Golden Triangle India: Your Guide

About India’s Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle India, is a popular route for travelling in Northern India. The route receives a mixed bag of feedback as it is tourist-heavy but I would still highly recommend if you follow a few of my learned tips…

Why is it called India’s Golden Triangle?

The Golden Triangle India is the route connecting New Delhi (India’s capital), Agra & Jaipur (the capital of Rajasthan); it is almost an equilateral triangle that these cities make when plotted on the map & is referred to as ‘golden’ due to its abundance of rich history & culture.

Each point of The Golden Triangle is about 4-5 hours from one another. It’s 196km from New Delhi to Agra, 232km from Agra to Jaipur, & 262km from Jaipur to New Delhi.

 

How long does it take to do The Golden Triangle India?

You can travel The Golden Triangle India in as few as 5 days. Personally, I spent 8 full days travelling (with a further 1/2 days for travelling from the UK to India & back, as the flight is around 9 hours.

If you are limited on the time you can take off work, you can definitely fit this trip in to a one week holiday! Just don’t expect to be that well-rested as there is a lot of travel involved & these three cities are pretty non-stop. That’s why I recommend splashing out a little (pretty much equivalent to a hotel in the UK for 5* luxury) to unwind at the end of a long day.

If you are looking to fit this trip into one week, then this is how I would advise you spend your time:

• • Day 1 – Arrive in Delhi in the morning & explore
  • 2 – Explore Delhi
  • 3 – Travel from Delhi to Agra in the morning & explore
  • 4 – Travel from Agra to Jaipur in the afternoon
  • 5 – Explore Jaipur
  • 6 – Explore Jaipur & travel home

Your Golden Triangle India Itinerary

Kick off the trip in Delhi

I flew from London Heathrow to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. I got a pretty good deal from using a BA Companion Voucher, so it was only £115, but flights are really reasonable to do the Golden Triangle India in September as they are still in monsoon season & just approaching peak season. Flights were around £400 on Skyscanner return during September.

Arriving in Delhi, my base was the Maidens Hotel, which is a charming spot with a very warm welcome (think men in dress opening your car door & helping with bags, & refreshing spritz drinks on arrival in the lobby). It is a grand hotel, although it is a little trad.

Delhi is bustling & well-connected; you really can’t beat the metro & cheap rickshaws for getting around. If you stay at Maidens Hotel, then it is just outside the city centre & has pretty handy transport links, as it’s right next to Civil Lines Metro. It is very cheap to get around in Delhi, Agra & Jaipur.

Arriving in Delhi

Arriving in Delhi is, quite frankly, a bit of an assault on the senses. It is a bustling city, it is very dirty & dusty, it gets very hot, it is very loud, the roads are chaotic with rickshaws, cars, people, cows & bikes, & there are a lot of smells (both delicious ones & the not-so-nice). I should also note that there is a huge amount of homelessness, with locals sleeping on the streets (in shorts with no shoes or tops, directly on the pavement) & many sleeping in their rickshaws. Whilst it’s rather overwhelming & intimidating initially, the city generally feels pretty safe. I do, however, recommend a cross-over bag for days out as opposed to a backpack as, if you are white like myself, lots of people stroke your skin & will get very close to you (more on that later).

In Delhi, you can see the main attractions & get a sense of the place in just two days.

Day 1 – Explore Old Delhi. These places are all near to each other:

• • Go to the Red Fort early to avoid the crowds of tourists.

• • Visit Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque in India. This is well worth a visit!

• • Hire a Cycle Rickshaw through Chandni Chowk (the gated & sprawling market area in Old Delhi). You can pick one up at Lal Quila Metro (just by the gates of Chandni Chowk) or outside Jama Masjid for just 200R for 30 mins (about £2). This is a great way to see the markets & get a sense of Delhi on your first day. Our Rickshaw Driver stopped off in a few places for us to explore too but be mindful of them taking you to shops for commission.

• • Stop at Karim’s for lunch. It is unassuming & feels a little grotty, however, the food is incredible & very cheap (& spicy)…

• • If you have time, you can also stop at Raj Ghat nearby, which is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.

Day 2 – See the historical sites. I would pick & choose as you can get a bit temple-d out. I have added the distance between each place for ease:

• • Qutub Complex Heritage Site (only need to spend about 30 minutes to an hour here)

• • Lotus Temple (20 minute drive from Qutub)

• • ISKCON Krishna Temple (18 mins walk through Astha Kunj Park)

• • Humuyan’s Tomb (14 min drive)

• • Purana Qile, the oldest fort in Delhi (9 min drive) (Spend 1-2h here)

• • India Gate (9 min drive)

• • Gurudwara Sri Bangla Sahib, the largest Sikh temple in Delhi (9 min drive)

• • Laksmi Narayan Birla Temple, a Hindu temple (5 min drive)

• • Then head to Akshardham Hindu Temple for their water & lightshow. I would recommend arriving for the sunset & then staying for the lightshow, which starts at 7.15pm (21 min drive)

• • In the evening, I would recommend going for some drinks around Connaught Place & then a restaurant that is an absolute MUST for you to visit is Kwality. Their Instagram doesn’t even do the place justice – It is a swanky-feeling restaurant without the price tag. Their chicken curry & mutton rogan josh are from out of this world.

Moving on to agra

Agra is where the Taj Mahal is & obviously, it is a must-see on the Golden Triangle India. It is a wonder of the world & it certainly deserves that title. That said, Agra, as a city, is less of a must-see. I was advised by multiple travel blogs & friends to stay one night but did not listen & booked two nights as I was worried it was a lot of travel to fit in to two days. Fortunately, booking.com in India is very flexible with a 24 hour cancellation policy & so, I could move some things around as genuinely… YOU. ONLY. NEED. ONE. NIGHT.

Day 3: Travel to Agra

I got the train from Delhi, which is an experience in itself. Download the ‘Ixigo‘ app for train times as I found it the best for working out routes. Although it is important to note that trains do not tend to run on time & sometimes, just happen to not exist! You will need to get the train from Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin (NZM) to Agra Cantt (AGC). Or from New Delhi (NDLS) to Agra Cantt (AGC).

I travelled from Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin. If you also plan on travelling from Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin & you want to get a cabin to yourself or a cabin with up to 6 people (as opposed to the main carriage, which is packed to the brim), then you need to go to the North end of the station, not the main ticket office at the front entrance.

If opting for 1st class, you need to get the ticket called ‘1A’. It is about 1175 rupees, which is equivalent to about £11 in 2024. It is very comfortable in the private cabins, there are beds so you can lie down & you can buy food from vendors that jump on the trains at stops.

Whilst the train quotes only 2h10 on the fast train, my train took nearly 6 hours. Plus, the process of buying tickets is very time consuming & they only take cash so ensure that you leave a lot of time & already have cash on you (as you won’t want to pop out at the station to get some like I did… As there are a lot of people begging there & it does feel a little sketchy). The station is very very busy & was the first time in India that I felt a little uneasy & unsafe.

Once in Agra…

Once you arrive at Agra Cantt, it is very easy to get either an uber or rickshaw from the station. This only takes about 15 minutes to the area by the Taj Mahal. I advise getting a rickshaw driver so that you can take their number for your tour the next day.

If you arrive in good time, then go to view the Taj Mahal at sunset. There is a viewing spot at Moonlight Garden (Mehtab Bagh) where you can watch the sunset, which is a great view from the opposite side of Yamuna River.

I would advise staying near to the Taj Mahal. I stayed at The Taj Hotel & Convention Centre, which is a beautiful (if not a little corporate) hotel, which is immaculate & has views of The Taj Mahal at the rooftop pool. Another option (which is where I originally intended on staying, but with all of my date moves, I had to cancel), is called The Coral House Homestay. It looks very very cute, it’s very reasonably prices, they cook all of their own food & it’s only 700 metes from the Taj Mahal.

Day 4 – Explore Agra & travel from Agra to Jaipur in the afternoon

Hire a rickshaw driver for the day & have them take you to the Taj Mahal for sunrise. I was advised that ideally you want to go to the south or east garden as the west can be very busy… Although, at sunrise, you should be okay at any.

The Taj Mahal is truly magnificent, & even in the terrible weather that I experienced during my visit there, it was incredible.

The benefits of going so early are that you see the sunrise over the Taj Mahal & you miss the crowds… So if you want a spot on the Diana seat without a long queue or swathes of people in the background, the early morning is your time to shine.

I would spend about 3 hours here so that you can walk around the grounds & go inside the Taj Mahal.

After the Taj Mahal…

Next, drive to Agra Fort (6 minutes away from Taj Mahal) & walk around the huge fort here. I would spend 2-3 hours there. There are quite a lot of monkeys there, which are fun to watch but be careful about getting too close.

We were followed around by groups of people wanting to take photos with us the entire time. Not sure if this is common at the fort but just a note!

Our rickshaw driver then took us to his friend’s mosaic & marble shop. I usually avoid gimmicks like this, but it was actually so interesting, so if you are offered, I would advise going! They made everything by hand & it’s pretty impressive. Plus, a great spot for purchasing some gifts.

& your final destnation, Jaipur

That same evening, we booked an ‘Uber Intercity’ from Agra to Jaipur. You book this via the Uber app. Opt for a big car as ours was pretty snug & the journey takes about 5 hours. It sounds like a lot of travel in two days but it really didn’t feel bad at all. Plus, you have time to relax in Jaipur.

There is the Tomb of Akbar en route if you fancy it but as we were in an Uber with all of our bags, we opted not to.

On the first night, we stayed ay Alsisar Haveli. It is reasonably priced, centrally located, & has beautiful communal areas, but the rooms are a bit grubby & outdated. I would not really recommend. Another evening of moving around booking.com reservations commenced…

Head to Galta Ji monkey temple. You walk up to the sun temple & then down to the Galta Ji temple. This place is absolutely heaving with monkeys & I highly recommend it.

Day 5 – Explore Jaipur city & Gaitor Ki Chhatriyan

It is pretty safe to walk around Jaipur & there are lots of side walks (unlike Delhi) so if you enjoy walking, I would get around the city by foot mostly. On day 1, spend the morning exploring the city

Start at The City Palace. You can either book an ‘entry only’ ticket or a tour with a guide. I opted for entry only, as the tour guides were quite pricey, but turns out you don’t get access to the ‘Blue Room‘ without a guide so I would say it is worth paying. I would say that the Palace isn’t wildly interesting or impressive without the visit to the Blue Room… Spend about 2 hours here max if just touring the main Palace.

Next, head to Hawa Mahal, Palace of the Winds, which is a 6 minute walk from the City Palace. I did not go inside but there is the option to. I hear it’s just good for views of the city as opposed to anything impressive inside.

Walk through Johri Bazaar, the jewellery centre. Jaipur is famous for gemstones so this is a good place to pick up some well-priced jewellery. There is also Bapu Bazaar, which is great for textiles. You can barter on price in both places as they often have a local & a tourist price.

To finish the morning, stop via the Albert Hall Museum & spend about an hour here.

In the afternoon…

I would then spend the afternoon at Gaitor Ki Chhatriyan, the royal crematory & shrine of the Maharaja. And if you’re feeling up to it, go up to Nahagarh Fort for food & to watch the sunset. We walked up, which was lovely but very hot!

Make sure you get down promptly after though as we ended up having to jump on some person’s TukTuk, which wasn’t very safe…

Day 6 – Explore Jaipur (hill day)

Go up to Amber Palace to explore & watch the sunrise there. There is also the option to take an elephant up to the entrance. I would explore here for about 2 hours.

Then head to Panna Meena Ka Kund for a photo of the step well there.

If you’re feel up for another fort, then Jaigarh Fort is another 36 minute walk up from Panna Meena Ka Kund.

Then stop to look at Jal Mahal water palace on your way back down; The former hunting palace for the maharaja.

If you’re not completely spent by the afternoon then you can get a 5 minute TukTuk to see Birla Mandir temple, where they may have an evening puja on, & Patrika Gate, which is a great spot for photos.

You can then fly home as your have completed Golden Triangle India! I actually flew down to Udaipur to finish my trip, which is so beautiful. Blog will be up soon.

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