Agra Tour - Agra's Taj Mahal and Agra Red Fort - India Travel Guides.

India Agra Holiday, Travel and Sightseeing Guide about visiting Agra's world famous Taj Mahal and Agra Red Fort.

Travelling to Agra / Bharatpur area.
This obviously depends on which part of India you are setting out from - if in Delhi then you are spoilt for choice with both internal airlines and Indian Railways offering fast frequent journeys into Agra. There is also a fast road directly down from Delhi which has fast coach services plying up and down the route or obviously much more expensive but very convenient hiring of a car and driver / taxi is easily possible. If travelling up from the south there are trains running each day from Gwalior (also a limited service running from Khajuraho and Orchha but the times are not good and this involves a few changes) up into Agra. In fact one "express" train which starts at Gwalior continues on after Agra and stops at Bharatpur if you are staying there.

Where to stay - Agra or Bharatpur?. This was quite a debate - on checking Agra hotels they did not seem that brilliant and Delhi-like in that they looked to be rather expensive without seemingly getting much for your money. That of course also based on believing the photos and descriptions of hotel rooms and facilities that Indian hotels advertise on the web are accurate which we found in India not to be the case at several of the places we stayed. Bharatpur seemed like a good idea - accommodation was much less expensive than in Agra and appeared to be more peaceful the town is located more out in the Indian countryside and of course away from Agra's tourist mayhem. The town's famous wildlife sanctuary on the doorstep, easy bus or train access to Agra to visit the Taj and Red Fort and additionally Fatehpur-Sikri just a 35 minute bus ride away. In our case the fact that we would also be continuing our India tour by going to Jaipur by car - that much shorter a journey than if done from Agra - made us decide to stay at Bharatpur. From accommodation and food points of view this was a mistake - the hotels are not too good in and around the town and there are no restaurants available so if your hotel's food is not particularly good you have pretty much had it - other hotels did not seem too keen on non-guest usage of their restaurants. As far as day trips to Agra and Fatehpur-Sikri were concerned the bus service was cheap, reasonably quick and quite frequent so that was fine. Please see a bit more about the town further down this topic.

 

Travelling to and Touring Agra, The Taj Mahal and Agra Red Fort.

No motorised traffic is allowed on the road leading up to the Taj Mahal's ticket office and entrance gate so you have to leave your coach or auto-rickshaw and walk the last half kilometre. Actually this is not strictly true as you will be totally pestered by rickshaw drivers who will insist it's a really long walk etc. etc. Also of course there are beggars and many trinket sellers and touts all pestering you to buy their offerings or be your "guide".

 

 

Agra - The Red Fort. The admission charge for Agra's Red Fort is 300 Rupees for non-Indians - it's open daily and we believe that you can get in free of charge on Fridays - this probably because the Taj is closed on that day so nobody is around much - but nice and cheap if you are staying in Agra and have a free morning. Security is very tight - firstly anyway because this is now the case in India at their most important sites, secondly because the Fort is still militarily active with the Indian Army based inside parts of it. There was no apparent restriction on what you could take into the Fort however this can change from minute to minute in India of course.

 

Agra - other pictures. The last three pictures below are of Jama Masjid - a.k.a. Jami Masjid - (Masjid means "mosque") which is located on the opposite side of the road to Agra Red Fort. The mosque is virtually surrounded by bazaars and markets selling items such as jewellery, marble, dried fruits, shoes and clothes - being a Mosque entry is free although expect to be approached and asked to make a "donation". One of India's largest mosques Jama Masjid - generally referred to as "Friday Mosque" - was built in 1648 by Shah Jahan and is made from red sandstone.

 

Bharatpur Town and Wildlife Sanctuary.

Bharatpur is somewhat split with most of the accommodation at the edge - fairly close to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park (originally known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary) entrance gate. The town does have an old fort - Logarh Fort (Iron Fort) which was built in the early 18th Century by Jats and which is still surrounded by a moat. The Fort looks very impressive as you walk into it via one if it's massive gates however the area is very populated and it's quite difficult to see any "Fort" as such once inside apart from in the very centre of the islet.

Bharatpur's Wildlife Sanctuary was enjoyable although the long drought being suffered in this part of India meant quite a few parts were dry so not so many waders and so on - but there were still plenty of birds to be spotted and nice walks to do around the remaining wetland and lakes. The entrance fee was 200 Rupees each but it's worth noting that unusually we had to produce our passports before being let into the Park. We did not find this requirement anywhere else whilst on holiday in India - it may be over-zealous local police after the bombings but worth noting if intending to visit just in case.

By the entrance gate there are quite a few cycle-rickshaw drivers who want you to hire them so they can apparently take you for a tour round the sanctuary. They are quite pushy and don't leave you alone (i.e. if you decide to just go for a walk through the Park they will cycle alongside you trying to get you to hire them still) unless you are strict with them and tell them no thanks or similar!. We did decide to walk on our own and what was apparent is that these rickshaws simply took people at quite a pace straight along the main road through the Park and then straight back - and were quite reluctant to stop very often so that their passengers could take a closer look at the wildlife. Similarly when you buy your tickets at the gate you are then surrounded by "guides" who want to take you round - same as above in effect. There are many side paths going off from the main route and it was whilst walking on these that we saw most of the wildlife - including many (very noisy) storks. Around half way along the central road through the Sanctuary there is a small cafe where you can get cold drinks and another at the very end near the Keoladeo (Shiva) Temple.

More of our Holiday and Travel Guides for India:-
Dandeli-Karnataka   Delhi   Fatehpur Sikri   Goa   Goa Sightseeing   Jaipur   Jaisalmer   Jodhpur   Khajuraho   Orccha   Chittorgarh+Kumbhalgarh   Udaipur   Varanasi   India Pigs   and  About India.

Please visit our Resources topic if you wish to Email Us - via that page there are also links to a series on England - wildflowers, churches, canals and walks plus more holiday and travel guides about Cyprus, Egypt - Cairo, Aswan, Luxor and Sharm, many Greek and Canary Islands, New Zealand, The Algarve and several Far East destinations including Singapore, Hong Kong and Bali.
Please also find on Resources a notice about our website and privacy policy.

www.india-travel-guide.co.uk