interested in Indian history and culture. The museum houses over 200,000 artifacts, tracing India’s history over the past 5000 years.

The museum has different exhibits divided according to themes. From artifacts from the prehistoric era to modern works of art, the diverse departments include archaeology, paintings, arms and armour, and manuscripts. You can even find relics from 4th and 5th century BC, from antiques of the Indus Valley Civilization, the Harappan Civilization to the artwork from the Mughal era and Buddhist artwork and Buddha relics.

Also known as the National Museum of India, it was proposed by Sir Maurice Gwyer and established in 1949. It is also home to the National Museum Institute of the History of Arts, Conservation, and Museology, added in 1983. Currently, it is maintained by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

The museum is disability-friendly. There is a special gallery for disabled people with tactile replicas of some objects, along with Braille labeling, audio guides, and ramps.

Location: Janpath Road, Rajpath Area, Central Secretariat, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. (Closed on Mondays and public holidays)
Entry fee: INR 650 for foreign tourists (this includes an audio guide, available in English, German and French, that covers over an hour of information on the collections)

National Museum

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA)

The brainchild of Jawaharlal Nehru, the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is a haven for art lovers and history enthusiasts. Established in 1954, the museum is located in Jaipur House, the mansion of the former Maharaja of Jaipur.
If you want to understand Indian art, this is the place to be. The museum houses one of the largest collections of modern artwork with over 14,000 works on display, dating back to the 1850s. The works include those of Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Raja Ravi Verma, and other renowned artists.

Location: Jaipur House, Shershah Road, India Gate, New Delhi
Timing: 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (closed on Mondays and national holidays)
Entry fee: INR 500 for foreign tourists

National Gallery of Modern Art

National Crafts Museum

If you want to explore the indigenous arts and crafts of India, you should visit this museum in New Delhi. The National Crafts Museum was renamed The National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum in 1986, and National Crafts Museum and Hastkala Academy in 2019.
The museum is designed as a traditional Indian village, with life-size village homes, havelis, and Ayyanar shrines of rural South India.
The museum is known for keeping alive the old Indian crafts and weaves, like mithila wall painting, khadi textile looms, ornate temple carvings, and even an intricately decorated Gujarati haveli. It holds the promise of hands-on learning, dozens of photo opportunities, and heavy shopping bags from the artisan courtyard in the back.

Location: Bhairon Marg, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (closed on Mondays and national holidays)
Entry fee: INR 500 for foreign tourists

If craft and architecture interests you, get ready to be blown away by some of the most spectacular temples in India. Here are a few must-visit temples when in India.

National Crafts Museum

Shankar’s International Dolls Museum

One of the most unique museums in India, Shankar’s International Dolls Museum is the conceptualization of famous cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai.The museum has more than 160 shelves of dolls from across the world! When the museum was established in 1965, it housed just 500 dolls. Today, there are more than 6500 dolls from over 85 countries, with some dolls over 400 years old!

Sprawled across 5000 square feet, the museum is divided in two sections. The first section has dolls from countries like the USA, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, while the other section has dolls from Asian countries. There is also a section where visitors can learn the art of doll making, while one section is a “clinic” to restore dolls from the museum.

Location: Nehru House, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed on Mondays and public holidays)
Entry fee: INR 200 for adults (foreigners) and INR 100 for children (foreigners)

Indian Air Force Museum

The Air Force Museum showcases the history of the Indian Air Force through a collection of artifacts and other memorabilia. Situated in the Delhi Cantonment area, the museum has different viewing galleries.

The indoor gallery features uniforms, vintage personal weapons, photographs, and other items of the Indian Air Force. There is also a hangar which displays wall aircrafts and other inventory.

The outdoor gallery has large planes, radar equipment, and captured enemy vehicles. The museum also has large transport aircrafts which are displayed on the annual Air Force Day. this museum is a place of pride for Indian citizens.

Location: Air Force Museum, Palam, New Delhi
Timings: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and public holidays)
Entry fee: Free entry

Indian Air Force Museum

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets

If you prefer the bizarre over the ordinary, head to the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in Delhi, a museum dedicated to toilets. Built in 1992 by social activist and founder of the Sulabh NGO Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the museum has been titled as one of the weirdest museums in the world by Time magazine.

True to its name, the museum showcases the global history of toilets and sanitation. The history of toilets in the museum is divided into three sections – Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. From 2500 BC to the 20th century, the museum has artifacts and exhibits from over 50 countries. It showcases the historical origins of the water closet and toilets used during Lothal and Mohenjo Daro civilizations. The museum even displays a fantastic collection of poetry on toilets!

The objective behind this unusual museum is to raise awareness about the sanitation issues faced by the country.

Location: Sulabh Bhavan, Mahavir Enclave, Palam-Dabri Marg, New Delhi
Timing: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays)
Entry fee: Free entry

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

If you want to visit political history museums, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library is one of the best of Delhi’s museums. The museum was established in the memory of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, a freedom fighter and the first Prime Minister of India.

Built over 30 acres of land, the complex has a museum in the eastern wing and a library in the western wing, which houses an extensive collection of rare books. A centre for contemporary studies was added in 1990. The complex also has a planetarium.

You can explore his personal rooms, preserved for decades by the museum. The museum showcases his personal life, education, and the journey to becoming the first Prime Minister in his erstwhile residence at Teen Murti Bhavan. You will also find excerpts from his greatest speeches carved into stone in the front of the museum. The museum also has archives of the writings and private documents of Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Jayaprakash Narayan, Charan Singh, and more.

Location: Teen Murti Bhavan, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi
Timing: 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Entry fee: Free entry

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

National Rail Museum

If you love trains, the National Rail Museum in Delhi showcases the rich history and rail heritage of India. Railways in India are the most convenient, complex, common, yet grand mode of transport.
With more than 100 real exhibits of Indian Railways, the museum pays homage to this mode of transport. You can find static and working models, antique train furniture, railway equipment, and historical photographs and memorabilia in the museum.
The main attractions here are the Fairy Queen, the oldest operating steam engine in the world, and a toy train that provides rides around the museum grounds. You can also find a skull of an elephant that charged the UP mail train in 1894!

Location: Chanakyapuri, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed on Mondays)
Entry fee: INR 100 for foreign tourists. Audio guide rental INR 150 (available in English and Hindi)

National Rail Museum

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Tibet House Museum

The Tibet House Museum offers an insight into Tibetan and Buddhist culture and heritage. The five-storey museum was founded by His Holiness Dalai Lama in 1965, and displays Tibetan art and historical artifacts in the art museum. There are Tibetan paintings decorating the galleries of the museum.

There is an in-house library with over 5000 books and manuscripts preserved carefully. Many of these artifacts on display were brought to India by Tibetans fleeing from their homeland.

Tibet House also has a conference hall, research center, gallery, and a bookshop.

Location: 1 Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
Timing: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays)
Entry fee: INR 10

National Science Centre

Established in 1992, the National Science Centre in Delhi will have you hooked with its displays. The museum provides an insight into the history, present, and future of various technologies and developments in India.

Spread over eight levels, the science centre has many interactive activities and games, lectures, exhibitions, and competitions. The Human Biology gallery, Earth Science gallery, and Prehistoric Life gallery showcase various installations and exhibits to teach you science and history in a fun way. The Fun Science gallery has mazes, illusions, and interactive experiments that explain scientific principles.

Location: Bhairon Marg, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Closed on Holi and Diwali)
Entry fee: INR 150 for foreign tourists (rides priced separately)

National Science Centre

Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

The first private museum in India dedicated to contemporary and modern arts, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art was established in 2010 in New Delhi, with another center in Noida. Helmed by Mrs Kiran Nadar, the museum is inspired by the Guggenheim, MoMA, and the Whitney in the USA.

Spread over 18000 square feet, the museum has an elaborate art collection with more than 4500 pieces of art from painters from the 19th century to the present contemporary artists. The most renowned works here are from artists like M.F. Hussain, Raja Ravi Verma, and Anish Kapoor. The museum also has workshops, seminars, exhibitions, and public programs regularly.

Location: Saket, New Delhi
Timing: 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (closed on Mondays and national holidays)
Entry fee: Free

Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

National Gandhi Museum

The National Gandhi Museum is a tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. It displays many of Mahatma Gandhi’s personalmemorabilia such as clothes, letters, manuscripts, and journals. The museum also has one of Gandhi’s walking sticks, the dhoti worn by him when he was assassinated, and one of the bullets used to kill him. The museum showcases the history of the Satyagraha movement, the philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence), and the Indian independence movement through sculptures, paintings, and original photographs of Gandhi. Gandhi’s life is shown through a film in English and Hindi in the museum.

Location: Opposite Raj Ghat, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed on Sundays and public holidays)
Entry fee: Free entry

National Gandhi Museum

Gandhi Smriti Museum

A tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Gandhi Smriti Museum is is housed in Birla Bhavan in central Delhi. Birla House, the former residence of industrialist BD Birla, was lent to Gandhi to use. This is where Gandhi spent the last few months of his life, before he was assassinated here in 1948.

In 1973, the Government of India took over the building and turned it into a museum. Gandhi’s room is maintained exactly how he left it, complete with his belongings. The rest of the museum has many artifacts such as terracotta dolls, photographs, sculptures, paintings, and information that are a window to Gandhi’s life.

There is a multimedia show held every day at 1 p.m. at the museum. There is also a khadi store on the museum premises, where one can support this indigenous industry of India.

Location: Birla House, Tees January Marg, New Delhi
Timing: 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Closed on Mondays)
Entry fee: Free

Gandhi Smriti Museum

Ghalib Museum and Library

The Ghalib Museum and Library is dedicated to the Urdu and Persian poet, Mirza Ghalib. If you love reading and writing, this is one of the best museums for you.

Established in 1969, the museum is a treasure trove for writers and poets. Ghalib’s residences, favorite food, and attire are on display in the museum. There are also photographs, books, sculptures, and important documents from his time. Ghalib Academy, where the museum is situated, also has a calligraphy training center, an art gallery, and a library with a vast collection of books.

Location: Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi
Timings: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (closed on Sundays)
Entry fee: Free entry

Museo Camera

If you love photography, Museo Camera in Gurugram is the perfect place for you! Museo Camera in Gurugram is the brainchild of Indian photographer, historian, and archivist Aditya Arya. Established in 2009, the museum, dedicated to cameras, showcases unique vintage cameras and photography equipment from more than a century ago! A large part of the artifacts comes from the photographer’s personal collection.

The museum displays historical and contemporary photographs, cameras, and rare photography equipment from around the world. There are many temporary exhibits taking place here, along with film screenings and performances.

The restaurant Fig can be found on the museum complex, if you want to grab a bite!

Location: Shri Ganesh Mandir Marg, DLF Phase 4, Sector 28, Gurugram, Delhi NCR
Timings: 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (closed on Mondays)
Entry fee: INR 300 for foreign tourists Audio guides INR 150

Museo Camera

The museums in Delhi are just one of the many reasons to visit the capital of India. If you want to know more about Delhi, here is our list of things to do in Delhi.

From amazing food to rich history, Delhi has loads to see and do. It can also be combined with other destinations like Dharamshala and Rajasthan! Curious? Hit that Plan Your Trip button and let’s get started!