India

India, in a few days

Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur, across the Golden Triangle and into Rajasthan: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Delhi

Days 1-2

A capital in layers, Mughal then colonial. The Red Fort, the Qutub Minar and India Gate all stand within a few miles of one another.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Old Delhi by rickshaw, guidedHalf day · from €25
  The lanes behind Chandni Chowk at cycle speed, which is the only speed that works there.
• Qutub Minar and Humayun's TombHalf day · from €30
  A brick minaret begun in 1193 and the garden tomb of 1572 that gave the Taj Mahal its plan.

✦ Free to visit

• India Gate
• Chandni Chowk market
• The Lotus Temple
• The city gardens

📲 Book things to do in Delhi on GetYourGuide

2

Agra and the Taj Mahal

Day 3 · 🚗 Car 4h

The Taj Mahal was finished in 1653, a marble mausoleum raised by Shah Jahan for his wife. The city grew around it and still lives off it.

🎟️ Worth booking

• The Taj Mahal at sunrise, guidedHalf day · from €35
  First light turns the marble from grey to pink to white in about an hour. Go early, and go with someone who can read the inlay.
• Agra Fort2h · from €15
  The red sandstone fort where Shah Jahan spent his last years as a prisoner, with a view of the tomb he had built.

✦ Free to visit

• The Taj seen across the river from Mehtab Bagh
• The bazaars
• Itimad-ud-Daulah, from outside

📲 Book things to do in Agra and the Taj Mahal on GetYourGuide

3

Jaipur, the pink city

Days 4-6 · 🚗 Car 4h30

Painted pink in 1876 to welcome a royal visitor, and repainted ever since. Amber Fort holds the ridge above town, Hawa Mahal the middle of it.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Amber Fort and the City Palace, guidedFull day · from €40
  A full day between the hill fortress above Jaipur and the working palace the royal family still occupies in part.
• Dyeing workshop and the bazaarsHalf day · from €25
  How the cloth gets its colour, then the streets where it is sold, sorted by trade as they have been for centuries.

✦ Free to visit

• The facade of Hawa Mahal
• Jantar Mantar, from outside
• The colour of the markets
• Man Sagar Lake and its sunken palace

📲 Book things to do in Jaipur, the pink city on GetYourGuide

4

Udaipur, the city of lakes

Days 7-10 · 🚗 Car 6h

The old Rajput capital, built around Lake Pichola, where the palaces sit low enough on the water to look as if they float.

🎟️ Worth booking

• City Palace and a boat on the lakeHalf day · from €30
  The largest palace in Rajasthan, then an hour on Lake Pichola looking back at it from the water.
• An evening of Rajasthani dance1h · from €12
  An hour of folk dance and puppetry in a courtyard, the form that travelling performers carried across the desert.

✦ Free to visit

• Lake Pichola
• The Saheliyon ki Bari gardens
• The ghats at sunset
• The old town

📲 Book things to do in Udaipur, the city of lakes on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

A car and a driver · The Golden Triangle and Rajasthan are covered comfortably with a driver, who takes the traffic while you take the road.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Thali: a tray of small vegetarian dishes, eaten together rather than in order.
• Curry and dal: mild in one state, fierce in the next. Ask before you commit.
• Tandoori and naan: meat from a clay oven, bread baked on its wall.
• Street food: samosas, pani puri, chaat, eaten standing up.
• Lassi and masala chai: drinking yoghurt, and tea boiled with spices and milk.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Sealed bottled water only, never from the tap, and no ice.
• Unofficial tourist offices are a common scam near stations. Book through your hotel.
• Cover shoulders and knees, above all at temples and mosques.
• Eat food that is hot and freshly cooked, and skip anything sitting out.

Words that help

English ↔ Hindi

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/india

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.