Agra attractions

The Taj Mahal rewards more than a frontal view. Its mosque, guest house, charbagh and river setting complete a carefully balanced complex, while the main mausoleum carries a separate access supplement.

Agra Fort is the second essential city monument. Its 2.5-kilometre enclosure contains an imperial city of red sandstone and later marble palaces. Across the Yamuna, Itimad-ud-Daulah, Mehtab Bagh and Ram Bagh turn separate visits into a coherent river-garden circuit.

Sikandra places Akbar's Tomb inside a large garden west of the centre. Fatehpur Sikri lies much farther away and deserves its own half-day or day. Its administrative, residential and religious buildings preserve the scale of a complete Mughal capital.