Agra: Taj Mahal Entry Tickets for Indian & Foreign Visitors

Tickets and a guide, nothing else

A short, cheap booking that solves the two irritating parts of visiting the Taj: the ticket counter, and standing in front of the world's most famous tomb with no idea what you are looking at.

The listing carries both the Indian and the foreign national ticket rates, which is worth noting — Indian nationals pay a fraction of the foreign price, and residents or OCI holders should book the right option rather than overpaying.

What is included

The entry ticket at your rate, and a licensed local guide who meets you at the gate. Car and driver on the fuller option.

What nobody can skip

Security. Everyone is screened and the prohibited list is enforced without discussion: no tripods, no drones, no food, no large bags, no lighters. Phones and small cameras are fine. There are lockers at the entrance.

Inside

Through the Darwaza-i-Rauza, the great red sandstone gateway, where the Taj appears in the arch and — by deliberate design — appears to shrink as you walk toward it.

Then the charbagh, the four-part garden divided by water channels, with the tomb reflecting down the length of the central pool.

At the plinth: the calligraphy on the main arch, cut in increasing sizes so it reads uniformly from the ground; the pietra dura inlay of cornelian, jasper, lapis and jade, sometimes sixty pieces in a single flower; and the four minarets, tilted very slightly outward so an earthquake would take them away from the tomb.

Inside the chamber, the carved jali screen and the two cenotaphs — the real graves are sealed in the crypt below — and the one asymmetry in the whole composition: Shah Jahan's own tomb, placed off-centre by his son.

Three options

Guide only; the Indian-rate ticket with a guide; or the foreign-national ticket with a guide and car.

Practical

Closed every Friday. Around two and a half hours. The first hour after opening is the best of the day.