Must see itinerary for a trip to Agra

Before I take you along on one of my most cherished Birthday trips, let me give you a little background about our place of interest i.e. Agra.

Agra is located on the banks of River Yamuna in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an old city which thrived as the centre of power at the time of Mughals. Today Agra is best known for Taj Mahal which is one of the seven wonders of the world and tourists across the globe come to witness its beauty.

Interesting bits about Agra

#Agra is one of the two cities of India which has three Unesco World Heritage sites: The Taj Mahal, The Agra fort and Fatehpur Sikri.

#Agra is most famous for Taj Mahal is a commonly known fact. The two other things Agra is famous for are the Petha (a sweet made from pumpkin) and the leather.

#Agra ka Petha comes in variety of flavors ranging from basic, rose, kesar, choclate, vanilla, pan, orange, ilaichi and many others. The colors of all these Pethas spread over a whole spectrum of beautiful hues and are a treat to the eyes as well as stomach.

# The leather of Agra is world famous. Pure leather shoes are made and exported to different countries. If you are in Agra, don't miss out on buying leather shoes as you won't find this quality and price combo anywhere else in India. Even the leading brands may fail you in terms of quality.

# Agra is not only a land of Unesco World Heritage sites but is also a home to five ancient Shiva temples. Four of these are said to situated on four corners of city. These are Balkeshwar Mahadev temple, Prithviraj Mahadev temple, Rajeshwar Mahadev temple and Mankameshwar temple. Besides there is another temple called Rawli Mahadev. To know more about these temples, Read this post -> Shiva temples of Agra

#Agra is also known for its street food. Chat Gali in Sadar Bazar is the most famous for savoring variety of Chat flavors.

#How to reach:

By Air: One can fly to Delhi International Airport and take a train/taxi/shuttle from Delhi. Agra also has its airport but flights are numbered.

By Train: Train is the cheapest way to reach Agra. Train Connectivity to Agra is excellent from all major cities. Gatimaan express is the fastest train to reach Agra from Delhi.

By road: Agra is approximately 250 km from Delhi and is a run of around 4 hours on Yamuna expressway.

So that was about the background and now lets dive into our itinerary of the Agra City

Day 0: Arrived Delhi in Vande Bharat, took the connecting train to Agra, reached Agra late night, checked into our hotel, cut a pizza cake, ate to the full and slept like logs.

Day 1: Fatehpur Sikri, Dargah of Salim Chishti, Buland Darwaza, Akbar's Tomb, Baby Taj ( Tomb of Itmad-ud-daula), Mankameshwar temple and Mehtabh Bagh

Here is where the curtains to a great trip started to unfurl.

Since we had slept late, we lazed about in our cozy beds till late and got up around 9ish. We started the day with the morning tea and afterwards we didn't take a lot of time in getting ready. Our plan for the day wasn't exactly clear when we stepped out of the hotel and booked an uber. As we hopped onto our ride, hubby and me got into a chat with the driver and convinced as we were, we cancelled our ride to rather avail the drivers offer of sightseeing for the day @2000. We did and redid our plans but finally decided to go to Fatehpur Sikri first.

1. Fatehpur Sikri: Accessibility:

Fatehpur Sikri is almost one and half hour ride from Agra. The total time to see around will be two hours. From the parking place, after entering inside once you buy a ticket, a bus will take you atop to the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri. Govt approved charges of Guide are approx 1200Rs.

Start time for us : 10.30 A.M.

Finished tour : 2:00 P.M.

Fatehpur Sikri was developed by Akbar as the capital of Mughal Empire for a duration of 13 years from 1572 to 1585. The reason ascribed is that Sufi Saint Sheikh Salim Chishti resided here in a cave like formation, whom Akbar deeply revered because it was by the blessings of Salim Chishti that he had finally been blessed with a son. Sikri was the first planned city of Mughals. There are palace complexes on the lower level while on the uppermost level are Dargah of Salim Chishti, Buland Darwaza and Jama Masjid.

For detailed information on Fatehpur Sikri you can read my blog on Fatehpur Sikri

2. Akbar's Tomb also called Tomb of Sikandra:

After Sikri, we headed back towards Agra. On the way we took a turn to see the Akbar's Tomb. Akbar's tomb was built by his son Jahangir and is surrounded by lovely Mughal style gardens. The main building is a symmetrical feet to the eyes as are all Mughal buildings. Its made of red sand stone and white marble. The grand entrance gate, carved marble gates like Jalis, the roof of the cenotaph with its intricate patterns of art show the Mughal architecture in all its glory. The actual tomb is located in the basement. Approximately 45 minutes will be enough to explore the monument in totality.

Start time of tour of Akbar's tomb for us: 3.15 P.M. Approx

Finished tour: 4.00 P.M. Approx

3. Baby Taj ( also called tomb of Itmad-ud-daula) :

After Akbar's tomb, we visited baby Taj. This monument was built by Noorjahan (wife of Jahangir) for her father. The architectural style of this monument is pretty much like Taj Mahal ( However it predates Taj Mahal). The Char Bagh, the water pond in front of building, The main building surrounded by four Minarets and the location of the monument by the banks of Yamuna river; because of the resemblance to Taj Mahal, it has come to be known as the Baby Taj. Built of white marble and engraved with the most intricate and beautiful patterns, this monument is again a masterpiece of artwork. One of the sides of the monument ends on to a grand gate and pavilion leading upto the river Yamuna. This surely is a sight to behold. Approximately 30 to 45 minutes will be sufficient to explore the monument.

Start time of tour of Baby Taj for us: 4.30 P.M. Approx

Finished tour: 5.00 P.M. Approximately

4. Mankameshwar temple: The temple is dedicated to lord Shiva and believed to be of Dwapara yug when Lord Shiva came to see child Krishna in Mathura and stayed at this place for overnight. The shivling of temple is made in silver. You can light a diya and keep it on the tower of diyas which looks beautiful.

Start time of Mankameshwar for us: 5.15 P.M. approx

Finished visit: 5.35 P.M. Approx

After the temple darshan, I broke my Sawan Somvar fast and we ate aloo puri at Rambabu Poodiwala nearby temple area. It was delicious.

5. Mehtabh Bagh: Our final haul for the day was Mehtabh Bagh which is famous for the sunset views of the Taj Mahal from across the river Yamuna. The gardens are beautiful and full of chirps of a variety of birds. If you are lucky, you may spot peacocks also. We clicked Taj with a variety of backgrounds and finally sat on the boundary wall of garden to witness the beauty of Taj on the other side of river Yamuna. It was a day well spent and well ended.

Start time of Mehtabh Baagh for us: 6.20 P.M. Approx

Finished visit: 7.15 P.M. Approximately

6. Unwinding for the day at the rooftop pool of our Stay at Atulya Taj: Our stay at the Atulyaa Taj was splendid. The buffet breakfast, the rooftop pool and cafe, the Taj view from rooftop cafe, the hospitality; everything was great and we had a really nice unwinding to the day.

Day 2: The Taj Mahal, The Agra Fort, The bedai Jalebi, The local Artisan market, Salt cafe, Rawli temple, Sadar Market and back to Railway Station

7. The Taj Mahal: The best time to visit Taj Mahal is early morning. If its a clear sunny day, White Taj looks even more beautiful in the golden light of sunrise. The day we visited was a little cloudy though. Anyhow visiting early morning is best as the crowds will keep increasing with the onset of day. We were ready by 5.30 A.M., we had already fixed a guide with the recommendation of our driver who came to pick us from the hotel. Hotel Atulya Taj was approx 600 meters from the east gate of Taj.

There are four entrance gates, the tickets counter is towards east gate Entrance. Tourists will mostly enter from East gate, opposite to east gate is west gate. The North gate is the main entrance gate to the monument. The interplay of light is such that from behind the north gate you'll see a faded image of the Taj and as you step inside the north gate, suddenly the whole splendor of the Taj will come into full view. The blue waters and the char bagh infront of the splendid white symmetrical building of Taj will mesmerize you and you'll find everyone trying to encage this splendor into the cameras.

The Large dome of the Taj is a double layered one with hollow inside, which makes the sound echo inside. The Taj is surrounded by two symmetrical buildings of red sandstone on each side, one of which is called the guest house and the other is a Mosque. The four Minarets of Taj are constructed in such a way that they are a little tilted outwards so as to protect them from falling into the main building even in case of earthquake. The colored floral patterns on the marble are not simply artwork but they are semi precious stones ( like Ruby, Sapphire, Jade, Lapis Lazuli) engraved onto create this patterns. Taj Mahal is no doubt a wonder of the world. Symmetry of the Taj is so iconic that when you're standing in the innermost area containing cenotaphs, the centre point of the cenotaph is in exact alignment with the centre of the South gate and the north gate. Walk around and see the Yamuna flowing on the backside and opposite to Yamuna is Mehtabh Bhagh where we had been standing the day before.

Ticket price for the Taj: Rs.100 per person

Additional Ticket price for Mausoleum: Rs.250 per per son

Guide price: Rs. 600 - 700

Start time of the Taj Mahal for us: 6.30 A.M. Approx

Finished visit: 8.15 A.M. Approx

There are things you must know before visiting Taj and you can read those here:-> Must know things before your visit to the iconic Taj Mahal

8. The Agra Fort: After finishing the Taj visit, we came back for a sumptuous buffet breakfast and relaxed for a good two hours before checking out and heading to our next destination i.e. Agra Fort.

Agra Fort was rebuilt by Akbar when he shifted his capital to Agra in 1558. The entrance gate welcomes you to the grand buildings made in red sandstone. There are many landmark places inside the fort complex. The first one is the palace of Jahangir with his bath tub at the forefront of the building. Inside there's his library, living room and bedroom. There are other palaces pertaining to the Shahjahan and Mumtaj, Noorjahan, Jahan-o-ara and Roshan-o-ara (Shahjahan's daughters). The Palace of Noorjahan is a Sheesh Mahal which gets enlightened with the burning of a smallest match stick. There are Diwane-Aam, Diwane-Khas, Corridor which used to be Meena Bazaar, Angoori Bagh (where they used to cultivate grapes), Nagina Masjid.

Then again Agra fort is also the place where Shahjahan was put under house arrest by his son Aurangzeb. Shahjahan was kept in Mussaman Burj (Octagonal tower) from the balcony of which he could always keep looking at Taj Mahal across the river Yamuna. Finally he died 7 years after house arrest.

Guide price: Rs.400

Start time of the Agra Fort for us: 11.15 A.M. Approx

Finished visit: 12.15 P.M. Approx

9. Local Artisan Market, Salt cafe, Rawli temple, Sadar Bazar:

Our driver took us to a place which was supposedly Meena Bazaar (to be clear there are many Meena Bazaars in Agra). Here we bought a handloom saree and leather shoes etc. We had our lunch at Salt cafe. Taj view of this cafe is no more because of construction work of metro. Anyway after treating us with a good lunch, we finally went to Rawli Mahadev which is one of the oldest temples of the region. It is said that when britishers wanted to lay railway track here, the temple shivling would just not move and finally the rail route was diverted a little. The temple is very near to the main road. Sadar Bazar was closed since it was a tuesday. You can definitely make it a pit stop.