Vrindavan and the Taj

Your driver collects you from your Delhi hotel early, as the road south is easiest before eight.

• Mathura and Vrindavan are roughly three hours away, with a break for tea on the highway.
• In Mathura your guide takes you to the Krishna Janmabhoomi complex, which has security checks, so carry only a small bag and no cameras or phones in some sections.
• Allow about an hour, then see the riverfront at Vishram Ghat, where pilgrims bathe and aarti is held at dusk.
• The short drive to Vrindavan follows.
• Here the guide leads you through lanes of temples such as Banke Bihari, which is crowded and best visited with a guide holding the pace.
• A quieter stop is the Prem Mandir complex, whose white marble looks best in the evening light.
• Dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and expect to remove shoes.
• Lunch is simple vegetarian food in a local restaurant.
• Dinner and the night are in Vrindavan.

A calm morning in Vrindavan lets you see what the town looks like before the day crowds arrive.

• Walk by the Yamuna riverbank, or watch the early rituals at one of the older temples.
• Monkeys here are bold, so keep glasses and bags close.
• After breakfast, drive to Agra, roughly ninety minutes to two hours.
• Check in, rest for lunch, and in the afternoon meet your Agra guide at Agra Fort.
• The red sandstone fortress holds the audience halls and marble terraces, and from the Musamman Burj you get the first view of the Taj across the river.
• Spend about two hours inside.
• Then drive to Mehtab Bagh, the garden on the far bank, to see the Taj at sunset from a distance, with less company.
• It stays open on Fridays.
• Dinner is at your hotel or in town, and you sleep early because tomorrow starts with the Taj.

Your guide meets you early so you enter the Taj Mahal as the gates open.

• The marble is cooler then, the light shifts through the morning, and the crowds are lighter.
• Walk the garden first, then climb to the platform and look closely at the inlay and the calligraphy.
• Allow about two hours.
• Return to the hotel for breakfast and checkout.
• The Taj is closed on Fridays, so if this morning falls on a Friday we plan the order differently and tell you in advance.
• In December and January the building may be hidden in fog at dawn, though it often clears by midmorning.
• After checkout, the driver heads to Delhi, roughly four hours on the expressway, with a lunch stop on the way.
• You are dropped at your hotel, at the airport or at the station for your onward train.