Itinerary for Agra sightseeing in a day

Hi There!

Can any one help with suggestions for a 1 day Agra sightseeing and the way to go about it (mode of transport). I do not want to go with a tour operator.

I will be catching the Bhopal Shatabdi on the 12th of Nov'12 to Agra Cannt railway station & asuming no delays will reach by 8:15am. I want to be able to manage the Red Fort, Taj mahal, baby Taj & fatehpur sikri.....Will I have enough time since I need to get bach to the Agra station for the Shatabdi back to New Delhi @ 20:35.

I would love to make the most of the day and enjoy other places worth seeing but i'm not sure if I have enough time.....Don't want to rush all through.

Also if any good eating joints along the way.

Thanks in advance

all these monuments get closed at 6:00 PM , so you can not utilize the last two hours.

i suggest skip any one of fatepur sikri / taj / agra fort. all of them are beautiful but each requires at least 2/3 hrs to view. if you don't spend enough time at a place then no point going there. are you in some kind of competition to touch all important places ?

in my view agra should be completed in 2 days -
one day - agra fort, taj, baby taj , and few other small monuments near by baby taj . all these are within city . you can complete easily and catch a night train.
if you have one more day visit fatepur sikri and sikandra.

among all these places i liked fatepur sikri the most.

Hey thanks for the info. Competition to important places sounds like a lot of fun, never thought about it... competing against time & yippee I am the winner! (just kidding).... So i guess I'll do the Taj, Baby Taj & Agra fort (sorry called it Red fort). Any suggestions on the mode of travel.

It is the Red Fort, only in Agra.

if you travel only within city do not book a cab/auto for whole day. because they will charge for the waiting time in taj in agra fort.

take a auto from your hotel or station to fort or taj. auto drivers have three different price for tourists - they charge 25% more than actual price to indian tourists who can speak hindi , 50% more to indian tourists who can not speak hindi and 100% more to foreign tourists. they charged me station to taj 50 rs , so you may be charged a 100 .

spend couple of hours in taj , came out take another auto to fort , should be rs 50.

came out from fort then book a auto for the monuments on the other side of river jamuna . taj and fort are at the side of river where station, bus stand , hotels all are there. on the opposite side there are baby taj, one garden with a wonderful view of taj and few small ones.

forgot to mention in earlier post , sikandra is within 10 km of station, i am not sure if your time permits or not, that is a very good place to see, the architecture was marvelous and it is the resting place of the greatest mughal emperor.

Thanks ! I'm just so confused with all the forts around Delhi and Agra...hated history.

Hey thanks for the details. With my Mumbai hindi will Rs 50 be possible? Also are these regular autos or the cycle ones...... since would like to take the cycle ones, have never experienced travelling in them. Ciao!

your Hindi will be fine. These are regular auto like mumbai.
before taking any auto ask a shopkeeper / hotel owner about the fare. neway t


note in the peak season there are three queues at taj, one to purchase ticket, second one at the complex gate. third one at the entrance of dom . in holiday weekend each queue will take 30 minutes. so better to see taj in the morning.

Thanks Kaushik1 I really appreciate you taking the time to explain the process.

You have some information Shatabdi to Shatabdi Agra-Fathehpur Sikri Tour regarding Shatabdi - Shatabdi tour.

Thanks Aarosh, it was really helpful!

I did exactly the same day trip from Delhi.
In Agra Cannt railway station take prepaid tuk tuk to Taj Mahal South Gate (R85) - there is no queue there as most tour groups go to West Gate.
After Taj, take a cab to Fatehpur Sikri and back to Agra Fort. It cost me R900 (with air con) and another R100 by tuk tuk back to railway station.

I didn't manage to see Baby Taj as it was closed at sunset.

I found the Red Fort in Agra the most amazing place. For me, it had more impact than the Taj Mahal.
Hope to get back there next Feb. I hope to find a boat that might do a trip on Yamuna River behind the Taj too.

Thanks a ton. This will really help with my itinerary and with my budgeting. I guess I will have to skip Fatehpur Sikri.

Nice blog. Really liked going through it. Thanks!