We run the Delhi–Agra–Jaipur circuit most weeks of the year, and the seven-day version is the one we talk people into more often than any other. Six nights is the shortest the route works without it becoming a set of car journeys punctuated by monuments. Ten days is better still, but seven is the length most people actually have.

What follows is the itinerary we actually give our guests, with the drives, the timings and the two stops that get cut from most seven-day plans and shouldn't be.

Why seven days, and not five

The three cities are not close together. Here is what the driving really looks like in a private car, not what a map estimates:

  • Delhi to Agra — about 230 km on the Yamuna Expressway, 3.5 to 4 hours with one tea stop.
  • Agra to Jaipur — about 240 km, 4.5 hours driving, but 6 to 7 with Fatehpur Sikri and Abhaneri done properly.
  • Jaipur to Delhi — about 280 km, 5 to 5.5 hours, longer on a Sunday evening.

Add those up and a five-day trip spends most of two days in the car. Seven gives you two clear nights in Agra and Jaipur and a day at each end for arriving and leaving, which is what stops the week feeling like a race.

The seven-day itinerary, day by day

Day 1 — Arrive Delhi

Most European and UK flights land in the early hours. We meet you at Terminal 3 and drive you to the hotel; the roads are empty at that time and it takes 40 minutes. Sleep, then use the afternoon gently — Humayun's Tomb is the right first monument in India, quiet and unhurried, and it prepares the eye for Agra.

Day 2 — Old and New Delhi

Old Delhi in the morning while it is cool: Jama Masjid, then a cycle-rickshaw through Chandni Chowk, which is the only sensible way through those lanes. Raj Ghat and Qutub Minar in the afternoon. If you would rather do one thing well than four things quickly, tell your guide — they will happily drop Qutub and give you longer in the old city.

Day 3 — Delhi to Agra

Leave by 8am. You will be in Agra for lunch. We put the Taj on the following morning rather than this afternoon, deliberately, and use the afternoon for Agra Fort and the view of the Taj from Mehtab Bagh across the river as the light goes.

Day 4 — Taj Mahal at sunrise, then the road to Jaipur

The Taj opens 30 minutes before sunrise and it is worth the alarm; the marble changes colour for about an hour and the crowds arrive later. It is closed every Friday, which is the single most common reason a Golden Triangle itinerary has to be rebuilt — plan the week around that before you book anything.

Back for breakfast, then drive to Jaipur with two stops. Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned capital, is 40 minutes out of Agra and takes about 90 minutes. Chand Baori at Abhaneri, a 3,500-step stepwell dropping thirteen storeys into the ground, is a 20-minute detour off the highway and one of the most extraordinary things on the whole route. We wrote about it in more detail in our guide to Chand Baori and the Abhaneri festival. Most seven-day itineraries skip both. Do not.

Day 5 — Amber Fort and the Jaipur that is not on the postcard

Amber Fort first thing, before the coaches. Walk up rather than taking a jeep if you can — it is fifteen minutes and the view back down the valley is the point. Afterwards, Panna Meena ka Kund and the Anokhi museum of hand-block printing are both five minutes away and almost empty.

Day 6 — Jaipur city

The City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal are within walking distance of each other in the old city. Jantar Mantar rewards a guide more than any other monument in Rajasthan — without one it is a garden of odd shapes; with one it is an observatory you can read. Afternoon free for the bazaars: Johari for jewellery, Bapu for textiles.

Day 7 — Jaipur to Delhi, and home

Five hours back to Delhi. Leave a minimum of four hours between arriving at the airport and your flight, and more if you are flying on a weekend evening.

What the week costs

There is no fixed package price because no two trips are the same, but for planning purposes: monument tickets for a foreign visitor come to roughly ₹3,000–₹3,500 across the week. The Taj is ₹1,100 for the main complex plus ₹200 if you want to go inside the mausoleum itself, Agra Fort is ₹650, Fatehpur Sikri ₹610, and Amber Fort sits in the same bracket. Buying Taj tickets online saves ₹50 per person.

The car is the other fixed cost. Two people are comfortable in a Toyota Etios; four with luggage want an Innova Crysta; six or more need an Urbania. The vehicle is yours for the whole week, not shared, and the driver stays with you.

When to go

October to March is the comfortable season, and December and January are the busiest — hotels in Jaipur and Agra need holding early for those weeks. April onwards gets genuinely hot, and July to September brings the monsoon, which is not the disaster people expect but does mean afternoon rain. We go through this month by month in our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.

Three mistakes we see every season

  • Booking a Friday in Agra. The Taj is closed. It sounds obvious and it happens constantly.
  • Doing Agra as a day trip from Delhi. Ten hours of driving for a two-hour visit, and you miss sunrise, which is the whole reason to be there.
  • Filling every afternoon. The trips people remember have a free half-day in Jaipur in them. Leave one.

Common questions

Is seven days enough for the Golden Triangle?

Yes, comfortably, with two nights each in Agra and Jaipur. Six works if you arrive early and leave late. Five means cutting either Fatehpur Sikri or a full day in Jaipur.

Can I add somewhere else to the seven days?

Not without taking something out. If you have eight or nine days, Ranthambore for tigers or Udaipur for lakes are the two natural extensions, and both change the trip considerably for one extra night.

Should I take a train instead of a car?

The Gatimaan Express to Agra is fast and good. But the Agra to Jaipur leg is where the route earns its keep — Fatehpur Sikri and Abhaneri are only reachable by road, and a train skips both.

Do I need a guide in each city?

A driver is essential; a guide is worth it in Delhi, at Fatehpur Sikri and at Jantar Mantar, and optional elsewhere. We arrange government-approved guides city by city rather than one guide for the week.

How far in advance should I book?

For travel between November and February, three to four months for the hotels you actually want. Outside those months, six weeks is usually enough.

Planning your own week

Every itinerary above is a starting point. We rebuild it around your dates, your pace and your budget — you can see the full range on our Golden Triangle tours page, and the six-night version if you are tighter on time. If you would rather just tell us your dates and let us cost it, send us your plans and you will have a day-by-day itinerary and a price within 24 hours, free and with no obligation.