India Itinerary: 6 Days in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur
The Golden Triangle links three former imperial capitals across the plains of north India, and it remains the most legible first route through the country. Mughal Delhi, the marble of Agra and the rose-pink courts of Jaipur sit within a few hours of one another, joined by a fast train and a well-worn highway. Over six days you move from the layered chaos of a capital that has been rebuilt seven times, to the single most photographed tomb on earth, to a walled desert city painted terracotta for a visiting prince.
India had 9.2 million international arrivals (2023, foreign tourist arrivals, India Ministry of Tourism (Bureau of Immigration) / UN Tourism). Last reviewed 2026-08-21.
India · 6 days Delhi → Agra → Jaipur
Best time: October to March, when the northern plains are dry and mild; April to June turns fiercely hot and the July to September monsoon brings heavy rain.
Delhi: Red Fort (Lal Qila)Day 1
🏛️9:00 AMRed Fort (Lal Qila)
The vast red sandstone fortress-palace of the Mughal emperors and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
🚗 ~12 min · 3.3 mi
🖼️1:30 PMNational Museum
The country's premier collection, spanning Indus Valley artefacts, Mughal miniatures and Chola bronzes.
🚗 ~12 min · 3.3 mi
🌆6:00 PMOld Delhi (Shahjahanabad)
The 17th-century walled city of Shah Jahan, a maze of havelis, spice lanes and food stalls around Jama Masjid.
Delhi: Qutub MinarDay 2
🏛️9:00 AMQutub Minar
A 73-metre 12th-century victory tower of fluted sandstone, the tallest brick minaret in the world.
🚗 ~18 min · 5.2 mi
🥾1:30 PMLodhi Gardens
A landscaped park scattered with 15th-century domed tombs of the Lodhi and Sayyid dynasties.
🚇 Metro hop
🎟️6:00 PMOld Delhi food walking tour
A guided crawl through Chandni Chowk's stalls for chaat, parathas and Mughal sweets.
Delhi: Humayun's TombDay 3
🏛️9:00 AMHumayun's Tomb
The garden tomb that pioneered the Mughal style later perfected at the Taj Mahal, set in formal charbagh gardens.
🚗 ~9 min · 2.5 mi
🖼️1:30 PMGandhi Smriti
The house where Mahatma Gandhi spent his last days, preserved as a memorial museum.
🚗 ~10 min · 2.9 mi
🌆6:00 PMChandni Chowk
Old Delhi's central market street, laid out by a Mughal princess and still a wall of jewellers, sweet shops and cycle rickshaws.
Arrive in AgraDay 4
🚄8:30 AMTrain to Agra
Gatimaan Express or Vande Bharat from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Agra Cantt along the fast Delhi to Agra corridor.
🚄 ≈1h40 by high-speed train · 120 mi
🛺 Rickshaw hop
🏛️2:00 PMTaj Mahal
Shah Jahan's white marble mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the icon of Mughal architecture.
🚶 ~10 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
🌆6:00 PMTaj Ganj
The old quarter laid out at the Taj Mahal's southern gate, still the closest base to the monument.
Arrive in JaipurDay 5
🚗8:30 AMDrive to Jaipur
Highway drive west via the Agra to Jaipur road (NH21), commonly broken with a stop at Fatehpur Sikri or Abhaneri.
🚗 ≈4h by road · 149 mi
🛺 Auto hop
🏛️2:00 PMHawa Mahal
The five-storey "Palace of Winds," a honeycomb facade of 953 latticed windows built for royal women to watch the street.
🛺 Auto hop
🌆6:00 PMPink City (walled old city)
The grid of terracotta-washed bazaars and gates laid out by Jai Singh II, still the commercial heart of Jaipur.
Jaipur: Amer FortDay 6
🏛️9:00 AMAmer Fort
A hilltop fort-palace of pale yellow and pink sandstone with mirrored halls, above Maota Lake north of the city.
🚗 ~19 min · 5.5 mi
🖼️1:30 PMAlbert Hall Museum
Rajasthan's oldest museum, an Indo-Saracenic hall of arms, textiles, miniatures and an Egyptian mummy.
🛺 Auto hop
🎟️6:00 PMOld city heritage walk
A guided walk through the planned grid, gates and bazaars of the Pink City.
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Best time to goOctober to March, when the northern plains are dry and mild; April to June turns fiercely hot and the July to September monsoon brings heavy rain.
Recommended splitDelhi 3d · Agra 1d · Jaipur 2d
Local tip: Buy Delhi to Agra train seats well ahead, carry a scarf for temple and mosque visits, and start the Taj Mahal at opening to beat both the heat and the crowds.
Delhi, 3 days
India's capital is really two cities stitched together: the dense Mughal warren of Old Delhi around the Red Fort, and the wide colonial avenues of Lutyens' New Delhi. Between them sit World Heritage tombs, Sufi shrines and one of the country's great museum collections, making it the natural place to read the whole sweep of Indian history before heading south.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inOld Delhi (Shahjahanabad). The 17th-century walled city of Shah Jahan, a maze of havelis, spice lanes and food stalls around Jama Masjid.Chandni Chowk. Old Delhi's central market street, laid out by a Mughal princess and still a wall of jewellers, sweet shops and cycle rickshaws.Connaught Place. The white colonnaded Georgian circle at the heart of New Delhi, ringed by shops and the radiating avenues of the planned capital.Hauz Khas. A medieval reservoir and ruined madrasa fringed by a village of galleries and cafes in south Delhi.Nizamuddin. The quarter around the Sufi shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya, where qawwali singing fills the courtyard on Thursday evenings.
LandmarksRed Fort (Lal Qila). The vast red sandstone fortress-palace of the Mughal emperors and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Qutub Minar. A 73-metre 12th-century victory tower of fluted sandstone, the tallest brick minaret in the world.Humayun's Tomb. The garden tomb that pioneered the Mughal style later perfected at the Taj Mahal, set in formal charbagh gardens.Jama Masjid. India's largest mosque, a red sandstone and marble courtyard that holds tens of thousands of worshippers.India Gate. A 42-metre war memorial arch anchoring the ceremonial axis of New Delhi.
Nature and outdoorsLodhi Gardens. A landscaped park scattered with 15th-century domed tombs of the Lodhi and Sayyid dynasties.Sunder Nursery. A restored 16th-century Mughal heritage park beside Humayun's Tomb with lakes, monuments and an arboretum.Garden of Five Senses. A sculpture and landscape park in Saidul Ajaib designed around themed sensory gardens.
MuseumsNational Museum. The country's premier collection, spanning Indus Valley artefacts, Mughal miniatures and Chola bronzes.Gandhi Smriti. The house where Mahatma Gandhi spent his last days, preserved as a memorial museum.National Gallery of Modern Art. Modern and contemporary Indian art housed in a former princely residence near India Gate.
Worth a guided tourOld Delhi food walking tour. A guided crawl through Chandni Chowk's stalls for chaat, parathas and Mughal sweets.Heritage cycle-rickshaw tour. A ride through the narrow lanes of Shahjahanabad with a local guide.Spiritual sites tour. A themed circuit of the city's temples, mosque, gurdwara and Sufi shrine.
Getting around DelhiThe Delhi Metro is fast, cheap and air-conditioned and reaches most sights; auto-rickshaws and app cabs fill the gaps in the old city.
Agra, 1 day
Getting here: Train, Gatimaan Express or Vande Bharat from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Agra Cantt along the fast Delhi to Agra corridor.
Agra was the Mughal capital at the empire's zenith, and it holds three of its greatest monuments within a few kilometres of the Yamuna. A single well-planned day covers the Taj Mahal at sunrise, the sprawling riverside fort and the jewel-box tomb that rehearsed the Taj's marble inlay, before you carry on west.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inTaj Ganj. The old quarter laid out at the Taj Mahal's southern gate, still the closest base to the monument.Kinari Bazaar. A tightly packed market of marble handicrafts, textiles and sweets below Agra Fort.
LandmarksTaj Mahal. Shah Jahan's white marble mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the icon of Mughal architecture.Agra Fort. A massive red sandstone walled city and palace where Shah Jahan was later imprisoned within sight of the Taj.Itimad-ud-Daulah. The delicate riverside tomb known as the "Baby Taj," the first Mughal structure faced entirely in white marble.Fatehpur Sikri. The perfectly preserved red sandstone imperial city Akbar built and then abandoned, about 40 km west.
Nature and outdoorsMehtab Bagh. A Mughal riverside garden directly across the Yamuna, framing the Taj Mahal for sunset.
MuseumsTaj Museum. A small gallery inside the Taj complex holding original drawings, celadon and Mughal artefacts.Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra. The grand red sandstone and marble mausoleum of Emperor Akbar in a walled deer park north of the city.
Worth a guided tourSunrise Taj Mahal tour. An early guided visit timed for the soft light and thinner crowds at opening.Marble inlay workshop tour. A visit to artisans practising pietra dura, the semi-precious stone inlay used on the Taj.
Getting around AgraSights cluster near the river; battery-powered rickshaws run inside the pollution-controlled zone around the Taj, with autos and cabs elsewhere.
Jaipur, 2 days
Getting here: Drive, Highway drive west via the Agra to Jaipur road (NH21), commonly broken with a stop at Fatehpur Sikri or Abhaneri.
The capital of Rajasthan was planned in 1727 on a strict grid and later washed terracotta pink to welcome a royal visitor, giving the walled Pink City its name. Two days let you climb to the amber ramparts of Amer, wander the astronomical instruments of the Jantar Mantar and shop the bazaars for block prints, jewellery and blue pottery.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inPink City (walled old city). The grid of terracotta-washed bazaars and gates laid out by Jai Singh II, still the commercial heart of Jaipur.Johari Bazaar. The old city's jewellery street, lined with gem dealers and traditional lac and kundan workshops.
LandmarksHawa Mahal. The five-storey "Palace of Winds," a honeycomb facade of 953 latticed windows built for royal women to watch the street.Amer Fort. A hilltop fort-palace of pale yellow and pink sandstone with mirrored halls, above Maota Lake north of the city.City Palace. The still-inhabited royal complex of courtyards, gates and museums at the centre of the walled city.Jantar Mantar. An 18th-century open-air observatory of giant masonry astronomical instruments, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Nahargarh Fort. A ridge-top fort overlooking the whole city, best at sunset from the Aravalli hills.
Nature and outdoorsJal Mahal. A sandstone water palace that appears to float in the middle of Man Sagar Lake.Sisodia Rani Garden. A tiered Mughal-style garden of fountains and painted pavilions on the city's eastern edge.Galtaji. A temple complex of natural spring-fed tanks set in a rocky Aravalli gorge east of the city.
MuseumsAlbert Hall Museum. Rajasthan's oldest museum, an Indo-Saracenic hall of arms, textiles, miniatures and an Egyptian mummy.City Palace museums. Royal collections of textiles, arms and manuscripts inside the palace courtyards.
Worth a guided tourOld city heritage walk. A guided walk through the planned grid, gates and bazaars of the Pink City.Block-printing workshop tour. A visit to hand-block textile printers in the villages around Jaipur.Rajasthani cooking class. A hands-on session in regional dishes such as dal baati churma.
Getting around JaipurThe compact walled city is walkable; autos, app cabs and a single metro line cover longer hops out to Amer and Nahargarh.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan, expandable day by day. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: Delhi: Red Fort (Lal Qila)
9:00 AMRed Fort (Lal Qila)
The vast red sandstone fortress-palace of the Mughal emperors and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1:30 PMNational Museum
The country's premier collection, spanning Indus Valley artefacts, Mughal miniatures and Chola bronzes.
6:00 PMOld Delhi (Shahjahanabad)
The 17th-century walled city of Shah Jahan, a maze of havelis, spice lanes and food stalls around Jama Masjid.
Day 2: Delhi: Qutub Minar
9:00 AMQutub Minar
A 73-metre 12th-century victory tower of fluted sandstone, the tallest brick minaret in the world.
1:30 PMLodhi Gardens
A landscaped park scattered with 15th-century domed tombs of the Lodhi and Sayyid dynasties.
6:00 PMOld Delhi food walking tour
A guided crawl through Chandni Chowk's stalls for chaat, parathas and Mughal sweets.
Day 3: Delhi: Humayun's Tomb
9:00 AMHumayun's Tomb
The garden tomb that pioneered the Mughal style later perfected at the Taj Mahal, set in formal charbagh gardens.
1:30 PMGandhi Smriti
The house where Mahatma Gandhi spent his last days, preserved as a memorial museum.
6:00 PMChandni Chowk
Old Delhi's central market street, laid out by a Mughal princess and still a wall of jewellers, sweet shops and cycle rickshaws.
Day 4: Arrive in Agra
8:30 AMTrain to Agra
Gatimaan Express or Vande Bharat from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Agra Cantt along the fast Delhi to Agra corridor.
2:00 PMTaj Mahal
Shah Jahan's white marble mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the icon of Mughal architecture.
6:00 PMTaj Ganj
The old quarter laid out at the Taj Mahal's southern gate, still the closest base to the monument.
Day 5: Arrive in Jaipur
8:30 AMDrive to Jaipur
Highway drive west via the Agra to Jaipur road (NH21), commonly broken with a stop at Fatehpur Sikri or Abhaneri.
2:00 PMHawa Mahal
The five-storey "Palace of Winds," a honeycomb facade of 953 latticed windows built for royal women to watch the street.
6:00 PMPink City (walled old city)
The grid of terracotta-washed bazaars and gates laid out by Jai Singh II, still the commercial heart of Jaipur.
Day 6: Jaipur: Amer Fort
9:00 AMAmer Fort
A hilltop fort-palace of pale yellow and pink sandstone with mirrored halls, above Maota Lake north of the city.
1:30 PMAlbert Hall Museum
Rajasthan's oldest museum, an Indo-Saracenic hall of arms, textiles, miniatures and an Egyptian mummy.
6:00 PMOld city heritage walk
A guided walk through the planned grid, gates and bazaars of the Pink City.
Make this India trip yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
Start your free tripFirst trip free. No account, no credit card.