Two days in Agra: the plan that leaves nothing important out

Day 1 — The Taj and the fort

Dawn — the Taj at opening, east gate.

Late morning — Agra Fort and the tower Shah Jahan died in.

Midday — lunch in Sadar Bazaar; petha at Panchhi.

Afternoon — I'timad-ud-Daulah, the rehearsal.

Sunset — Mehtab Bagh, then a rooftop in Taj Ganj.

Day 2 — The red city

Early — Sikandra at first light, Akbar's tomb with the blackbuck.

Morning — Fatehpur Sikri, 40 km west: the palace, then the dargah.

Midday — the Buland Darwaza from below.

Afternoon — on to Jaipur (4–5 hours), or back for Kinari Bazaar.

Evening — if it's a full-moon week, the Taj night viewing, booked online.

Day 3 — The river

Morning — Ram Bagh, where the Mughal garden began.

Late morning — the Kachhpura heritage walk behind Mehtab Bagh.

Midday — Sheroes Hangout for lunch.

Afternoon — the Yamuna bank behind the Taj for the side-on view.

Evening — the Gatimaan back to Delhi (not Fridays; it leaves Agra Cantt around 17:50).

Worth leaving town for

Fatehpur Sikri. Forty kilometres west: Akbar's abandoned capital — the palace complex (ticketed), the Jama Masjid and Salim Chishti's dargah (free, with donation pressure), the 54-metre Buland Darwaza. Half a day, or the road to Jaipur.

Sikandra and Mariam's tomb. Akbar's mausoleum on its 119 acres, and his Rajput wife's tomb a kilometre on — an hour each, on the Delhi road.

Jaipur. Four to five hours west by road — the Golden Triangle's third corner, and the start of the Rajasthan guides.

Getting there and away

By rail from Delhi: The Gatimaan Express leaves Hazrat Nizamuddin at 08:10 and reaches Agra Cantt at 09:50 (not Fridays); the Bhopal Shatabdi leaves New Delhi at 06:00. Both make a day trip possible; stay the night anyway — the Taj at dawn is the point.

By road: The Yamuna Expressway: 3 to 3½ hours door to door from Delhi, ≈ ₹400–500 toll, FASTag needed. Jaipur is 4–5 hours west via Fatehpur Sikri.

By air: Agra's airport has limited schedules; almost everyone flies into Delhi.

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