Agra is the Taj Mahal, and it works if you want one famous sight done properly and no long stay. Couples and families get the most from it, and one or two days is enough. The Taj is closed on Fridays, so use Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri then. Expect noise and touts, especially around the Taj. If that ruins a place for you, skip it.
Go in the coloured months. The black ones are best avoided.
Open 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 before sunset, closed Fridays except for mosque prayers. Foreigners pay ₹1,100, plus ₹200 for the mausoleum, under-15s free. Sources disagree on whether a ₹500 toll is included.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
On full moon night and the two days either side, the Taj opens 8:30 pm to 12:30 am on a separate ticket. Not on Fridays or during Ramzan, the Muslim fasting month. Tickets can sell out, so buy a day ahead.
Open daily from about 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. Foreigners pay ₹650, or ₹600 on Fridays or after visiting the Taj. Buy at Amar Singh Gate or online.
A Mughal-era abandoned city 36 to 40 km west of Agra, open daily from about 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. Foreigners pay ₹610. Go on your second day, or on a Friday when the Taj is shut.
A garden open daily from sunrise to sunset for ₹300. End your day here.
Agra's food is better than most people on a Taj day trip find out. Have a street breakfast of bedai and jalebi, buy petha, the city's own sweet, and leave the Mughal dinner for your last night.
Fried bread stuffed with spiced lentils, served with potato curry. It's Agra's breakfast, so go in the morning.
Vegetarian
Fried batter spirals soaked in syrup, eaten hot alongside bedai to balance the spice.
Vegetarian
Flatbread layered with egg or meat, sold around Raja Ki Mandi. It comes from the city's Mughal food.
Translucent sweets made from ash gourd and sugar, Agra's own. Buy a box to take with you.
Vegetarian
Bedai and jalebi in the morning, before the crowds at the Taj.
Cheap eats, vegetarianPetha, the ash gourd sweet, from the name most people trust. Branches are all over town.
Cheap eats, vegetarianNorth-West Frontier tandoor food for a splurge. Check before booking.
A treatNorth Indian and Mughlai plates in a comfortable room, after a long day out.
Mid-range
Take a morning train from Delhi to Agra Cantt, 1 hour 40 minutes. The 22470 Vande Bharat leaves Hazrat Nizamuddin at 6:00 and arrives at 7:40 (not Mondays). The daily 12002 Shatabdi runs from New Delhi, 6:00 to 7:50. By road it's about 200 km and 3 to 4.5 hours. Agra also has a small airport (AGR).
Fatehabad Road The mid-range to luxury strip about 2 km from the Taj. There are few places to walk to.
Taj Ganj Closest to the Taj and mostly budget, with noise and touts to match. Ask for a photo from the room, because some 'Taj views' are a shared roof.
Spend a Friday at Agra Fort or Fatehpur Sikri, as the Taj Mahal is closed every Friday except for prayers at the mosque. The morning Vande Bharat from Delhi (22470) doesn't run on Mondays.
