Red Fort (Lal Qila), Delhi

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) lists the fort as open from sunrise to 9 pm. Until early 2026 it shut every Monday; an ASI order dated 13 February 2026 ended that from 16 February, and the fort now opens seven days a week.

One exception matters:

• Mid-July to 15 August: the fort closes to visitors while the stage and security for the Independence Day speech are set up. The ASI has issued such an order every summer in recent years; in 2026 it covered 15 July to 15 August, and the evening show was suspended too. Check the dates for your year before planning a July or August visit.

In the hot months, come at opening: the courtyards have little shade.

There are two price levels. Indian citizens, and visitors from SAARC and BIMSTEC countries, pay the lower one; everyone else pays the foreign-visitor rate. Children under 15 enter free. Paying online is cheaper than cash at the window, which is why the card above shows two prices for each group.

The museums inside the fort cost extra. The museum surcharge in the card is approximate: the ASI does not publish it on its Red Fort page, so check the amount when you buy.

Tickets are sold online and at the ticket windows.

The route runs west to east, from the city side towards where the Yamuna once flowed past the walls. After 1857 the British cleared most of the palace buildings for barracks, which is why the interior feels sparse. What survives is the ceremonial core.

The evening show, titled Jai Hind ("Victory to India"), is run by the ASI and opened in January 2023 after a five-year break. It lasts about an hour, runs in Hindi and in English, and seats 700.

It is staged in three parts that move the audience through the fort, from the Naubat Khana (the drum house over the inner gate) to the Diwan-i-Aam and the Diwan-i-Khas. The story runs from the 17th century to the present: the rise of the Marathas, 1857, the Indian National Army and its trials, independence. Projection mapping on the walls is mixed with live actors, dancers and puppets.

The ASI does not publish the current schedule or price on its Red Fort page, so confirm the show time, language slot and ticket at the counter on the day.

The nearest station is Lal Quila on the Violet Line. Delhi Metro lists Gate 4 as the exit for the fort, about 260 m away, a four-minute walk.

After a car blast near the fort on 10 November 2025 the station was shut for several days; all its gates reopened on 16 November 2025. Tripods and drones are not allowed inside the fort.

Shah Jahan founded the fort in 1639 and finished it nine years later as the palace of his new city, Shahjahanabad, the seventh of Delhi's historic cities. His son Aurangzeb added the Moti Masjid.

In 1857 the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, became the figurehead of the uprising against the East India Company. When it was crushed he was tried and exiled to Rangoon, and the British turned the fort into a garrison. Much of it stayed with the army until December 2003, when it passed to the ASI. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

On 15 August 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru raised the flag here, and every Prime Minister since has spoken from the ramparts above Lahori Gate on Independence Day.