Agra to Kanpur

Does anyone know if it's possible to travel from Agra to Kanpur and return to Agra on the same day, after spending three to four hours in kanpur?

Unsure of the road between these two cities and travel time as well.

Hello,

there is a new motorway between Kanpur and Agra. It's actually really good, and best to travel during the night (despite obvious night time drivign risks) but the road is relatively free at night. I'm not sure how long it takes exactly, but if i remember correctly it took me about 5 hrs or so, maybe longer but we did have a break at a darbur.
Are you going to Kanpur for business? leather? friends?
sorry to be so inquisitive!
it's just tha tthere are very few foreigners who go to kanpur unless it's for work... and then if you live in the city you don't see anyone because they generally hide out in the landmark!

I think you're looking for road info, but here's the train info, just remember that trains can run late and there can be delays on the roads as well.

Train 2308, Agra Fort 06.45, Kanpur 11.00

Train 2307, Kanpur 15.30, Agra Fort 19.25

Distance by train = 252kms

Fares for single journey, not return trip.

2-tier air con = Rs 534
3-tier air con = Rs 394
Sleeper Class (not air con) = Ra 160

Its almost a 600 Km round trip.....quite a lot of driving involved....while i only party driven till kanpur, i would put your travel time , round trip, in the region of 12 odd hours....

Morine,
If you are interested in going to Kanpur only for a quick return journey for a few hours my advice would be to go from Delhi.
This way you can take the Shatabdi Express both ways.
It leaves Delhi at 6:15am arriving Kanpur about 11am and then youcan return to Delhi the same day on the same train which leaves Kanpur at 4pm (or so i can't remember exactly i'm sure Steven has more info onthis!).
You get into Delhi in the evening. You are given lots of nice food, water, the lot, its a very comfy train, very fast and NEVER late.
Much more reliable than trying to train from agra for a return journey.
The 1st class ticket costs about 2O odd euros and it's worth it!
if you are in agra you'll probably be passing via dfelhi anyway. It would be in your interest to take a return day journey from Delhi not agra using this super train!

Victoria, the Shatabdi was the first train I looked at, but it doesn't call at Tundla (22kms from Agra), it calls at Aligarh Jn (86kms from Agra) and Etawah (127kms from Agra), but doesn't save overall travel time compared to 2307/8, but I agree with you, the Shatabdi would be the perfect choice from Delhi, both in terms of travel time and reliability.

Train 2004 (Shatabdi)

New Delhi 06:15
Aligarh Jn 07:52
Etawah 09:41
Kanpur 11:20


Train 2003 (Shatabdi)

Kanpur 16:45
Etawah 17:58
Aligarh Jn 19:55
New Delhi 22:00

yes Steven, I know it doesn't stop near to Agra, but after spending the last year i nKanpur, and having tried out the many options, I strongly recommend bypassing Delhi if Delhi is also a stop on Morine's route. There's no comparison!
Let's see what the op says!.... thanks for posting details too! I'll note them myself since im going back in July

i spend 2 yrs in Kanpur around 2003-05..... around holi there is unofficial 1 week holiday and no business is done.... there is one chinese resturant "chung fa" which i visited quite often ...... after it was decided that I will be moving out of kanpur, for last 1 month, I used to visit chung fa almost everyday drving 15 km one way from panki to mall.

My grandad, who stays in Kanpur, used to take me there all the time..its still on the "list of things" whenever we go there...

I have to admit though, of you go for a couple of days it's fine, but if you stay for a long time you've quickly odne the tour of the places in town! There are quite a new places which have popped up recently too. For me though, I liked the quieter places or the 'more expensive' ones (not that i like blowing my money) but they were my only escape from the city and the constant stares which in a polluted and non touristic city like Kanpur are most appreciated!!! (the calm places NOT the stares hehehe which i'll point out are not like those in metros or toursitic spots, but that's another subject!)
I had a good and bad experience living in Kanpur. very difficult but on certain levels very rewarding. Not however my prefered choice of residence in India given the option!

it would not be mine either to be fair...but i love being there ...the max though i have ever stayed has been about 2 weeks...maybe not long enough for the city to catch up with one...as an Indian i inherently have higher immunity and patience with such cities....

for sure Puchoo!!! and I bet you can walk around unnoticed too! (not you I'm suggesting you are not noticable! just that as an indian male, you'll not stick out like a sore thumb as i did)

in case you get a chance to visit IIT campus - it is a totally different not-definitely-kanpur experience .......... that one place stands out

yeah kanpur has some very good high end resturants, but still chung fa was my favorite

there were two more fantastic road side options:
1) beef kabab @ rs.8 per sheek at nai sadak road - the good thing was that it used to be open till 2 am at night
2) mutton curry sold @ rs.140/kilo (yes that's correct, it was sold by per kilo basis) beside natraj cinema at govind nagar

you can find foreigners in IIT and many other goverment funded research oriented institues in Kanpur

btw I read in another post of yours that you work in call center sort of job ........... i was not aware that kanpur had such call centers

I'm back in france now, but yes, Kanpur is up and booming in the call centre departement. Mainly domestic, but increasingly more international.
It's funny when delhi / Bangalore etc become too expensive and work is outsourced even further to smaller cities!
and yes, there are some foreigners in the IIT. I went there a couple of times but they almost never leave the campus (dont blame them) and if you live in the city centre you don't integrate into the iit life.
Life behind the protected walls of the clean, quiet iit is a far cry from the city itself.