THE FINAL GUIDE TO THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE OF INDIA
The Golden Triangle is a popular tourist route in northern India.
In fact, it is the most popular part of the country for tourists. It includes the triangular area between New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, each of which is about 125 miles away from other cities.
These days, the Golden Triangle has received some mixed comments. Before I land in Delhi, I fully expect that my week there will be disappointed.
I don’t like destinations full of tourists. I have read many articles focusing on how you should completely skip the Golden Triangle. Many people say that going to the Golden Triangle means contributing to excessive tourism. India’s real treasure lies outside this region.
Usually, this is enough for me to go to the mountains, but can you imagine traveling to India without seeing the Taj Mahal? I can’t, so I plan to stay in the Golden Triangle for a week and hold my breath, wondering whether this will be a decision I regret.
To my surprise, I like the time here very much! I came here with low expectations, but I like it very much.
I came here with low expectations, but I like to explore every second of these three wonderful cities. Today, I am very happy to share with you why I fell in love with this region of India and how to ensure that you have the same wonderful trip there.
Where is the Golden Triangle?
It can be seen from the map that the Golden Triangle is composed of an almost equilateral triangle, with New Delhi at the top, Agra at the bottom right, and Jaipur at the bottom left. The distance between New Delhi and Agra is 233 kilometers, between Agra and Jaipur is 237 kilometers, and between Jaipur and Delhi is 273 kilometers.
Most travelers fly to New Delhi, then go to Agra, and then end in Jaipur. This is the way I choose. From this point, you can venture back to New Delhi and leave the country, or continue to travel. For first-time visitors to India, the most popular next destinations include Rajasthan region, as well as Mumbai, Varanasi and Goa.
It doesn’t matter which direction you travel around the Golden Triangle, because there are many modes of transportation to choose from.
SHOULD YOU TAKE A TOUR?
No, there is no real need.
There are many companies operating Golden Triangle tourism — many of them will make a lot of comments in this article — but I really don’t think it is necessary to participate. I found that the trip in the Golden Triangle was direct, safe and very interesting. There are so many tourists of different ages doing the same thing, so it is far from as scary as you think.
I suggest you not take a multi-day tour, but choose a one-day tour in the local area — for example, the street food tour of Urban Adventures I took in New Delhi. This is the perfect trip I took in my first day in India, because it introduced me to the street food in this country, and made me confident to start ordering snacks from vendors when I continued to travel across India.
How to spend your time in the Golden Triangle
This is my seven-day schedule in the Golden Triangle.
Day 1: Arrive in New Delhi
Day 2: Explore Old Delhi
on the third day. Explore New Delhi
The fourth day. Explore South Delhi
The Fifth Day. Take the train to Agra; Tour Agra by rickshaw
The sixth day. Drive to Jaipur and stop at Fatpursikri and Abaneri
Day 7. All day in Jaipur
I spent a lot of time in New Delhi for several reasons. I flew from England and knew that I might have jet lag in the first few days of my stay in this country – I always suggested giving myself some low-key rest days at the beginning of the trip to adapt. I also know that Delhi has a lot of things to see. When I listed the things I want to do, I realized that it would take several days to read all the things.
In contrast, you can see Agra and Jaipur in one day, so you don’t need to spend so much time in these places.
If you have less time, you can take Agra and Taj Mahal as a one-day tour, or even Jaipur as a one-day tour. This will be a hard way to visit the area. After that, you will feel tired, but it can definitely be done. You can stay in Delhi for one day, go to Agra for one day, go to Jaipur for one day, and then you can. Bang! Finish reading in three days. But in my opinion, this seems to be a way to ensure that there will be no good times.
Here is how I allocate my time in more detail.
Day 2: Explore Old Delhi
When you imagine the chaos in India, Old Delhi is probably what you imagine. The streets are crowded with rickshaws, motorcycles, cattle and sheep, and street snacks. They are crowded and noisy.
However, you can start your day when the Red Castle is open. Without crowded tourists, it will bring a peaceful start to your day, which is likely to be extraordinary.
The next stop is Jama Mosque: this is one of the largest mosques in Delhi and one of my favorite places in this city. It is exciting that you can spend money to climb to the top of one of the minarets and overlook the beautiful scenery of Old Delhi.
Gandhi Memorial Hall should be your next stop. Before you take a deep breath and enter the Old Delhi community, you can have some thinking and tranquility here. Here, you should prepare your camera, because you know that so many things will happen, and it is impossible to take all of them in a still picture. However, it’s also interesting to try.
on the third day. Explore New Delhi
Today is the day to explore New Delhi. First go to your first step well in India! I like step wells — they are too cool for taking pictures — and Agrasen ki Baoli is a charming step well. It is said to be one of the most haunted places in Delhi.
Next, go to India Gate. This war memorial is to commemorate 70000 British Indian soldiers who died in the First World War. There are tourists, local students, families having picnics and a large number of street vendors everywhere, but it is still an impressive building.
Humayun’s tomb may be one of your biggest highlights in New Delhi. This red sandstone tomb, built in 1570, is the inspiration of the Taj Mahal. This is a huge building complex. You can see it in one or three hours, depending on whether you are keen to stay here and use a lot of rest time to immerse yourself in the atmosphere. I like it here
Next, go to Lodi Garden, which is one of my favorite places in this city. This is a very cool park. You can easily spend a few hours walking around ancient historical sites, watching families play cricket and picnic on the grass.
After a long day of sightseeing, you can stroll around the nearby Lodhi Colony, an area of which has become a street art block. There are dozens of huge colored murals covering the surrounding buildings. They are so interesting.
The fourth day. Explore South Delhi
End your time in Delhi with a relaxing stroll in South Delhi. First of all, you can stroll around the Lotus Temple, which is a Sydney Opera House style chapel open to all people regardless of their religious beliefs.
Next, go to Qutb Minar. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this towering spire is 73 meters high and surrounded by many cool ruins and monuments. This is one of my favorite attractions in Delhi — I know I have said it many times — I spent more than an hour taking photos in the yard.
In the afternoon, go to the PVR director editing cinema to watch Bollywood movies. This is a luxury cinema in Nandeli. It has comfortable reclining chairs, blankets, pillows, air purifiers, and waiters to deliver the food to your seat.
The Fifth Day. Agra
Take the Gatimaan express train from Delhi, and you will arrive in Agra before noon. After checking into your family hotel — I’m staying in this lovely hotel — and arranging the driver for the next day, it’s time to go out and find a rickshaw driver to show you around for a day.
Take Agra Fort as your first stop and be ready to leave a deep impression on this huge building complex. I was surprised. I spent more than an hour wandering around, and I found it more impressive than the Red Fort in Delhi. You can see a lot of scenery of the Taj Mahal from the fortress, so when you walk in the yard, you must pay attention to it.
The Taj baby, or the tomb of Itimad Ude Dora, will be the next item on your agenda, and it is usually not too crowded. At this time, you can relax and enjoy the fun of shooting the tiles and structures in the garden from different angles.
Next, I ask you to take you to the scenic spots of the Taj Mahal, on the other side of the river, looking towards the tomb. This is a good place to take pictures in front of the Taj Mahal. No one else is in the camera.
Then comes the big show. If you visit Agra in winter like me, I suggest you visit the Taj Mahal at sunset to avoid the fog rolling in at sunrise at this time of year. You may spend several hours here. If you expect it to be overestimated, you will only be impressed.
The sixth day. Travel day from Agra to Jaipur via Fatpursikri and Abaneri
If you choose to skip the sunset of the Taj Mahal the day before, you will go out at sunrise this morning. Or why not at the same time? I wanted to return at sunrise just to see it again, but in the end, my desire to sleep defeated it.
After a quick breakfast, you can jump on the bus with the driver and go to Jaipur.
The first stop along the way is Fatpursikri, about an hour from Agra. You may spend two or three hours here because there are many things to see. This fortified city dates back to the 16th century and was the capital of the Mughal Empire for only 10 years. After that, due to the lack of fresh water, it was quickly abandoned. However, the red sandstone building is still perfectly preserved.
On the two-hour journey, you will arrive at Abaneri to see the largest ladder well in India. It is known as Chang Baori and is one of the most impressive places in the country. It was built in 800 AD, with 3500 steps, falling 100 feet down, and is one of the deepest steps in the world.
That night, I stayed at Le Fort Family Hotel. There are wonderful breakfasts to enjoy. There are some good restaurants near the hotel. The boss is also very enthusiastic. The hotel is built close to a fort, which makes it a particularly cool place. I like it here
Day 7. Visit Jaipur
There are many things to see in this beautiful pink city, but luckily, you can visit all the tourist attractions in one day.
Amber Castle should be the first stop on your schedule, because you want to get there as soon as possible when it opens to avoid congestion. My goal is to leave Jaipur at 7:30 in the morning, then jump on Uber and arrive there during the opening hours.
Once the fortress is open, you will want to make full use of your time, so you should give priority to the most popular part of the building complex: the mirror hall is usually crowded, so go there directly. Once you have walked through the four areas of Amber Castle, go to Jakar Castle and take photos on the wall for an hour.
With the end of the main attractions, jump on Uber and return to Jaipur, and stop at the palace by the lake.
Then I went back to Jaipur, so I took a rickshaw and asked the driver to take you to the Hawa Palace. Instead of rushing, take photos from both sides of the street and go inside to have a look. Be sure to have a cup of tea in the scenic cafe opposite, so as to obtain one of the best views of the Hawa Temple without traffic obstruction.
When you are in the old city, go to the city palace and next to Jantar Mantar, and enjoy taking photos of pink buildings on the road. I suggest that if you don’t have much time, you may skip the city palace, because it is the worst part that Jaipur left me.
If you still feel energetic, you should go to Nahagelburg to enjoy the amazing scenery of the city. Visiting at sunset will be a good way to watch the darkness envelop Jaipur.
Other destinations in the Golden Triangle
If you have more time or don’t want to spend most of your time in Delhi, there are many other places to visit or join in your trip.
You can stop at Lansbore National Park between visiting Agra and Jaipur. This wildlife reserve used to be a royal hunting ground, and now it is one of the best observation sites for wild Indian tigers in the country. Of course, you may not be able to see them, but if you have a few extra days, it is definitely worth taking this opportunity.
The UNESCO World Heritage Keolad Organa National Park is very close to Agra. If you are a avid bird watcher, you can include it in your drive to Jaipur. In Sariska National Park near Jaipur, more and more leopards and tigers roam here.
If you want to hire a driver between Delhi and Agra, you can stop at Mathura (birthplace of Krishna) and Vrindavan along the way, which is full of beautiful temples.
Tourism tips and suggestions in the Golden Triangle
Use Uber or Ola to travel. Uber and Ola (Indian version of Uber) have changed the rules of the game of Indian travel. We find ourselves using Uber more because we can pay through the application. With Ola, you need to pay in cash because the application does not accept foreign cards, but the price will be slightly cheaper.
Although I like the life of rickshaw very much, it is very annoying to have to bargain with the driver, and they may lead us to the wrong place because they misunderstand our direction. In addition, the pollution may be very serious. Driving in an open-air car is not good for your lungs.
I found Uber very good and could give me a maximum price to negotiate with the rickshaw driver. When you show drivers the price of Uber on your mobile phone, they are usually willing to cooperate. And it’s cheap! When the 90-minute drive across Delhi, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
There are also 12 Go Asian trains. In the past, there were many horror stories about taking trains in India — it was common to spend a whole day waiting in line to buy tickets, or to be crowded in the crowded ordinary carriage, or to be cheated when trying to buy tickets from a travel agency.
Like Uber, 12Go Asia has greatly improved the train booking situation in the country, because now you can book tickets online, four months in advance, and use the debit card you use at home. 12Go charges commissions in sales, so keep this in mind — but for me, as long as I can order everything safely, it is very worthwhile.
There are buses from Redbus. I took three buses when I was in India, and I was impressed by the quality of all the buses. Buses are cheaper than trains, so if your travel budget is limited, this is a good choice. Make sure you look at the seat map in advance — some buses are sleepers. A double bed is arranged on one side of the bus, and a single bed is arranged on the other side. For all women who travel alone, you should make sure you book a single bed, so that you will not share a bed with a random local person. I booked the bus through Redbus.
English is spoken everywhere. There is no need to worry about language barriers here, because English is widely used throughout India, especially in the Golden Triangle. If you are doing anything, even long-distance travel, you can communicate with the people you need.
Some attractions are closed on Friday/Monday. Do you know that the Taj Mahal is closed on Friday? I didn’t know before I arrived in this country, but luckily, I have planned to visit on Tuesday.
However, what I did was to plan to visit the Lotus Temple on Monday, my last day in New Delhi, and it was closed. If I did a survey in advance, I would know this and be able to squeeze it into my other sightseeing days.
When you plan your trip in India, make sure you have a quick Google to know the opening hours of the places you want to go — Monday is usually the closing time of museums and scenic spots.
Buy a SIM card. It is very easy to get a local SIM card in India. There is an Airtel booth in the entry area of New Delhi – they will scan your passport, load your SIM card and activate it. India’s data cost is very low — if you buy at the airport, 900 rupees ($13) can get 1.5GB of data and unlimited local calls; If you buy at Airtel store in Delhi, you can get the same fee of 250 rupees. The latter will be a more complex process.
Negotiate, but don’t care too much. In India, you should bargain, but the price is often very low. You should remember what you are arguing about. I spent five minutes trying to get a rickshaw driver to reduce the price of 50 rupees, which is equivalent to 70 cents of US dollars. I am so ridiculous. Tell the truth? Who cares if you are cheated of a dollar? The driver needs the money more than you do.
You can pay by card to get a discount. In India, most tourist attractions offer discounts if you pay by card instead of cash. I admit that this is not a discount, but it will increase in the end. We have no problem using our UK debit card at the entrance of any scenic spot.
Buy an N95 mask and prepare for pollution. The pollution in India is very cruel, so you should buy an N95 mask in advance.
N95 mask can filter out 95% of fine particles smaller than 2.5 microns, which is very harmful to your health. You should make sure that your mask fits perfectly — if you can feel air flowing from both sides when you exhale, it means that it is not airtight, and you are still breathing in the surrounding toxic smoke. You will know that it works because you will have difficulty breathing.
They are not the most comfortable to wear and use, but I still use them for at least a few hours every day to minimize my exposure.
Avoid the dogs in the street. I was frightened by rabies when I was in India. From then on, I vowed to publicize the way of rabies infection. In the past month, I have learned a lot.
Rabies is transmitted through the saliva of infected animals — it doesn’t just mean being bitten by a foaming dog. It can be transmitted by animals without symptoms, and it can be transmitted by scratching, licking and biting. If you have saliva on your hands, you can catch rabies by touching your eyes, nose and mouth — even after a few hours.
The street dogs in India are very cute. I know I spent a lot of time playing with them, but I am too stupid. It is not worth taking risks. India has the highest incidence rate of rabies in the world, with an estimated 30000 deaths every year. Once you are infected with rabies and begin to show symptoms, there is no cure. You will die within a week. Avoid those dogs, no matter how cute they are, because it is not worth taking risks.
If you do touch a dog and it licks your leg or other places, please see a doctor as soon as possible and receive post-exposure treatment. This is a series of injections within two weeks, which can prevent you from dying. When it comes to rabies, you never want to take the risk.
Pay attention to the drainage tube. Although it seems that they are very safe in the street, the cover of the sewer will sometimes be loosely covered on the sewer. If you step on them in the proper place, they will turn over and let you fly down. When walking, you should see your feet clearly to avoid this situation.
How to keep women safe in India?
I had much less trouble in India than I thought. I didn’t encounter sexual harassment, was not touched, and was rarely stared at by local men. Everyone has great respect and enthusiasm for me, whether I am with my boyfriend or walking alone. This is very unexpected!
The worst situation you may encounter is that teenage boys keep asking for photos. At first, I agreed to take a photo with everyone who asked for a photo, but finally got tired of it and began to reject them. After all, if they don’t ask for photos from local girls, why should they ask me? They just want to pretend that they have a western girlfriend on social media.
My guide in Jaipur advised me not to agree to take photos with local people. From that moment on, I only agreed to take photos for families and girls.
You may be surprised to find that traveling as a woman in India sometimes brings more pleasant experiences. There are women-specific carriages in Delhi Metro, which are much less crowded. I can skip the queue in many scenic spots by joining the women-specific carriages, and they are often warmly welcomed by local women. Especially teenage girls, they are always willing to play and chat with me.
Time and time again, for example, when I travel by train alone, local people will ask me to make sure I feel safe, and promise me that if I feel uncomfortable or dangerous, I can let them know.
There are many tourists in the Golden Triangle. You will not stand out from the crowd, but you should still follow the basic safety practices.
You should make sure you dress conservatively to attract more attention. When you go out at night, stick to the place with sufficient light, put your belongings close to you, and never damage your safety in order to save money. If someone wants to touch you, shout at them, and dozens of local people will come to save you. I also suggest staying at family hotels that are highly praised by celibate women and arranging a pickup with them when you arrive in town, especially if you will do so at night.
What about Delhi’s belly?
Delhi belly: My biggest fear. I absolutely believe that I will get food poisoning in India, because it doesn’t happen to everyone?
However, this is not the case. Although we eat in almost any place where delicious food is provided, neither my boyfriend nor I have suffered from food poisoning. I believe there are three things that can help us keep safe.
be a vegetarian! Most local people in India are vegetarians — this country has the lowest meat consumption in the world — so we also turn to a meatless lifestyle. Please note that you should also avoid eating most fresh fruits and vegetables when you are in the country – especially if they are not cooked or peeled.
Hand disinfectant! In India, most of the cases described as food poisoning are caused by general pollution due to contact with surfaces with bacteria, and then not washing hands and touching the mouth. I use hand sanitizer every hour and pay special attention not to touch my face. I also use hand sanitizer to disinfect any tableware in the restaurant, because they may have been washed with dirty tap water.
Pudin Hara! I completely converted to Pudin Hara – peppermint oil capsules from India – I take them every time my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. When you arrive in India, you can buy them at any drugstore, but you can also buy them from Amazon. I took about one hundred tablets with me, because I ate one for every meal. I completely plan to take a lot of these pills with me every time I travel, because they are so life-changing in terms of soothing my stomach. An additional benefit is that the delicious peppermint burp outweighs the curry smell emanating from my body.
Where to go after the Golden Triangle
I strongly recommend seeing more things in India, not just the Golden Triangle.
Although I like my time there, I must admit that I have a special preference for India’s next destination. India is a huge country. In addition to the three most popular cities, there are many things to offer, no matter how wonderful they are.
After my stay in Jaipur, I went to Rajasthan and visited Bundi, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer — if you have time, I suggest you visit these five scenic spots, because they are all excellent.
Other options include taking a train to Mumbai to see another Indian city different from Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. You can go to Varanasi. Goa is always a good choice, and Kerala is also beautiful. You can even go to the mountains in the north.
Yes, you should go to the Golden Triangle!
If you are still hesitant about whether you should visit, I hope this guide can make you believe that it is more worthwhile to visit.
Give yourself enough time to see everything, and you will probably have a wonderful trip just to make sure you don’t leave India immediately after that, because there are many things to see.