From Delhi: 5-Days Private Golden Triangle Tour with Hotel

Five days, starting with the contrast

Day one puts Old and New Delhi side by side, which is the right way in: Shah Jahan's walled city of 1648 with lanes three metres wide, and Lutyens's imperial grid of 1931 with avenues sixty metres wide. Two cities sharing a name.

Day 1: Delhi

Arrival and hotel check-in, then the Red Fort as a photo stop and the lanes of Chandni Chowk by rickshaw — still organised trade by trade, with silver in Dariba Kalan and the spice halls of Khari Baoli.

Then the New Delhi side: India Gate, the drive past Rashtrapati Bhavan, Humayun's Tomb and Qutub Minar.

Day 2: Delhi to Agra

The Yamuna Expressway, about three and a half hours, with Agra Fort on arrival — and Mehtab Bagh across the river at sunset if the light holds, for the reflection view of the Taj.

Day 3: Agra

The Taj Mahal at sunrise. Shah Jahan began it in 1632; twenty-two years, twenty thousand workers, marble from Makrana 400 km away.

The calligraphy cut in increasing sizes so it reads uniformly from below; the pietra dura inlay of dozens of stones per flower; the four minarets, tilted outward so an earthquake would take them clear of the tomb; and the single asymmetry — Shah Jahan's own cenotaph, placed off-axis by his son.

Day 4: Agra to Jaipur

Fatehpur Sikri on the road: the Buland Darwaza, the Panch Mahal, the Diwan-i-Khas with its single carved pillar, and the marble dargah of Salim Chishti.

Day 5: Jaipur, then Delhi

Amber Fort early, then Jal Mahal, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal.

Three options

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

Practical

The Taj is closed on Fridays; the Red Fort on Mondays. Entrance fees are separate unless stated.