It took us two autorickshaws to make it the fort. (It helps to know that Lal Quila is also the name.) Once we arrived, I felt overwhelmed by all the people hitting us up to give them money, buy their postcards, take their tour, etc. I was seriously concerned that this attention would never stop even once inside the fort. Not so. Inside, is relatively calm and well cared for.

Once you enter, you walk through a shopping mall (not really, but an Indian equivalent). You will then see the area where the Shah would hold an audience. The intricate inlay work is beautiful. Many of it has been lost, but still you can get a good feel for the Mughal artistry.

We ended up giving in to one of the "tour guides". Like all the tour books say, you will be hit up by these guys. Whether or not you choose to pay one is up to you. I really don't know if we received any information that wasn't already in our book, but it was nice to just listen.

There is a small museum on the grounds housing Mughal art. These are beautiful miniature paintings and exquisite scrolls. It's worth a look. Also, you will notice the really ugly, modern building. This is a barracks built by the British during the last century. It really doesn't fit in.

I do advise utilizing the services of an official tour guide, who will tell you everything (perhaps more than) you need to know about the fort. Our guide was useful in not only teaching us a lot about the history of the fort and Old Delhi, but also for shooing away the creepy, weird packs of young men who silently followed us wherever we went (in many places throughout our time in India, in fact!) They were strange and slightly menacing, so it was nice to have a guide who would yell at them every now and then to disperse.

The Red Fort is definitely worth a visit, combined with a few hours wandering around the markets and the mosque, Jami Masjid.

The Fort is vast - the walls are well over a mile long. Inside are the many buildings the court needed in its everyday life. If you have been to Istanbul, many features here will be familiar, such as the Halls of Public and Private Audience. Both are made of white marble, set with precious stones – not unlike the construction used in the Taj Mahal. The hall of public audience was like a court held by the emperor to hear his subjects’ grievances, and settle disputes. The private audience hall, which is smaller, was used for diplomacy, and meetings of the emperor’s advisors.

Further into the Fort, are the emperor’s private quarters – where he lived and worked. Again, they are beautifully built, but many of the precious stones have disappeared over the years, and few remain now. The layout is still very interesting, though, and well worth a look. Like the medieval Kings of Europe, the Emperors simply had no privacy, as we see it now, and there was a constant flow of people in and out of his rooms.

On your way back out of the Fort, pass through the Chatta Chowk – the royal bazaar. Although very interesting, most of the stuff here is very overpriced, so you’d be better looking here, and buying elsewhere.

The entrance is from the Lahore Gate. Try not to come on Fridays - there is no admission charge then, and it is very crowded indeed. On other days, it costs 3 rupees to get in. We went as early as we could, getting there about 8am, when it is much less hot and crowded, making it much more enjoyable.

Quite simply, this is the heart and soul of India. When the struggle for independence was going on early in the 20th century the battle cry of the nationalists was to raise the flag above the Red Fort. This is one of the great imperial citadels of the world - the Indian equivalent of the Kremlin or the Hofburg. Home of the great Moghul Emporers who ruled intermittently from 1526 to 1857. It was the great Moghul - Shah Jahan who built the Red Fort on the model of his imperial palace down in Agra.

The fort itself is immense and its scarlet walls are octagonal and stretch for over two miles. Beneath the western walls is the tourist frenzy of the Lahore bazaar. And once past the beggars and hawkers (see later entry) you enter the Chatta Chowk. This covered bazaar housed jewellers and silversmiths in Moghul times. Now it houses souvenir sellars trying to get the attention of mainly Indian tourists as they pass through.

Past these are the emerald green gardens set before the Diwan-i-am - the hall of Public audience. This was where the Moghul emporer would hold court from the Peacock throne. Once it was covered in jewels, silks and precious stones but now simply a scarlet empty platform covered in redstone arched pillars. You need a bit of imagination to envisage the Red Fort at its height.

Beyond was the football pitch size Royal gardens. Very dusty when I visited in the dry season, but still contained the watercourses, flowerbeds and lawns as it did in Moghul times.

At the edge of the fort, overlooking the walls were the royal pavilions. These were in a sorry state, and the royal hammam's were boarded up. Shah Burj the living quarters of the Emporer with its marble pillars and inlaid porcelain was very beautiful but the rest seemed very dusty and neglected. There's no background material available so you must rely on a guidebook, perhaps it is deliberate so as to not put the guides who are outside out of work.

But the biggest thrill for me was standing on the eastern walls and looking down on the vast Chor bazaar. Stretching for more then a mile beneath the walls and was an ocean of people and a real exotic spectacle. The Red Fort is spectacular but needs a bit of imagination to bring it to life. Son-et-lumieres (english language) are available most nights. This I would recommend as it brings the drama and beauty of the Red Fort alive...