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Bucket list trip:

Last updated: 21 June, 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

Delhi, India

Connaught Place

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+

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India Gate

Delhi, India

India Gate

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+

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Parliament House, Delhi

Delhi, India

Parliament House, Delhi

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+

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Raj history in Delhi

Delhi, India

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Bucket List Experience
Exterior view of Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, is the official residence of the President of 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+

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.

Humayun’s Tomb

Delhi, India

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Bucket List Experience
Humayun’s Tomb

Stunning mausoleum and precursor to the Taj Mahal, with tranquil well-maintained gardens.

Adult price: £1

Best for ages 13+

Lodi Garden

Delhi, India

Lodi Garden

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+

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Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum

Delhi, India

Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum

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+

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Rickshaw ride in Old Delhi

Delhi, India

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Bucket List Experience
Rickshaw ride in Old Delhi

Hire a cycle rickshaw for a genuine, earthy experience of Old Delhi’s atmospheric backstreets.

Adult price: £1

Best for ages 8+

Duration: 15+ minutes

Red Fort

Delhi, India

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Bucket List Experience
Red Fort

Vast sandstone-walled fort with gardens, audience halls and royal apartments – a high point of Mughal military architecture.

Adult price: £5

Best for ages 13+

Friday Mosque

Delhi, India

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Bucket List Experience
Friday Mosque

Completed in 1656 by Emperor Shah Jahan, this is one of India’s largest and most beautiful mosques.

Adult price: £3

Best for ages 18+

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.

National Museum of India

Delhi, India

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Bucket List Experience
National Museum of India

The National Museum houses five millennia’s worth of Indian culture alongside an eclectic collection of its celebrated art forms.

Adult price: £7

Best for ages 13+

Qawwali singing

Delhi, India

Qawwali singing

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+

Duration: 1 hour

When: Daily

Frequency: daily

ITC Maurya Hotel

Delhi, India

|Official star rating:

ITC Maurya Hotel

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

Average £240

Extra beds

Pool

2+ bedrooms

Beach

Kids menu

Fitness center

Kids club

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

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Bucket List Experience
Taj Mahal

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 10+

Kinari Bazaar

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

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Bucket List Experience
Kinari Bazaar

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+

The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

|Official star rating:

The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

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

Average £800

Extra beds

Pool

2+ bedrooms

Beach

Kids menu

Fitness center

Kids club

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

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Bucket List Experience
Agra Fort

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.

Adult price: £8

Best for ages 13+

Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

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Bucket List Experience
Fatehpur Sikri

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+

India’s Mughal Empire

India

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Bucket List Experience
India’s Mughal Empire

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+

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

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Bucket List Experience
Abhaneri Step Well

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

Best for ages 13+

Amber Fort

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Bucket List Experience
Amber Fort

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+

Samode Haveli

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

|Official star rating:

Samode Haveli

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

Average £300

Extra beds

Pool

2+ bedrooms

Beach

Kids menu

Fitness center

Kids club

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

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Bucket List Experience
City Palace

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

Adult price: £2

Best for ages 13+

Palace of the Winds

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Bucket List Experience
Palace of the Winds

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

Adult price: £1

Best for ages 13+

Johari Bazaar

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Bucket List Experience
Johari Bazaar

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+

Raj Mandir Cinema

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Bucket List Experience
Raj Mandir Cinema

Experience the Bollywood phenomenon at one of India’s most famous and flamboyant cinemas. It remains a Jaipur landmark and often screens movies to a full house.

Adult price: £1

Best for ages 18+

Duration: 90+ minutes

When: 4x Daily

Frequency: daily

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.

Tiger safari in Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan, India

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Bucket List Experience
Tiger safari in Ranthambore National Park

Experience the thrill of spotting one of the world’s last remaining wild tigers on a game drive in the Ranthambore National Park, one of India’s most picturesque and easily-visited reserves.

Adult price: £25

Best for ages 8+

Duration: 3 hours

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.

Tiger safari in Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan, India

|
Bucket List Experience
Tiger safari in Ranthambore National Park

Experience the thrill of spotting one of the world’s last remaining wild tigers on a game drive in the Ranthambore National Park, one of India’s most picturesque and easily-visited reserves.

Adult price: £25

Best for ages 8+

Duration: 3 hours

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.