Agra Hotel Reviews
Visited Taj-hotel provided golf cart for transportation; Agra Fort and most other sites. Tour guide recommended by hotel was very informative. Did shopping for wool carpet, handicrafts etc.
Agra and in particular the Taj Mahal were beautiful. However, there isn''t much else to do in Agra so don''t spend more than a day here. Also don''t waste your money getting a guided tour for the day - the only attractions worth seeing are the Taj Mahal are perhaps the Agra Fort (if you haven''t already seen the Red Fort in Delhi).
First time visit to Taj for my kids; 2nd time for me & my wife. Took early (06.00h / 08.10h) Shabtabdi Express from New Delhi station to Agra Cantonment, which was an on-time, excellent, fast (2+ hour) including breakfast & newspaper service in Executive Class (2X2 airplane style seating). The usual mob scene on arrival in Agra, with everyone offering guide and car services. We got lucky with Kumar, who spoke excellent English, was very knowledgeable, and low-key on sales pressure. He offered Rs150 to "any hotel" and on the way offered to do a full day tour for Rs650 including the current station pick up. We accepted, and enjoyed the tour. <br> <br> The highlight was the Taj itself, and the place was mobbed with tourists in the late afternoon/early evening. All the gardeners/groundskeepers were trying to be very helpful by showing off good photo sites and angles (and of course soliciting tips). You must pay Rs 25 video camera fee, and you are only allowed to take video from the gate area itself, approximately 500m away. Mobile phones and tripods strictly not allowed (check in facility available.) No photography allowed inside Taj Mahal itself.<br> <br> The next day Kumar took us to the abandoned city of Fatepur Sikri, which was beautiful. The major difference from my last visit (20 years ago) is the commercialization of the mosque and shrine there. There are so many, highly-aggressive hawkers, con artists, guides, etc. following your every footstep inside and outside the shrine as to make the visit distinctly unenjoyable. Save your shopping for New Delhi (either Janpath or Central Cottage Emporium). Prices in Agra a severely over-inflated relative to Delhi. Returned from Agra Cantonment on Taj Express (18.55h / 22.00h). Train was 10 mins late arriving (originates in Gwalior) and it was not obvious to tourists where to find the A/C chair cars on our reservations. Seating was 2X3 airplane style; meals & water available for purchase from the steward on board. Arrived approx 15 mins late at New Delhi Nizzamudin station to the usual crowd of taxi hawkers.
With regard to visiting the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort - I was traveling with two teenagers who kept wanting to grab my camera. Advice: Provide everyone with his/her own camera for recording these stunning these visual sites.
We arrived in Agra by rail and picked a taxi at the station, we agreed to book the taxi for 2 days for Rs 1250 which included an excellent guide and took us to all the sights in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, and of course a couple of factory shops making marble ornaments and jewellery, but we didn''t feel pressurised to make any purchases. There is a restaurant (Riao Restaurant) to the left as you exit the hotel, about 40 metres along the road (Rs 5 if you want to take the cycle rickshaw) which is quite good, but not much cheaper than the hotel restaurant, beer is not on the menu but is available (Kingfisher Rs 150).
In the city of Taj, the important places for sightseeing are the Taj Mahal with its splendid glory, not far from the hotel and the Agra Fort bulit by the Emperor Akbar the Great, that served as capital of his Mugal Empire and is just a few kilometers from the hotel. On way to Delhi, there stands the Mausoleum (with the graves of Akbar and others) at Sikandra, about 10 kms from the hotel. On way to Jaipur, we went to visit the Fort and Gateway at Fatehpur Sikri, 35 kms from Agra, the capital city made by Akbar on Arawali hills, however, abondoned by Akbar due to brackish water in that region. In visiting these places we hired a car with a driver. This proved to be very useful for mobility required for visiting various historical sites.
Agra Fort well worth visit as well as Taj. Tourist (non-Indian) entry fees seem high compared to Indian fees. Rs.250 p.p. for Fort/ 350 for Taj.
Beware the prepaid taxis! We got one from the train station to the hotel and the driver offered to collect us the next morning, bring us on a tour of the sights - including an English Speaking guide - and return us to the hotel and ultimately to the train station at which point we would pay the agreed fee of Ruppees 650! Unfortunately though we couldn''t understand the guide and really he used us as an opportunity to learn English! When collected to be brought back to the train station the guide met us in our hotel demanding we pay him for his services as a guide and demanding we visit more shops with him so that he could earn commission on the sales! Only after this, and subsequently meeting the driver did we cop that the job was a nixer and so we had major hassle trying to escape from both the guide and the driver!
Do not go to Delhi in the summer! Go up to the mountains. Big mistake. The weather never cools down even at night. It is very polluted. Be prepared for scammers at every turn. In our first three days we fell for a number of scams, including people at the railway station pretending to be government officials with forged ID. Everyone wants your money at every turn, it really was truly exhausting. One good restaurant in Delhi restaurant for Hotel Ajanta in Paharanj.
The Taj Mahal is absolutely worth the trip to Agra. If the major cities of Rajasthan (Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur) are also in your itinerary, you can skip the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Make sure you are at the Taj as early as possible.
What to say about the Taj Mahal? It is of course one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. But don''t forget the other places, like Agra Fort or Sikandra.
Taj is closed on Friday''s and does not allow video camera''s beyond a certain point. Take disposable show covers from a medical store if possible - the ones they tie on for Rs 10 each is quite unhygienic. In Fatehpur, be sure to see Sikri first if arriving by late noon - it closes at 5 pm. Fatehpur monuments are open longer into the night.
Agra is not a place for beginners. The whole town seems to be out to get the tourists and if it weren''t for the Taj Mahal I would recommend avoiding it. Our first experience was walking to a restaurant at 10:30pm and being followed constantly by rickshaw drivers who wouldn''t accept that we preferred to walk. When we found the restaurant closed we gave in and took a rickshaw downtown. He refused to stop at a Pizza place we saw saying it was closed when obviously it wasn''t and took us to a restaurant of his choice.<br><br> The prices were so inflated (especially considering that it was a grimy, empty place) that it was ridiculous. We stood up to leave and the owner said "ok we''ll give you a 30% discount". We said forget it and he said how about 50%, but we decided to leave and finally forced the driver to take us back to the pizza place we originally saw which was open. Getting from A to B was always a struggle with drivers who were always ducking into carpet or handicraft places so that we could "just look not buy". The hard sell was so overwhelming and omnipresent that the effect was a desire to buy nothing and to just get the hell out of there.<br><br> The Taj Mahal however is superb, the most beautiful building I have ever seen and probably worth the aggravation of the town.
Once the main sites are visited, little of interest to the ''site'' seeker, although the general atmosphere of the place is truly exciting.
Agra was a tale of two cities. Old city dirty, overcrowded, polluted - we''re killing this planet. The other side of the coin, the clean serenity of the Taj and other monuments, Agra Fort etc. An assault on all senses - both good and bad. <BR><BR> If you want to eat - the restaurant at the Howard Park Plaza is excellent & Pizza Hut isn''t bad either as a rest from spices.
Taxi and private car touts are in abundance at the train station, negotiate a price for the day and get the driver to take you all over.
The place visited was very pretty. Taj is the prettiest thing I every seen. The resturant slide your credit card then came to tell you that you have a decline card. One evening I went to this resturant next the hotel. After eating, I tried to pay by credit card. I tried two cards and my companion tried two cards. I was told all four card decline. I told me credit card where I will travelling, so that they would not get alarm when they see all these foreign charges. I have a high credit limit on my cards, so does my companion. But I later learn the Indians tactics, they want cash, Instead of tell me stories, they should ask for cash, I would have pay with cash. The food was delicious and cheap. But playing games is too much.
Be wary of taxi drivers. Drivers tend to want to take you to shops you don''t want to go to. Also insist on acting as a guide and then ask for payment for the privelage.
Situated near the tourist office, don''t hesitate to cross the road and ask for good advises or extra services such as car rental and city tour.
Almost all the major hotels of Agra are nearby which is convenient as the hotel sole coffee shop does not offer an exciting menu. The Taj Mahal (and the Taj Ganj area) is within walking distance, if you are able to ignore the cyclerickshaws saying hello all the way.