Everyone you meet will tell you to only spend one day in Agra, India and for a good reason. There just isn’t anything to do there and its not a very pretty place. Of course there is the world famous and totally Taj Mahal, but besides that you will just find a modern city.
The locals and tuktuk drivers will tell you otherwise and try to get you to stay longer but every traveler I met who had come through the area spent one night there or less. Many took the morning train in and the night train out! That’s really got to tell you something about the city. I was there for 2 nights just because thats how my train tickets worked out and it was an enjoyable experience.
Finally being in a large modern city ment the luxuries that come with it like Mcdonalds or KFC. By this point I had eaten so many veg thali’s that I was ok with something different and familiar. What I found totally surprised me because this was the first time I visited a Mcdonalds that had no beef or pork at all. Even in muslim countries you still get beef and usually lamb. Shocked by what I found I had to try some of the food. It was surprisingly good to say the least. They have chicken stuff and vegetarian stuff and I loaded up just for the novelty of it. It was pretty awesome.
I spent one full day visiting the Taj Mahal, my hotel was in town so it was easy to walk there and back without any issues. I even walked along some designated route that took me though a much poorer area as part of some redevelopment idea. Of course all of the locals looked at me like I was crazy and surely must be lost to be here. The gps on my phone made sure I was going in the right direction when the street signs stopped.
The ticket to get in is $12 (750 Rs) and if you ask for them includes some shoe covers and a bottle of water. Tour guides wanting you business will be helpful pointing you to the ticket office and reminding you about your water. There are also special tourist lines that you get in so you don’t have to wait forever to get into stuff, so look for them.
The Taj Mahal is very pretty and the setting is just amazing. When you walk in the best part is the little disbelief in your mind that you’re actually standing in front of the thing. Everywhere around you will be millions of tourist taking photos of the families all over the place so you might as well join in the fun. You can also get in line to actually go inside the main chamber of the Taj but it gets really nasty. White marble is really good at trapping in heat and moisture. So millions of sweaty tourists passing through it turn the room into a dirty sauna. I lasted about 30 seconds before I ran for the exit. It’s something amazing to see, and a great item to check off your bucket list but other than that I wasn’t to impressed. I don’t feel a need to go back and see it again it that makes sense.
