Delhi: Golden Triangle 8-Day Tour with Taj Mahal

Eight days for three cities

Most people do this route in four or five days. Eight is for travellers who would rather see three cities properly than five cities from a car window — and it is the length at which Delhi stops being an airport with monuments attached.

Delhi

Qutub Minar, begun in 1193 by the first sultan of Delhi: 73 metres of fluted red sandstone, the tallest brick minaret in the world. In its courtyard the iron pillar, made in the 4th century under the Guptas and still barely rusted after sixteen hundred years in the open air.

Humayun's Tomb, commissioned in 1565 by the emperor's widow and designed by a Persian architect: the first Mughal garden tomb in India, with the four-part charbagh and double dome that the Taj repeated sixty years later at greater scale. UNESCO restored its water channels over ten years; they work again.

Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid in the walled city, and with eight days there is room for the stepwell at Agrasen ki Baoli, the Lodhi Garden tombs, and the Sufi shrine at Nizamuddin where qawwali is sung on Thursday evenings.

Agra

The Taj Mahal, at sunrise and again in the late afternoon — genuinely different buildings. Agra Fort, with the tower where Shah Jahan spent his last eight years imprisoned by his son.

And the two sites the short trips drop: the Baby Taj, the 1620s marble tomb that introduced pietra dura to India, and Mehtab Bagh across the river for the reflection at sunset.

Fatehpur Sikri on the road west.

Jaipur

Amber Fort, Jaigarh above it with the largest wheeled cannon ever cast, Nahargarh at sunset, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal — plus the bazaars, where the gem cutters, block printers and bangle makers still work.

Practical

Private transport throughout with licensed local guides.

The Taj is closed on Fridays. Entrance fees and meals are separate unless stated.