Several years ago, we decided to visit the Taj Mahal and Jaipur, and I wanted to plan the trip myself—not use a travel agent or tour company. We had a great trip but I learned A LOT in the process, so I want to share that info with you so you can avoid some of our mistakes! And I should say upfront that if I had to do it over again, I would probably use a tour company or travel agent for at least part of the trip.
While most people do Delhi-Agra-Jaipur or Delhi-Agra-Delhi, I had already been to Delhi (for work) and didn’t care about going back at that time. And we were living in Bahrain, so it was easy for us to fly to Oman and then directly from there to Jaipur.
Booking your trip to Jaipur and Agra
The issue is that we needed to book a driver from Jaipur to Agra and back. I spoke to a few people who had been to India from Bahrain, but they did not like their tour company/travel guide, and obviously I didn’t want to use those. Instead, I contacted a friend of mine who lives in DC, because he and his wife had gone to the Taj Mahal and other places in India a few years before.
The friend’s parents are from India, and his cousin—a travel agent in India—had set everything up for them. I contacted her and she was helpful in getting some things booked, but it was really difficult to pay her because of various rules about sending money from U.S. accounts to India. So I would not recommend using a travel company IN India unless they have a system in place to pay them or you have an Indian bank account. Instead, if you can’t get a personal recommendation, I would try calling the concierge at the hotel in Jaipur or Agra and ask if you can book a car and/or guide through them.
Day 1: Arrival, travel to Agra
We arrived at the (tiny) Jaipur airport and were picked up by our driver. The drive to Agra is supposed to take about 4.5 hours, but we stopped at a place called Rajasthan Midway for lunch and a bathroom break about halfway through. Plus, the travel agent suggested we stop and see Fatehpur Sikri, which is about 45 km from Agra.
Fatehpur Sikri was pretty cool to see, and I would definitely recommend going there if you have time. However, the road from Jaipur to there is good and well-paved, and we had slept basically the entire way, so I thought we’d get to our hotel in Agra about an hour or 45 minutes after we left. But the road from Fatepur Sikri into Agra is absolutely awful, and the traffic was insane, so it took forever just to get into the city. Our driver also got lost trying to find our hotel, so we didn’t arrive until well after sunset.
The late arrival nixed our plans to go to the Moonlight Garden and/or hang out at the pool bar (with a lovely view of the Taj) at sunset. Instead, we ate at the hotel’s restaurant, tried to go to the pool bar (but didn’t find the right one) and went to sleep.
We had also planned to get up and watch sunrise over the Taj, but were a little late leaving the room and then went to the wrong pool again initially (you had to walk across to a different tower/part of the hotel to get to the right one, which is MUCH nicer). We did eventually find the right one, though, and wished we had more time at the hotel to enjoy it. It was beautiful! And the breakfast at the hotel was also very good.
Day 2: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, travel back to Jaipur
I had planned to get up very early and go to the Taj when it opened (at 6 a.m.) but the driver had suggested he pick us up at 9 a.m. I pushed back a little bit, but we were exhausted so we agreed. Unfortunately there was some kind of miscommunication, either with the driver or the travel agent, because instead of taking us to the East Gate, which was super close to our hotel, he took us to the West Gate before getting a call and saying we had to go pick up our guide. We drove to some restaurant and waited at least 20 minutes before our guide showed up, and then had to drive back to one of the gates to get in. This meant we didn’t get to the Taj until around 10 a.m., when it was already very packed and getting hot.
I’m almost positive our guide was not official, but even if he was, I would not recommend him. He did provide some information, but his English wasn’t good (he did seem to speak very good Spanish). And instead of helping us fend off beggers/hawkers or taking some photos for us (one of the reasons I wanted a guide in the first place), he tried to get us to pay some “professional photographers” to take our photos for us. He did eventually take some great photos for us with our phones, but he was very resistant and also didn’t really help keep people from pushing in front of us to get photos in certain key places.
Despite the issues, the Taj Mahal is amazing and I would definitely recommend it. I don’t think you really need a guide, but if you do get one, I’d recommend booking a real, official guide ahead of time or asking at the entrance for their license. If you decide not to get a guide, there are plenty of informational signs around, and I have heard that the guards will take some photos for you.
At this point, we were over our guide, but we all got back in the car and started driving to what we thought was Agra Fort. Instead, it was a carpet shop/factory, where we tried to explain multiple times that we lived in the Middle East and already had plenty of nice carpets. We did finally go to Agra Fort afterward, and security refused to let our guide in. He later found us, but I think he just bought a ticket. Finally, we went for lunch at the restaurant where we had met our guide initially, but it was late afternoon by that point. And while the Taj and the Fort were amazing, the restaurant and the carpet place were total tourist traps.
Because of the late start and unplanned stops, we didn’t even start driving back to Jaipur until about 4 p.m. (I had planned to be done by noon!). So we didn’t arrive at our next hotel until late. We were too exhausted to do anything other than eat dinner at our hotel at that point—but the hotel restaurant was fabulous.
Day 3-5: Jaipur
There are a lot of things to do in and around Jaipur, and we didn’t do all of them. But I think the top things are the City Palace, Amer Fort (also known as Amber Fort), Hawa Mahal, and the markets.
City Palace is a must-do, but I would recommend getting the more expensive ticket because if you get the basic one, you miss out on all the really cool areas and rooms. We made that mistake the first time and ended up having to go back. The one you want is called the “royal tour.” It includes entrance to the good areas, a guide and some tea or coffee after.
Things to keep in mind here: There are some local artisans with stalls/stores that have set prices, so you can get some souvenirs from artists that have been vetted by the royal family (though the prices are a little higher than what you would see on the street). And, there are a ton of guys in guard-type outfits standing around and trying to get you to take a photo of or with them, but they are all going to ask for a tip after.
Amer/Amber Fort is awesome and worth a visit. You’ll pass the water palace (Jal Mahal) on the way there, so you can take a photo even though you can’t go inside. When we went, it was possible to ride an elephant from the bottom up to the entrance, but I had read a lot of things about how the elephants are not treated well, so we just had our driver take us up to the driving entrance. I’m not sure if they still offer elephant rides today.
Hawa Mahal is gorgeous and is very close to City Palace, and it’s worth stopping or walking over there to get a photo of the outside. We didn’t go inside, but I think you can. You might be surprised at how orangey-coral everything is, vs pink, since most photos I have seen of the city are heavily edited. But it’s still beautiful.
Jantar Mahal, the astronomical observatory, is next to City Palace and not very expensive to get into, but we didn’t really like it. Only go if you’re into that kind of thing.
Afternoon tea and more
One issue we encountered with not being on a tour is that the staff at our hotel, including the concierge, didn’t quite know what to do with us. So when I asked about afternoon tea at the Verandah Café at the Rambagh Palace hotel, I was told we could just show up whenever. Unfortunately that was not true, so the first time we attempted to go, we were turned away and I had to figure out someplace else to eat lunch on the fly. We did eventually make it to afternoon tea, and you don’t need a reservation. But I would recommend calling ahead anyway, to make sure there isn’t an event going on that day.
The afternoon tea service was really lovely, though it is on the expensive side for India. They have vegetarian and non-veg options for a traditional British tea service or an Indian tea service. The experience is made all the more magical by the peacocks wandering around the garden while you sip your tea.
For a very different tea experience, we loved Tapri Tea House. It’s a cool tea shop/restaurant with a ton of varieties of chai as well as a few food options. We enjoyed it so much that we went twice! Both times we went to the location near Central Park, which has an awesome outdoor rooftop patio. And, at least at that time, it was in the same building as FabIndia, which is a great chain of stores throughout the country that sells all different types of handmade goods (we also were the only non- Indians in the store, and they have set prices, so no need to haggle).
On the day we got turned away from the Rambagh Palace, we went to Narain Niwas Palace for lunch instead. They have an absolutely gorgeous bar called Bar Palladio that I believe also serves Italian food, but it is not open for lunch.
For dinner, we ate two nights in a row at Baluchi (inside the Lalit Jaipur, where we were staying) because we liked it so much. The other night, we ate at Cinnamon, which was also excellent. Both are more upscale and pricier than a regular, casual restaurant, though.
Shopping
I was looking to buy several different things while in Jaipur. It’s a great place for shopping, and I ended up getting block-printed tablecloths at one of the stores inside Amer Fort, some bangles and two pashminas at City Palace, a top at a boutique called Hot Pink, and a dress at FabIndia.
We also went to Roop Rani Bangles, which is very close to the Hawa Mahal, and bought a zillion bangles. They have all different kinds of bangles in a range of prices.
Hotels in Jaipur and Agra, India
We loved the Radisson Blu in Agra, and wished we had more time to spend at the hotel. The Indian restaurant was overpriced, but it was very good. Breakfast was great. The only slight issue is that we went to the wrong pool initially, and didn’t find out until the next morning that the pool with the view of the Taj Mahal and the pool bar is on the “terrace” level, which is not accessible from every elevator.
For Jaipur, everyone I talked to recommended the ITC. But it wasn’t available. I had booked a room at Narain Niwas Palace, but the reviews weren’t great and the travel agent hadn’t recommended it, so I canceled the booking. Instead, we stayed at the LaLit, which is a very nice hotel with a fantastic restaurant (Baluchi) but terrible service. Since the hotel/room and everything were so nice, I wouldn’t tell you not to stay there. But I will warn you that you may not be able to count on the concierge or front desk for basically anything.
I did write some very detailed comments on my feedback form, though, and got an apology back from the hotel’s manager, so hopefully they have corrected the problem. I believe part of the issue is that they are not used to Western travelers staying there without a guide or tour group, but it doesn’t excuse the poor service we received.
As mentioned above, we did go to Narain Niwas Palace for lunch and checked out the grounds. It looked really cute and had a ton of character (as well as some roaming peacocks), but we didn’t see the rooms so I can’t say how they were.
Begging/hawkers/”guides”
Something we noticed almost immediately upon entering the parking lot for Fatehpur Sikri is that everyone in India wants you to give them money. Some people are just begging, but most people are trying to run some kind of hustle – At Fatehpur Sikri, they encourage you to ride a bus to the
entrance and basically won’t tell you how to walk there (I ended up being glad we took the bus, and it only cost about 10 cents, but it was frustrating to not have a choice), then people keep coming up and telling you things, following you around and acting like a guide, but they expect a tip or for you to buy something they’re selling.
This also happened almost everywhere else we went. You have to be really rude and keep saying “no” and then basically ignoring/walking away from people, or they will keep following you. We’ve also heard/read from multiple sources that you should avoid giving any money to beggars (including kids) and instead donate to charity organizations that help people in need. This doesn’t really apply to buying things or tipping people, but wanted to mention it.
Other notes about planning a trip to Jaipur and Agra
You’ll need a visa for India (you can apply and get it online) and you should print out the actual visa once it’s approved and bring the print out with you for use at the airport. We had to show ours to get on the flight to Jaipur in Oman.
-Get rupees ahead of time, because you may need them very soon after arriving, but you can also bring some US dollars – most people/places will take them.
-It’s possible that you need tickets or a reservation ahead of time to visit the Moonlight Garden, so make sure you look into it before you go if you’re interested.
-You can’t bring much into the Taj Mahal complex – basically just a camera, wallet, and bottle of water. You are allowed to have a scarf and/or a bag, but you can’t have any food or cosmetics or pens/crayons or anything in it. I just carried my camera and a scarf, and Toby brought his phone to use as a camera and his wallet. Our guide brought us some bottles of water, but we didn’t really need them.
-We didn’t have any stomach issues at all, but we brought every imaginable medicine, just in case.
-Bring bug spray. I forgot ours.
-As for what to wear, you don’t have to be as dressy as I am—I wanted to make sure we looked nice in our photos since this might be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but casual clothes are perfectly fine. I would just recommend against women wearing anything too short (like short shorts or mini skirts) or too low-cut. Showing your shoulders or even a little of your midriff is fine, but if you’re going to do that you may want to bring a scarf or something to cover up for temples. I’d also recommend comfortable shoes, because you’ll be doing a lot of walking! And check the weather so you can dress accordingly. It has been very hot and humid every time I’ve ever been anywhere in India.