From Delhi: 5 Days Delhi, Agra & Jaipur Golden Triangle Tour

Five days, starting in Old Delhi rather than driving past it

The first day here is the one worth noting: it spends real time in the walled city instead of a photo stop, which is where Delhi actually is.

Day 1: Delhi

Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, finished in 1656 — red sandstone and marble, with a courtyard for twenty-five thousand people.

A cycle rickshaw through Chandni Chowk, which is the only sensible way to travel that street: laid out in the 1650s by Shah Jahan's daughter with a canal down the middle that reflected the moon, and still organised trade by trade — silver in Dariba Kalan, spices in Khari Baoli, the largest spice market in Asia.

The Red Fort from outside or in, depending on the day; it is closed on Mondays.

Lunch at a multi-cuisine restaurant, then Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, whose free kitchen feeds ten to twenty thousand people every day, cooked entirely by volunteers. Head covered, shoes off, feet washed on the way in — scarves are free at the door.

Days 2–3: Agra

The Taj Mahal, best at sunrise, and Agra Fort with the Musamman Burj where Shah Jahan spent his last eight years as Aurangzeb's prisoner, looking at his wife's tomb along the river.

Fatehpur Sikri on the drive west: Akbar's capital of 1571, abandoned after fourteen years when the water supply failed.

Days 4–5: Jaipur

Amber Fort above Maota Lake with the Sheesh Mahal, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal — and an evening in the bazaars, where the city's gem cutters and lac-bangle makers still work, before the return to Delhi.

Three options

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

Practical

The Taj is closed on Fridays; the Red Fort on Mondays. Both are worked around your dates.

Entrance fees are separate unless your option includes them.