Agra

Understand

thumb|300px|The Taj Mahal as seen from Mehtab Bagh, across the Yamuna River.

Get in

thumb|300px|The walls of the Agra Fort Agra is 200 km southeast of Delhi and is one of the points of the tourist's Golden Triangle of Agra-Delhi-Jaipur. Agra is also very well connected via rail and road with other nearby cities and tourist destinations, and thus suitable for a day trip from Delhi or as a part of a larger itinerary.

Get around

Metro, electric buses, tongas (horse-drawn carriages) and e-rickshaws are readily available and the best way to get to the Taj Mahal. As polluting vehicles are banned around the Taj, you need to use a tonga or an electric auto while travelling in the vicinity. Camels are also available.

See

Agra's top two sights by far are the incomparable Taj Mahal and Agra Fort.

Do

City Walks: Other than the monuments visits, one can also stroll in the local markets in old city area. It's a nice experience to have a walk in one of the oldest parts of the city.

Buy

Agra has many shops selling stone products, from jewellery to small boxes and plaques with inlay work resembling that on the Taj. The best of these are wonderful, and even the run-of-the-mill ones are rather pretty. Agra is also famous for its leather goods. Consider spending time in Sadar Bazaar for some shopping and cheap food. These markets have gemstones, both precious and semi-precious, cut and polished but unset, and finished jewellery. You can also find chic boutiques, classy leather goods, culturally-designed clothing, and marble markets.

Beware of being overcharged. Do not let anyone lead you to a shop, lest the price go up to cover their commission, typically 50%. Be very wary of the promises these people make. Bargain hard. Be prepared to walk away, you can nearly always get the same items in another shop or order items you liked during your visit over the Internet after you return. Expect to encounter petty and greedy shopowners who will resort to every lie in the book to make a sale (with initial markups of 1,000-10,000%).

There are many local markets: Sadar Bazar. a sophisticated market, Raja ki Mandi market, Sanjay Place for all the offices, Shah Market for electronics. All of these markets are situated along the M G Road. Hospital Road Market and Subhash Bazar for clothes situated near Agra Fort railway station. Rawatpara market is for spices. Besides these there are many branded shops along the M G Road.

Many wholesale marble products are available at Goku…

Eat

Agra specialities are petha, a type of very sweet candy, and Dal Moth, a spicy lentil mix. Both are also popular souvenirs.

Chaat - Agra is a heaven for any Chaat lover. Chaat can be of various types but there is one thing common among them all is that they are spicy and you will find crowd outside virtually every chaat stall, especially popular places like Double Phatak (near Sikandra) for Mangores. You'll find quality Bhallas and Panipuri at Sadar and Belangunj. Samosa and Kachori are found at every sweet shop that flood the city. Some typical chaat items are Aloo Tikki (made by roasting mess made out of boiled potatoes), paneer tikka (cubes of cottage cheese baked in a tandoor with spices), pani puri or golguppa (small round hollow shells filled with a potato-based filling and a spicy sweet blend of sauces), mangores, Samosaes, Chachori, etc. If you want to savour the typical Agra breakfast have a bite of one of those spicy Berahi and round it off with sweet Jalebies. Sweets - There are quite a few good sweets shops. The best for the famous petha of Agra are at Hari Parwat, a short distance from Agra Fort. Amongst the well-known shops are Panchi's, Bhimsain BaidyaNath and The Pracheen Petha store. There are many types of petha available but, for the authentic experience, try either the plain one (ivory white) or Angoori flavoured (rectangular and yellow pieces soaked in sugar syrup). Other shops in Agra include: Bikanervala, Deviram, Munnalal Petha, Gopaldas, and Ajanta S…

Drink

A bottle of Indian beer costs around ₹70-100 in a hotel, but there is virtually no nightlife in Agra outside of cultural shows at some of the larger hotels and restaurants. After getting off the streets of Agra and into your hotel, you will not want to go back anyway.

Stay safe

Don't leave cash or any valuables in the hotel room. Cross check all hotel, restaurant and lounge bills for errors. Never pay anyone for anything upfront, including taxi drivers. Beware of pickpockets. If you decide to purchase anything, beware that most items are cheap replicas of original items and not likely to last long. The toys are really poorly put together so do not buy them! During the winter season, the weather of Agra is unpredictable and temperature may go as low as freezing; be well prepared. Some unscrupulous dealers of carpets use the classic 'bait and switch'. If you buy something, insist on carrying it yourself else what arrives in the post might not be what you bargained for. A carpet shop named 'Kanu carpets' is particularly infamous for this. It is prudent to steer clear of shady looking establishments.

Connect

There are several Internet cafés for sending email or uploading digital photos. Sify Iway also offers broadband connectivity at different locations spread all over the city.

Many cheap cafés, such as the Taj Café, offer free Wi-Fi.