3-Days Delhi, Agra and Jaipur Tour - India Golden Triangle

Three days, done in the right order

This is the tightest sensible version of the Golden Triangle. One night in Agra, one in Jaipur, and the two long drives falling between cities rather than inside a day — which is the difference between a trip and a blur.

Day one: Delhi, then Agra

The capital in the morning. Qutub Minar, 73 metres of 12th-century brickwork with the famously rust-free iron pillar in its courtyard. Humayun's Tomb — built in the 1560s by the emperor's widow, the first great Mughal garden tomb in India, and the direct architectural parent of the Taj sixty years later. India Gate and the drive down Rajpath.

Then the Yamuna Expressway, about three and a half hours.

Day two: Agra, then Jaipur

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, when the gates open half an hour before the sun and the marble runs grey to pink to white. 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 inlaid stones, and the minarets tilted outward so an earthquake would drop them clear of the tomb.

Agra Fort afterwards — Akbar's red sandstone of 1565, Shah Jahan's marble inside, and the tower where he died a prisoner of his own son.

Fatehpur Sikri on the drive west: the Buland Darwaza, the Panch Mahal, and the marble dargah of Salim Chishti.

Day three: Jaipur

Amber Fort before the coaches arrive, then Jal Mahal from the causeway, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar, and the Hawa Mahal. Back to Delhi in the evening.

Three options

Car, driver and guides alone, or with three-star or four-star hotels.

Practical

The Taj is closed on Fridays. Roughly 700 km of driving across the three days, all on good highway.