Start in Old Delhi. The Taj is one train ride away.
Which Agra day trip really reaches the gate at sunrise. Whether the Gatimaan Express beats the expressway. What a rickshaw through Chandni Chowk should cost. Reviews of the tours you can book from India’s capital.
Delhitypically $45
Agratypically $68
Jaipurtypically $141 1h 40m on the Gatimaan3 to 4h on the expressway4 to 5h by road, Fatehpur Sikri on the way5 to 6h back to Delhi
by the Jaipur highway The Golden Triangle →
Four Delhi bookings most first trips are built on.
The Taj by car, Old Delhi on foot, the capital in a day and the three-city loop. What each costs and what the people who took it say.
01The Agra daySame Day Taj Mahal, Agra Fort & Baby Taj Tour from Delhi by CarA car from your hotel before dawn, the Taj, Agra Fort and the Baby Taj, and Delhi again by dinner.
02Old Delhi before the heatThe Great Indian Food Tour: Old Delhi Food and Heritage WalkStreet food and heritage on foot through the lanes behind Chandni Chowk. Arrive hungry, wear shoes you can wash.
03The capital in a dayOld & New Delhi City Tour – Half or Full Day Options AvailableThe Jama Masjid and the bazaars before lunch, Lutyens’ avenues and India Gate after it. Half-day versions too.
04Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in three3-Days Private Golden Triangle Tour: Delhi, Agra & Jaipur by CarThree days with a private driver: Delhi, the Taj at Agra, then the hill forts and pink walls of Jaipur.
Delhi to the Taj: dawn by car, the Gatimaan, or Fatehpur Sikri too.
Agra sits about 230 km down the Yamuna Expressway, and the Taj is closed every Friday. The ways to do it as a day from Delhi, and what each one typically costs a head.
Most booked from Delhi
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Same Day Taj Mahal, Agra Fort & Baby Taj Tour from Delhi by Car · from $62
At the east gate by dawnLeave Delhi around 3am and walk in as the marble turns pink.
By express trainUnder two hours to Agra by rail, a car waiting at the station.
With Fatehpur SikriAkbar’s abandoned red-sandstone capital, 40 km past Agra.
With the elephant sanctuaryRescued elephants near Mathura, folded into the Agra day.
All 474 Taj days out of Delhi →
Old Delhi is eaten on foot, one lane at a time.
Shah Jahan’s walled city still trades the way it did: spice sacks on Khari Baoli, silver in Dariba Kalan, parathas frying on Gali Paranthe Wali. Go with someone who knows which stall to stop at.
The days out Delhi visitors book more than any other.
The full Delhi list →Mostly Agra, some Old Delhi, one or two full-city days. What earns each of them its place.
1
Old & New Delhi City Tour – Half or Full Day Options Available
Choose a half-day visit to Old or New Delhi, or spend up to seven hours seeing both by private car. Expect Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid, spice market and tuk-tuk lanes, plus New Delhi landmarks such as Humayun’s Tomb and the Lotus Temple. Guides including Suhani, Vimal and Tabrej have led tours, though guide assignments are not guaranteed.
From · $38
Read our review →
2
Old & New Delhi City Tour – Choose Half or Full Day Experience
from $38
3
Same Day Taj Mahal, Agra Fort & Baby Taj Tour from Delhi by Car
from $62
4
Taj Mahal Day Tour from Delhi by Superfast Train – TOP RATED TOUR
from $100
5
Old and New Delhi Private Full or Half-Day Tour
6
Taj Mahal & Agra Private Day Trip with Transfers
7
Taj Mahal Tour from Delhi by Express Train (Viator Award Winner)
from $75
8
All Inclusive Private Taj Mahal Luxury Tour from Delhi by Car
from $62
Delhi, Agra, Jaipur: the loop most first trips to India run.
Every Golden Triangle tour →Three cities, roughly 720 km of road, usually five to seven days. Add Ranthambore for the tigers and the loop grows by two.
Delhi2 days · old city and new
Agra1 day · the Taj at dawnFatehpur Sikri2 hours · on the Jaipur road
Jaipur2 days · forts and the pink city
Ranthambore+ 2 days · tiger country The loops travellers book most:
Four Delhi bookings that hang on the day of the week.
Most of Delhi can be arranged the evening before. These four run to closing days and seasons that take no notice of when your flight lands.
- 01Sunrise Taj Mahal, Agra Fort & Baby Taj Tour from Delhi by CarThe Taj Mahal is closed every Friday. A sunrise visit means leaving Delhi around 3am, so book it the day before at the latest.
- 02Taj Mahal & Agra Tour by Gatimaan Express TrainThe Gatimaan Express runs every day except Friday, the same day the Taj shuts. Morning seats sell out first.
- 03Red Fort Delhi Entry tickets with Licensed Tour GuideThe Red Fort is closed on Mondays. A city tour booked for a Monday sees its walls from the road.
- 04Golden Triangle & Ranthambore: 4-Day Private Tour from DelhiThe core safari zones close for the monsoon, roughly July to September, and winter jeep seats go weeks ahead.
Inside Delhi, and the trips Delhi is the gateway to.
The walled city, the minaret in the south and the fort on the Yamuna, then the longer runs: the ghats at Varanasi, the Ganges at Rishikesh, the tiger country of Rajasthan.
What a day out from Delhi actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Plenty of the best Delhi mornings cost less than a hotel breakfast.
Old Delhi food walks, rickshaw rides, temple circuits and the capital in a day.
The Agra standards: the Taj by car or express train, Jaipur in one long day.
Multi-day Golden Triangle loops, tiger safaris and the private luxury runs.
Three things you will only find in and around Delhi.
Forts and bazaars turn up all over India. A kitchen that feeds anyone who sits down, a 1650s bazaar too narrow for cars, and a tiger reserve with a fort on its ridge do not.
Bangla Sahib and Akshardham
At Gurudwara Bangla Sahib the kitchen never closes: volunteers cook dal and roti for whoever sits down on the floor mats, thousands of plates a day, free. Across the Yamuna, Akshardham is a temple carved in pink sandstone and white marble, and phones and bags stay at the gate.
- 1Akshardham Temple Tour with Water and Light Show★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 313 reviews
- 2Old Delhi Food-Spice Market-Temples Tour Soon Featured on NETFLIX★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 304 reviews
- 3Old Delhi Temples and Spiritual Sites Private 6-Hour Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 204 reviews
A Rickshaw Through Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk was laid out in the 1650s as Shah Jahan’s processional avenue, and the lanes off it are still too narrow for a car. A cycle rickshaw is the sensible way through: the driver finds the gap while wedding saris, brass pots and spice sacks pass at elbow height.
- 1Old Delhi Food, Heritage&Cultural Walk with Rickshaw ride to Masterji Kee Haveli★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 742 reviews
- 2Old Delhi Street Food Tour with Rickshaw Ride★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 403 reviews
- 3Delhi Food Walk: Rickshaw Ride, Street Eats & Market Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 401 reviews
Ranthambore
Once the hunting ground of the Jaipur maharajas, now one of the likeliest places in India to see a wild tiger, with a thousand-year-old fort on the ridge above the lakes. Safaris run morning and afternoon in open jeeps or larger canters, and the zone you are allotted decides most of your luck.
- 1Golden Triangle & Ranthambore: 4-Day Private Tour from Delhi★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 355 reviews
- 2Private 4-Day Golden Triangle Tour with Ranthambore Tiger Safari★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 248 reviews
- 3Private 5-Day Ranthambhore Tiger Tour from Delhi including the Taj Mahal, Agra and Jaipur★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 197 reviews
Delhi runs at 45°C in May and vanishes into fog in January.
Summer afternoons in the capital are for air-conditioning, and winter fog can hold the morning trains to Agra for hours. Either way the plan is the same: walk early, then go indoors. Kitchens, gurdwaras, covered bazaars and a long lunch.
By place: the capital and the roads out of it
By kind of day: on foot, by rickshaw, by train or at the table
Delhi tours we reviewed most recently.
More new Delhi reviews →
Taj Mahal Day Tour with Private Car and Driver from New Delhi
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Old & New Delhi City Private Full Day or Half Day Tour
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Old Delhi Morning – Fun, Food & Faith all inclusive private tour
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Cooking Demo + Lunch/Dinner and interaction with an Indian family @ Chez Anjali
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Half-Day Premium Classic Old Delhi Cycling Tour – Unity in Diversity
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City Tour of Old & New Delhi – Experience the best of Delhi!
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