Delhi: 3-Day Private Golden Triangle Experience with Hotel

Three days, arranged so nothing is wasted

Delhi sightseeing on the morning of day one and the drive to Agra in the afternoon. That is what makes a three-day Golden Triangle work rather than feel like a race.

Day 1: Delhi, then Agra

Pickup from your hotel, airport or railway station.

Qutub Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site begun in 1193 — 73 metres of fluted red sandstone and brick, the tallest minaret of its kind anywhere. In its courtyard the iron pillar, made in the 4th century under the Gupta emperors and still barely rusted after more than sixteen hundred years in the open air.

Humayun's Tomb, built in the 1560s by the emperor's widow: the first great Mughal garden tomb in India, with the four-part charbagh split by water channels and the double dome that the Taj repeated at greater scale.

India Gate, and Old Delhi if the timing allows.

Then the Yamuna Expressway.

Day 2: Agra, then Jaipur

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, when the gates open half an hour before the sun and the marble moves from grey through pink to white.

Agra Fort afterwards, and the Musamman Burj — the tower where Aurangzeb imprisoned his father for the last eight years of his life, with the Taj visible along the river.

Fatehpur Sikri on the road west.

Day 3: Jaipur

Amber Fort early, then Jal Mahal from the causeway, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal, and the drive back to Delhi.

Three options

Private car and guide; or with three-star or four-star hotel accommodation.

Practical

The Taj is closed on Fridays, which determines how the three days are ordered.

Entrance fees are separate unless stated — roughly ₹2,600 a head for a foreign adult across the three cities.