My top 20 Taj Mahal tips for a trip to India 🇮🇳

I have absolutely no doubt that you’ll want to visit the Taj Mahal if you’re travelling through Northern India. The mausoleum is a Wonder of the World, and its gleaming white dome is the most iconic monument of India.

However, there are some very important things to know that I wish I’d been aware of before visiting the Taj Mahal. These would have made my trip a lot easier and smoother. My Taj Mahal trip didn’t go exactly as I expected, so I’d definitely recommend bearing these in mind!

Taj Mahal tickets and entry fee for foreigners

I won’t post exact ticket prices here, as they can change. I’d recommend checking this site for up-to-date prices.

If you’re wondering how to buy Taj Mahal tickets online, the official website is here.

Taj Mahal tips: what I wish I’d known

1. Book a tour for the Taj Mahal

If you’re wondering “do I need a tour for the Taj Mahal”?, my answer is YES.

My top recommendation, which will actually save you a lot of time and stress, is to book a guided tour.

A guided tour means that your tickets will be arranged for you, you’ll be told about the history (and given some free time!) and you won’t have to deal with knowing where you need to be etc.

You can do a guided tour from Delhi or Agra. The Delhi option will include transport to and from the capital, or you could take the Delhi to Agra train and do the tour from Agra.

Here are some tour recommendations. I’ve not done any of these personally, but I’ve researched them on Get Your Guide and found the options with the best reviews:

2. Is the Taj Mahal open on Fridays?

No, the Taj Mahal is closed to the general public on Fridays!

The mosque to the west faces Mecca, and is a working mosque. It is closed to general tourists on Fridays to let people worship. So when you’re scheduling your India itinerary, make sure that you DON’T book for Friday!

Of course, when you book a tour, you’ll find you can’t book it for Friday.

3. Make sure you have an eSIM! (ad aff)

I’d highly recommend installing an eSIM onto your phone before visiting the Taj Mahal.

This will enable you to look up history on the fly and keep in contact with your guide if you have free time!

I use and recommend Holafly – with them, you’ll have unlimited data throughout your whole trip. With their Always On feature, you’ll get an extra 1GB of data if you run out of days or when you land in a new country, so you can sort your new SIM out!

Click here to get 5% off your Holafly SIM for India! @Holafly HolaflyTraveller

4. Don’t just get “the money shot” – learn about the history!

Yes, the Taj Mahal is beautiful, but it’s not all about getting the perfect picture!

If you have a guide, they’ll tell you the history – but here are the basics!

The Taj Mahal is referred to in English as “Crown Palace” or “crown of palaces”. It was built by Shah Jahan, one of the Mughal emperors, as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth (after bearing 14 children!).

She had three deathbed wishes:

That he would not marry again
That he would look after her family
That he would build a mausoleum for her that would link her memory to heaven

He actually fulfilled all three (although he did have two other wives…).

It took 22 years to build, and Shah Jahan passed away in Agra Fort (more on that to come), looking at the mausoleum. He’s now buried beside her – it’s largely a symmetrical building (accounting for human error), but this is the one aspect where it isn’t.

Today, there are two mosque-like buildings on either side, but the one to the east is a jawab and can’t be used for prayer, as it doesn’t face Mecca.

5. Travel Light

There is a long list of things you aren’t allowed into the Taj Mahal. These include, but aren’t limited, to:

Food
Power banks
Tripods
Cigarettes
Alcohol
Laptops
Bluetooth headphones
Microphones (for cameras)

I left my power bank on the bus – if you’re taking a tour and will have banned items, you could check if you can do the same.

You CAN bring your passport, phone, money, cards, camera and a water bottle to the Taj Mahal.

We stayed at Hotel Anand Villa in Agra and dropped our bags off before leaving for the Taj Mahal. They were happy to store them in the lobby until we returned.

6. Expect a thorough bag check

You have to go through security to get into the complex, so allow plenty of time for everything to be checked thoroughly. I had cameras and a few credit cards, so it took them a long time to sort through everything!

7. What to wear to the Taj Mahal

I’d always recommend dressing fairly modestly at the Taj Mahal, largely due to Uttar Pradesh being a conservative part of India and it being a sacred site!

I wore trousers and a top with thick straps (not spaghetti straps) and my trusty Tevas.

That said, you aren’t going into a mosque, so there are no strict rules on covering shoulders and wearing a headscarf.

8. You’ll change from a bus/ car to a buggy

Buses and cars cannot go all the way up to the main gates of the complex, so you’ll have to transfer to a buggy, which will take you the rest of the journey.

9. Choose your time wisely

There are a few times you can visit the Taj Mahal:

Sunrise: Involves a very early wake up! This is a popular time to visit, so it can be busy, but it’s got a beautiful pinky hue.
Daytime: It’s often not as busy, but doesn’t have the majestic hue you might expect with the Taj Mahal. It can also be very warm this time of day. However, I visited during the daytime and still very much enjoyed it!
Sunset: There’s a golden colour at sunset – this is also a busy time to visit.

Rain, of course, can happen anytime during the wet season! Which brings me onto my next point…

10. If you’re visiting during wet season, expect rain!

I visited the Taj Mahal in September, and it… rained! September is not the best time of year to visit the Taj Mahal – in fact, April to September is sub-optimal! However, it was still worth a visit at this time of year.

We were originally planning to do the sunset slot, as the colours of the Taj Mahal glimmer at this time – but rain was forecast. Instead, we decided to go mid-morning – but it still rained (it poured, in fact).

In all honesty, I’d recommend not swapping times around, as the weather can be very unpredictable in the wet season and doesn’t always go by the forecast. Instead, just go with the time slot you want and deal with the weather!

If you’re visiting during dry season, the weather is much more reliable.

11. Pack waterproofs

This advice is also more for the wet season, but I’d highly recommend packing a waterproof poncho.

If you didn’t bring one to India with you, you can use the app Blinkit to order one – it’s essentially a delivery app for pretty much anything (groceries, toiletries, some clothes – I even purchased a camera SD card from there!). It works in Agra.

You might also want to consider a phone case and waterproof camera bag (again, if you’re visiting in the monsoon!).

Also, if it does rain, there are some under-shelter parts to the side of the mausoleum, and toward the mausoleum. When it started raining when we were there, we found these areas fill up fast – we didn’t get there until it was too late, and it was completely full!

That said, it was “hot” rain, so I was quite happy to just get wet!

12. Spend around two hours

While the Taj Mahal will no doubt be a highlight of your trip to India, in my opinion, it doesn’t need a huge amount of time.

Of course, if you’re particularly interested in Mughal history and architecture, you could spend all day there (and I would fully support that!), but if you’re balancing seeing the world wonder with all of the other things to do in Northern India, I’d say two hours is enough time.

The mausoleum is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen, but once you’ve learned a little about the history, gazed at it, taken photos and gone inside, you’re pretty much done!

13. Don’t lose your shoe covers!

You’ll be given some shoe covers near the entrance. Keep these on you, as you need them to walk into the mausoleum and won’t be allowed in without them.

14. Expect photo requests

Agra locals are very used to seeing tourists, but the Taj Mahal also sees a huge amount of international tourists, some of whom come from rural parts of India and don’t see foreigners very often, if at all. India’s a huge country, and 65% live in rural areas!

Personally, I don’t object to people asking for photos, and have said yes to having them taken in places like China and Bangladesh. But in India, Raja (my guide) advised against having any taken. He said that if I say yes to one person, many more people will request photos, which will ultimately mean I’ll struggle to get away!

With limited time at the Taj Mahal, I decided to take his advice and say no to any photo requests.

15. Don’t film or take photos inside the mausoleum chamber

Photos and videos are fine everywhere in the Taj Mahal, except in the mausoleum chamber itself. It’s essentially a grave, so it’s understandable why! Please make sure you don’t film or take any photos here as a sign of respect.

16. Visit India Coffee after

There’s a coffee shop called “India Coffee” right outside the gate which does decent coffee with oat milk – something that I struggled to get in India!

17. See Agra Fort as well

Agra Fort is well worth your time. It’s a Mughal fort where Shah Jahan lived with Mumtaz Mahal, and he was actually imprisoned in one room for the last few years of his life.

The Agra Fort was pretty wild; we learned that they had moats with crocodiles in and tigers patrolling the edge to make sure any enemies didn’t break in! It also has wonderful views of the Taj Mahal.

The other option is Baby Taj, another Mughal tomb (commissioned by Empress Nur Jahan for her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg) – but we only had time for one and our guide recommended Agra Fort, which I enjoyed!

18. You can visit on a day trip from Delhi…

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that taken with Agra as a city. Our guide also told us it was a huge tourist trap and he’d had two phones stolen from there!

If you don’t want to spend an extended time in Agra, you can visit from Delhi for a day, and they have actually proposed a rapid Delhi-Agra metro link! However, at the moment, you’ll need to take the Delhi to Agra train like we did, or do a tour.

Here are some tour options:

To be honest, if I was planning my own trip to India, I’d seriously consider doing the Taj Mahal as a day trip from Delhi.

19. Head to Bikanervala after

If you want to try some classic Indian street food without risking stomach issues, I highly recommend Bikanervala!

It’s essentially a fast food restaurant serving good-quality Indian street food. Everything is vegetarian. We tried a few items, including:

Pav Bhaji: A Mumbai street food consisting of toasted soft bread rolls with a mashed vegetable curry
Dahi chaat: fried dumplings served under a yoghurt with tamarind and spicy chutney
Chole bhature: deep fried bread served with a spiced chickpea curry

20. Where to stay in Agra

Here are some of my favourite places to stay in Agra:

I stayed in Hotel Anand Villa. My room was downstairs without a window, but my bed was comfy and it had a plush sofa in the room! Some of the girls on my tour thought their rooms were a little damp, but I didn’t have that issue – it’s worth noting that it was the monsoon! Click here to read more about it!

I researched hotels before I went, and loved the look of Royale Sarovar Portico Agra (mid-range) and DoubleTree by Hilton Agra (luxury).

I hope this article’s been helpful! Don’t forget to check out my things to do in Delhi in one day post, and my post about arriving in India!

All Destinations, Asia, India