Classic Golden Triangle Tour from Delhi – 5 Days 4 Nights

Five days, four nights, and the queues handled

The standard route done with the entries pre-booked, which is the difference between arriving at Amber Fort and walking in versus arriving at Amber Fort and standing in the sun for half an hour.

Day 1: Delhi

Qutub Minar, begun in 1193 — 73 metres of fluted red sandstone and brick, the tallest minaret of its kind in the world, standing in a courtyard built from the stone of twenty-seven dismantled temples. The iron pillar beside it is 4th century and still barely rusted.

Humayun's Tomb, built in the 1560s by the emperor's widow: the first great Mughal garden tomb in India, and the direct model for the Taj sixty years later.

India Gate and the Lutyens axis, and Old Delhi if the day allows.

Day 2: Delhi to Agra

The expressway, then Agra Fort — Akbar's red sandstone city of 1565 with Shah Jahan's marble palaces inside, and the Musamman Burj where Aurangzeb held his father prisoner for eight years within sight of the Taj.

Day 3: Agra

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, with skip-the-line entry. The marble reads grey, then pink, then a cold white as the sun clears the Yamuna.

Your guide covers the calligraphy sized larger as it rises so it reads evenly from the ground, the pietra dura of up to sixty stones per flower, the minarets tilted outward to fall clear of the tomb, and the single break in the symmetry.

Day 4: Agra to Jaipur

Fatehpur Sikri on the road — Akbar's abandoned capital, standing as he left it in 1585.

Day 5: Jaipur, then Delhi

Amber Fort early with pre-booked entry, then Jal Mahal, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal.

Practical

Private transfers throughout with licensed local guides, and skip-the-line entries at the major sites.

The Taj is closed on Fridays.