From Delhi-Overnight Agra/Taj Mahal Tour with Fatehpur Sikri

One night, and three UNESCO sites without a sprint

The day-trip version of this itinerary crams the Taj, the fort and Fatehpur Sikri into thirteen hours with seven of them in a car. A night in Agra gives you the Taj at sunrise and Fatehpur Sikri with a clear morning instead.

Day 1: Delhi to Agra

Pickup from your hotel or the airport, then the Yamuna Expressway — three to four hours.

Agra Fort in the afternoon with your guide. Akbar began it in 1565 in red sandstone; Shah Jahan replaced much of the interior in marble. The Diwan-i-Am, the Khas Mahal, the Sheesh Mahal, and the Musamman Burj where Aurangzeb held his father prisoner for eight years with the Taj in view down the river.

Mehtab Bagh at sunset — the Mughal garden directly across the Yamuna, laid out on the Taj's exact axis. It is where the reflection photographs come from, and the only place you can frame the building with water and no crowd.

Night in Agra.

Day 2: sunrise, then Fatehpur Sikri

The Taj Mahal as the gates open. Grey, then pink, then white, with a fraction of the mid-morning crowd.

Your guide will show you the calligraphy cut larger as it rises so it reads evenly from the ground, the pietra dura flowers of dozens of stones, the minarets tilted outward so an earthquake would take them clear of the tomb, and the single break in the symmetry.

Then west 40 km to Fatehpur Sikri: Akbar's capital, built 1571 and abandoned 1585 when the water failed, and complete because of it. The 54-metre Buland Darwaza, the Panch Mahal stepping back through five open storeys, the Diwan-i-Khas with its single carved pillar, and the marble dargah of Salim Chishti.

Back to Delhi in the evening.

Three options

Car, driver and guide with your own room; or with a three-star or five-star hotel, entry tickets and guiding included.

The Taj is closed on Fridays.