From Delhi : Taj Mahal Tour By Gatimaan Express Train All Inclusive Package

The tour of the Taj and the Agra fort were absolutely great. Mohsin, my guide, did a fantastic job and gave me a personal detailed tour of them both. He was fantastic! Attentive, personable, patient, and knowledgable. Lunch was absolutely great. A true treat. I was alone for this trip as I had stopped over after a business trip. Mohsin is clearly something of an amature photographer. He managed to show me some excellent spots for great photos. Every so often he would just say "may I take your phone?" and when he handed it back, there would be some fantastic image I never would have thought to capture. It was also nice to have someone else to take a photo of me, so it wasn't all just selfies. He did a really great job. However, there was one challenge for me. As an American, I was simply not prepared for the high-pressure sales I got at both of the handicraft shops. They both start with a brief demo of a long-lost art related to the Taj Mahal. One is the grinding of gems and marble to create absolutely beautiful inlays. The other is the art of decorating material with beads of gold and silver. Exquisite detail in each. Now, don't get me wrong, they were very friendly, but it was the kind of sales pitch you only get at used car dealers in the states. They went to great lengths to show me all the great wares they had. They served me coffee, called me "my brother" and assured me I was making an investment. "money comes and goes, but this will last a lifetime." I recall the pitch because somehow they all used the same lines. Again, nobody twisted my arms to buy, but they simply would not take "no" for an answer. It wouldn't be such an issue if their goods weren't so VERY expensive. They're hand-crafted, I understand that they're high quality, but I really couldn't afford more souvenirs. If you have trouble with high-pressure sales pitches, be warned, it will be very difficult to walk out without purchasing SOMETHING. I managed to make it out with only a $60 inlaid elephant. It was the cheapest one they had. If I went again, I'd ask to skip the handicraft demos and stick to the sight-seeing.

My wife and I took the train to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal and other sites Agra has to offer. Our guide was Tanvir and he was probably the best guide we have had in all our travels globally. His knowledge was vast and he was very understandable. We highly recommend Tanvir. The primary reason for four stars versus five was the trains. The were not clean and they smelled.

I booked the day Agra tour from Delhi just two days in advance and everything was sorted out perfectly to the last minute. ITS holidays did all the bookings for me in no time and organised all the transfers and private guide in Agra. We got picked up from the station in Agra from our driver, Salim, and met our tour guide Mohammad, both very nice and friendly people that stayed with us for the whole day. Mohammad was a great guide explaining everything we liked and adapting the tour to our level of interest. He always gave us enough private time to visit the monuments on our own as well. All in all a great day out in Agra, I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants to visit the main monuments all in one day.