where to stay
We stayed at the Radisson Blu in Agra as it was recommended by friends who raved about the views of the Taj from the infinity pool. We booked a twin room and asked for an extra bed this came to £134 a night (£44 each including breakfast). The hotel was pretty luxurious and the breakfast choice is great. Plenty of western choices if you are worried about that! The hotel was also only a short drive to the Taj Mahal.
WHAT IT WAS LIKE
As we were working in India we decided to have a long weekend spent here.
We flew into Delhi and stopped off at the Fab Cafe nearby why we waited for other friends to fly in. We then ordered a taxi on Ola to drive us to Agra. Around 130 mile trip so a 3 1/2 hour drive. I’d recommend eating at the Fab Cafe, the food is delicious and reasonably priced. It’s a chain and one of the only places I ordered something I was told wasn’t too spicy and I could actually handle it!
Taj Mahal
Despite being one of the wonders of the world, Agra didn’t seem to be too commercialised. I think I’ve become accustomed to visiting tourist spots and seeing a McDonalds around every corner. Our Uber driver dropped us close to the Taj Mahal and we then walked around 5-10 minutes down to the entrance. On the walk there were countless stalls/markets. We also saw locals walking next to their donkeys carrying rocks up the road.
Impression
Working in India some of our local colleagues told us the Taj would be a let down and that it was mainly ‘hyped’ up. I however was pleasantly surprised when we first saw the Taj. After walking through security, you pass through an archway to get to the Taj Mahal, I could just see a glimpse of the white marble and it honestly looked unreal. The beauty and wealth of the building just seemed so out of place. All in all, I had a really lovely day out
Taj Mahal experience
From memory we paid around £12 to gain access into the Taj. Tourists pay more than locals for a ticket here. We purchased our tickets and made our way to join the queue, when we saw the length of the queue we even contemplated leaving. It honestly looked as if 500 people were queuing. We walked around to view the end of the queue but were stopped and ushered to a separate line, which was just for tourists.
This waswas much smaller and meant jumping the queue. We ended up queuing then for no longer than 5 minutes in the end. The two queues merged together as you got closer to the security section and this wasn’t pleasant, as people who had clearly been waiting a while become impatient and kept shoving to progress further in the queue towards the bodyscanners. It all happened so fast but to summarise after going through the scanner you get ‘searched’ by the same gender- they check you aren’t hiding anything..EVERYWHERE.
The story:
Taj Mahal was built by the emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. After she died in childbirth. Interesting fact, when he became ill his third son took over his role and when he recovered determined he was not fit to rule and put him under house arrest in Agra Fort. He spent his last few days looking out at the Taj in the prison his son put him in.
Return to Delhi
Despite it being super easy to book a last minute trip with down to Agra at 9pm , it took us over 2 hours to try and locate a driver on our return. I guess drivers in Agra aren’t keen to travel to Delhi as frequently?! When we eventually got to Delhi we checked in at the Shangri-La. At around £170 for 3 of us to share a room. The end of the evening we went to the Privee night club which was just the next building along. All in all a tiresome jam packed weekend.
This place is on my list.
You have good tips for travelling.
Really amazing blog ❤️
I would definitely stay at the blu Radisson with a view of the Taj! So so so gorgeous xx
I’ve been wanting to see the Taj since childhood, one of my bucket list items. It’s was great reading about your trip and wonderful pictures I must say !
Keep sharing your experiences.