Best Things to Do in Agra, India

Agra is the one place in India that needs no introduction, because everyone knows the Taj Mahal. But the Taj is only the headline of a list. I made the mistake on my first visit of racing straight to the famous building, ticking it off, and leaving; my second visit I took my time and found a whole city of forts, gardens, and quiet tombs hiding in the famous one’s shadow. Agra opens up properly when you slow down, so here is the order I would do it in.

See the Taj Mahal at Sunrise

There is no substitute for arriving at the east gate before dawn. The mausoleum shifts colour as the light comes up, from soft lavender through pearl grey to warm gold, and the marble seems lit from within. The crowds are thinner if you are one of the first inside, and the whole experience feels less like a photo op and more like what it is: a monument built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Go through the main gate, take in the famous frame, and wander the gardens. Give it two unhurried hours.

Fortress Back at the Agra Fort

Only fifteen minutes away, the Red Fort is endlessly underrated, mostly because the Taj takes all the attention. This enormous red sandstone fortress was the seat of the Mughal emperors, and inside its double walls you find palaces, audience halls, and a gorgeous white marble pavilion where legend says Shah Jahan spent his last years gazing out at the Taj across the river. The views of the Taj from these upper terraces are genuinely special. Set aside most of a morning and walk the whole circuit.

Float Above It All at Mehtab Bagh

Across the Yamuna river from the Taj, the Mehtab Bagh gardens give you the classic postcard view without a single tourist in the frame. It is a serene, uncrowded spot where you can watch the Taj from a distance, and at sunset the monument glows against the darkening sky while the river runs past. Couples come for the romance of it, photographers come for the light, and everyone comes for the quiet. Go about an hour before sunset and stay until the light is gone.

Admire the Baby Taj, Itmad ud Daulah

Often called the Baby Taj, this smaller riverside tomb predates the famous one and is where the Mughals worked out the marble inlay technique they later perfected on a grander scale. It is delicate and intimate, with delicate jali screen work and rooms filled with intricate pietra dura. Where the Taj is magnificent, this is tender. It sees a fraction of the visitors, so you can linger almost alone. For my money it is the most underrated building in the city, and I would not skip it.

Take a Day Trip to Fatehpur Sikri

An hour or so outside Agra, Fatehpur Sikri is a complete Mughal city that was built and then abandoned within a generation, leaving its red sandstone palaces perfectly preserved. The Buland Darwaza, the great victory gate, is staggeringly large, and the interior courtyards feel suspended in time. Getting there takes half a day, so plan the trip carefully, but it is worth it. I wandered through the empty courts imagining court life, and it remains one of the most atmospheric half days of all my travels in India.

Dig Into Mughlai Food and Local Sweets

Agra’s food is a quiet pleasure after all the sightseeing. The old town is full of eateries serving the rich, slow cooked curries and kebabs that came down from the Mughal kitchens. Finish with petha, the city’s famous translucent pumpkin sweet, sold in almost every shape and flavour you can imagine, especially around the lozenges near the Taj’s western gate. Try a warm portion from a proper halwai rather than a factory wrapped one. It is the taste people argue about for years, and eating it fresh is the only way to get it right.

Visit Akbar’s Tomb at Sikandra

On the outskirts of the city, the tomb of the great emperor Akbar is a peaceful, sprawling red sandstone mausoleum set in tended gardens. It is a gentler, less visited counterpoint to the Taj, with a calm that feels almost parklike. The main gateway is beautifully carved, and the four storey building sits on a raised terrace. Fewer visitors make it a good place to take a breath between the heavier sites. I sat under a tree here for a while, and it remains a favourite memory of the trip.

Agra is not just the Taj Mahal, no matter what the postcards say. Give it two days, balance the famous monument against the quieter places around it, and you will leave with a proper sense of the whole Mughal story. I wish I had realised that on my first visit.