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Recommended itinerary:

Last updated: 02 March, 2023
Expert travel writer: Amar Grover

Where to go and what to see in India’s Golden Triangle to get the most from your trip – a 10-day itinerary from destination expert and leading travel writer Amar Grover.

Editor note – Amar has not included specific recommendations of where to stay each day unless it’s necessary. Instead, see the ‘Where to stay’ section in our Agra, Delhi and Jaipur destination guides.

Start the day exploring New Delhi’s key landmarks such as Connaught Place, India Gate and the Parliament building before heading on to Hauz Khas.

Pause for a bite at The Tea Room From Blossom Kochhar (cafe-style menu) before wandering over to the medieval water tank and its clutch of monuments.

Time and stamina permitting, continue south to the striking Qutb Minar complex (whose fluted minaret you might have spotted while landing at Delhi). Cocktails and dinner – ‘modern Indian’ – at swanky Rooh.

Connaught Place
Experience

Connaught Place

Delhi, India

The distinctive concentric circles and radial roads of Connaught Place (officially renamed Rajiv Chowk in 2013 to honour assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi), mark the commercial heart of Delhi. Its curving two-storey buildings with classical facades were loosely modelled on Bath’s Royal Crescent.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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India Gate
Experience

India Gate

Delhi, India

Lutyens’s ‘triumphal arch’ is actually a war memorial to the many thousands of soldiers in the British Indian Army who died between 1914 and 1921. Inaugurated in 1931, it is illuminated each evening.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Parliament House
Experience

Parliament House

Delhi, India

Parliament House, or Sansad Bhavan, is home to India’s two houses of parliament. Designed by Lutyens and fellow architect Herbert Baker, its striking circular design features a central domed chamber and several subsidiary halls.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Raj history in Delhi

Delhi, India

Britain’s rule from 1858 to independence in 1947 known as the ‘Raj’ was a defining period in India’s history.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Humayun’s Tomb and the nearby Lodi Gardens make for an easy-going start to a full day before continuing to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum.

Adjourn for lunch (South Indian specialities) at the Ashoka Hotel’s Sagar Ratna before plunging into earthy Old Delhi. A rickshaw ride might take you to the Red Fort and Friday Mosque via Chandni Chowk and the Khari Baoli spice bazaar.

For traditional unfussy Mughlai cuisine, have dinner at the venerable Karim’s Restaurant.

Lodi Garden
Experience

Lodi Garden

Delhi, India

Among Delhi’s quietest and leafiest parks, Lodi Gardens contain several 15th- and 16th-century tombs and monuments, most relating to the Afghan Lodi dynasty, which was eventually replaced by the Mughals.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum
Experience

Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum

Delhi, India

The former bungalow residence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is now a slightly macabre museum. Assassinated here in 1984 by her bodyguards, even that very spot remains spotted with blood.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Cross the Yamuna River to the enormous Akshardham Temple complex before heading to the National Museum of India. Pause for lunch at Lazeez Affaire in Chanakyapuri.

For relaxed and varied shopping, several state government emporia around Baba Kharak Singh Marg along with Janpath’s Cottage Industries Emporium offer fixed-price handicrafts.

Enjoy dinner – Northwest Frontier cuisine – at Bukhara Restaurant (in the ITC Maurya Hotel).

If it’s a Thursday, consider an evening of spiritual music with the qawwals, or bards, at Nizamuddin’s tomb-shrine.

Qawwali singing

Delhi, India

A unique opportunity to experience traditional devotional music, performed in the courtyard of an ancient Sufi tomb-shrine in south Delhi.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free | 1 hour

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ITC Maurya Hotel

Delhi, India

A solid and dependable luxury hotel with top-notch facilities, including an ayurvedic spa, a lovely swimming pool and famous restaurants.

Official star rating:

An early departure (4-hour drive) should get you to Agra in time for an in-hotel lunch with the afternoon free to visit the Taj Mahal. Time permitting, consider a rowing-boat ride on the nearby Yamuna River for more memorable views.

Head on to Kinari Bazaar by early evening before dinner at Esphahan in the opulent Oberoi Amarvilas Hotel.

Taj Mahal

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

India’s iconic landmark and one of the world’s most beautiful buildings readily matches, if not exceeds, the hype. Built in 1653 by the great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to entomb his wife, Mumtaz.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

Kinari Bazaar

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

One of Agra’s cheeriest markets is a fun and colourful Aladdin’s cave of everything from cosmetics and perfume to decorative knick-knacks and artefacts.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

Agra’s finest hotel boasts unfussy luxury with uninterrupted views of the Taj Mahal and architecture of refined Mughal and Rajput design.

Official star rating:

Start the day at Agra Fort and possibly a first or second visit to Kinari Bazaar.

Adjourn for lunch at Chaat Gali, a well-known foodie street packed with eateries and stalls serving an array of mainly savoury snacks.

Continue to Fatehpur Sikri where ideally you’ll have the best part of an afternoon exploring the abandoned Mughal capital.

Dinner back in Agra at Deepee, a modest South Indian speciality restaurant.

Agra Fort

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

A symbol of Mughal military might, this massive, rust-red fort, built by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1573, is an almost self-contained royal city.

Best for ages: 13+ | £8

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Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

An atmospheric ‘ghost city’ that provides a fascinating and unique insight into the Mughal court, and superb example of Mughal planning and architecture.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

India’s Mughal Empire

India

One of India’s most celebrated empires and dynasties, which profoundly shaped the country’s history and culture, while leaving a distinctive and stunning architectural legacy.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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An early departure should see you in Jaipur by early afternoon (4.5 hours’ drive). Pause midway at Abhaneri village to visit its extraordinary step well.

Grab an alfresco bite from the varied eateries at Masala Chowk before spending the rest of the afternoon visiting Amber Fort just outside the city. The evening Son et Lumière (sound and light) show dramatises the fort’s history.

Dinner at Samode Haveli’s original elegant dining hall – a fine place to sample Rajasthani specialities.

Abhaneri Step Well

Abhaneri, Rajasthan, India

Superb and photogenic example of medieval step well architecture, a form once commonly used across Rajasthan and Gujarat states.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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Amber Fort

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

One of Rajasthan’s great maharaja fortress-palace complexes, dating back to the 16th century, set amidst a spectacular backdrop of stark hills.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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Samode Haveli

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

A beautiful boutique hotel combining heritage and romance in an atmospheric corner of the Old City.

Official star rating:

Jaipur’s Palace of Winds and especially the City Palace are two key sights that will comfortably fill a morning. Refuel after with lunch at the nearby Govindam Retreat.

Spend the afternoon shopping for Jaipur’s famed handicrafts at the Johari Bazaar plus surrounding areas – especially for fabric to jewellery.

After an early dinner at Handi, consider an evening of Bollywood-style entertainment at the landmark Raj Mandir cinema just down the road.

City Palace

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

A fascinating, and among the best-preserved palace complex in Rajasthan, set in the heart of Jaipur’s Old City.

Best for ages: 13+ | £2

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Palace of the Winds

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Designed to lend seclusion to ladies of the royal court, the intricate lattice-screened and salmon-pink facade of the Hawa Mahal, or ‘Palace of Winds’, is among the most iconic of Jaipur’s buildings.

Best for ages: 13+ | £1

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Johari Bazaar

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Vibrant Johari Bazaar encapsulates the city’s reputation as India’s main gemstone and jewellery centre, with artisans’ workshops dotting its lanes and alleys.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

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Raj Mandir Cinema

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

One of India’s most famous and flamboyant cinemas, it remains a Jaipur landmark and often screens movies to a full house.

Best for ages: 18+ | £1 | 90+ minutes

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With the three frenetic cities, and their top sites, all ticked off, it’s now time to escape to the wilderness for a tiger safari.

It’s a 3.5-hour drive to the Ranthambore National Park – aim to arrive after lunch to settle in and to join a mid-afternoon game drive, before dinner at your lodge.

Full days in Ranthambore typically involve morning (crack of dawn wake-ups) and afternoon game drives with free time either side of lunch to snooze or swim back in the lodge or hotel.

Although all tourist vehicles must exit the park between those drives, it’s sometimes possible for bolder visitors to remain inside – and almost the only reason for this would be to explore the atmospheric hilltop fort.

If heading back to Delhi, the superfast Shatabdi Express train is probably the best, and certainly the fastest, option (5 hours), or it’s an 8-hour drive.

Note – you could arrange your Ranthambore stay between the stops at Agra and Jaipur. This breaks up the cities better, and avoids the long trip back to Delhi. However, you’ll miss the Abhaneri step well stop between Jaipur and Agra.