Planning to visit the Taj Mahal from Delhi, preferably as a day trip. GUWonder suggested in another thread to take a guided tour.
Are there tours that utilize the fast trains from Delhi to Agra? Can you pre-book a tour that meets you at the Agra train station and drops you back so that you can still get to your hotel at Delhi for the night? Or are the return trains so bad (e.g. 10 hours late, see below), that it is better to hop on a tour bus from Delhi?
Can you book tours over the net? (I am a little afraid that booking a tour using a concierge at a 4-5 star hotel may be prohibitively expensive).
Finally, is there so much to see in Agra that it is better to stay there overnight?
A lot of questions, even though I have read these threads
Originally Posted by
LeftsideWindow
Thanks for the advice!
As a quick update - the
Bhopal Shatabdi Express Train #12002 from NDLS to AGC was quick and easy. It left on time at 6:15AM and getting to the station 10-15 minutes prior was a reasonable amount of time to navigate our way onto the train (though it would be wise to plan a bit more time in case of any issues). There was no need to pickup any tickets at the station as passports were sufficient for our e-tickets.
The return trip on
Punjab Mail Train #12137 from AGC to NDLS was another story. Train was delayed 10 hours and there was no way to rebook e-tickets at the station so we ended up just purchasing another set of tickets for the next train home. Needless to say 3 1/2 hours in 2nd class (no AC) was an authentic experience.