The Golden Triangle is Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. People sell it as anything from two days to ten. Here is what each length actually buys you, from someone who drives the roads rather than sells the brochure.
| Leg | Distance | Real driving time |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi to Agra (Yamuna Expressway) | 165 km | 3 to 3.5 hours |
| Agra to Jaipur (via Fatehpur Sikri) | 240 km | 5 to 5.5 hours |
| Jaipur to Delhi (NH48) | 270 km | 5.5 to 6 hours |
That is roughly 675 kilometres and 14 hours behind the wheel, before you have looked at anything.
Day one Delhi. Day two drive to Agra, Taj Mahal at sunset. Day three Agra Fort early, Fatehpur Sikri on the way, arrive Jaipur evening. Day four Jaipur, then back to Delhi.
It works. You will see the three things you came for. You will also be in the car for a large part of it, and Jaipur gets one rushed day for a city that deserves two.
Choose this if your total trip is short and the Triangle is one part of a bigger itinerary.
The same route with two extra nights, and it changes the trip completely. Two nights in Agra means the Taj at sunrise as well as sunset, and they are different places. Two full days in Jaipur means Amber Fort in the morning light, the City Palace, the observatory, and an afternoon in the old city rather than a march through it.
The driving days stop being the trip and go back to being travel between places. This is the length most of our guests are happiest with.
With a seventh day you can add something that is not on the standard loop. Ranthambore for tigers, between Agra and Jaipur, needs two nights to give you two safaris and a real chance of seeing one. Pushkar, two hours beyond Jaipur, is a small lake town that is the opposite of the fort circuit. Abhaneri, a thousand-year-old stepwell on the Agra to Jaipur road, adds an hour and is one of the most extraordinary things in Rajasthan.
A three-day Golden Triangle is one long drive after another. A two-day version means the Taj as a same-day trip from Delhi, which is 450 kilometres in a day and leaves nothing for Jaipur.
If two or three days is all you have, we would rather sell you a Delhi and Agra trip done well than a Golden Triangle done badly.
The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays. This catches people out constantly. Build the itinerary around it.
Sunrise beats sunset at the Taj for light and for crowds, but it means being at the gate before dawn.
Amber Fort is best in the first two hours of the day. By eleven the courtyards are full.
October to March is the season. April and May in Rajasthan regularly pass 42 degrees and it changes how much you can do in a day.
We run the Golden Triangle in four days, six days and seven, plus a version with Ranthambore. Every price is per person per day, published on our car and driver page, and covers the vehicle, the driver, fuel, tolls and all state taxes.
Tell us, and we will fit the Golden Triangle to them honestly, including saying so if it is too tight. You get a route, the vehicle it needs and one price.
