Golden Triangle

See all my general India travel tips here!

Aloft New Delhi
Probably too expensive if you are a backpacker. I stayed there because it was close to the airport and they would pick me up at the airport – which I felt more comfortable with having never been to India and be alone. I’m sure there is something cheaper and just as safe.

I booked my tour Viator.com (other sites to consider for tours: TripAdvisor, g adventures, sta travel). I can’t seem to find the exact tour that I did – I’m not sure whether or not it is available or something

My tour guide picked me up at my hotel from the night before (I could tell them anywhere in Delhi to pick me up)
They also would drop me off anywhere in Delhi at the end of the tour (I went straight to the airport)

It was a 3 night, 4 day tour (however the 4^th day was driving only)
Day 1 Delhi, Day 2 Agra, Day 3 Jaipur, Day 4 drive back to Delhi
With the monuments I saw, 3 days was perfect, but if you want to see more, you may want more time/a longer tour
I felt like I got to see a lot and was kind of “tour-ed out” by the end and sick of hearing about history – but I also don’t really know what else is in the cities that I may have missed (I think if I would have done more sightseeing, it would have gotten to be too much)

My tour used really nice hotels which was a nice change of pace and felt luxurious, but you could probably find a cheaper tour with middle of the road hotels

On mine pretty much 4-6 hours a Day was sightseeing with a guide then drive to the next cityI usually got to each city around 4/5pm so had a little time to walk around before eating/bed

Delhi- Qutub Minar, Lotus temple, Presidents palace, India Gate, Parliament house
Agra- Taj Mahal, agra fort, inlay art shop
- Fatehpur sikri was between Agra and Jaipur – could have done without it
Jaipur- Amber fort, Jantar Mantar, City Palace, Pink city/old city, sagar lake, vegetable ink art shop
I had a different guide in each city, but my driver was the same throughout
- All the guides were AMAZING!

Check to see if monument entrance fees are included because mine were not and they add up (they aren’t extreme but just something to think about)
It is a lot of time in the car each day (4-5+ hours)
You do have free time at night when you get to each city to explore if you want

Don’t go see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Although it sounds amazing, it is very foggy in the morning and you won’t get to see it clearly.
Although the drive from Jaipur to Delhi is only supposed to take 5 hours, mine took over 7 hours, which my driver said is not uncommon due to traffic. Keep this in mind when planning times to leave, especially if you have to make a flight.

See all my India blog posts here!