11 Feb 2020
Although we booked the train tour, we were contacted by the tour operator recommending a car and driver rather than the train due to our hotel location relative to the Dehli train station. They suggested that we would spend a lot of time waiting for trains and pickup and it would be more efficient to go by car, even with a later pickup. We followed this advice and did not regret it. The drive was long -- about 3 hours, but based on the times approximated in the tour description no longer than the total train experience would have been. Once in Agra, we were met by our delightful guide Mohammed Saif who was by far the best tour guide we had during our entire trip to India. He was absolutely delightful and full of information about each place we went, which included the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and the mini-Taj. This was not what we had found to be fairly typical "tours" in India -- hire a guide to drive you places and wait for you at the entrance. Our guide was with us the entire time giving us detailed information, taking us on the best route to each highlight at the sites and taking lots of photos of us so we didn't have to resort to selfie mode. Loved the whole experience!