Taj Mahal Timings, the Friday Closure and the Delhi-Agra Day Trip

What are the Taj Mahal timings, and is it closed on Friday?

Taj Mahal timings confuse people because they are tied to the sun, not to the clock. There is no fixed "9 am to 5 pm" to memorize. The gates open earlier and close later in June than in December, and the difference is large. The Friday closure is the other trap. A trip planned from Delhi for a Friday can end at a locked gate.

This guide works through the timings, the sunrise problem, the two main ways to reach Agra from Delhi, what the Taj Mahal's own website says about tickets and queues, and what to do on a Friday when the monument is closed. Every hour and fee below comes from the official Taj Mahal website or the related Agra pages, read in October 2026. Fees and rules in India change by notification, so confirm them before you travel.

The timings in detail

The official visiting hours page states that the Taj Mahal opens 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 minutes before sunset on normal operating days and is closed on Fridays for general viewing. Ticket counters at the Western Gate, near Saheli Burj, and at the Eastern Gate open one hour before sunrise and stop selling 45 minutes before sunset. The Southern Gate is currently exit only.

Foreign and domestic visitors use separate entry queues, and signs direct you to the right one. A foreign tourist ticket costs ₹1,100, with an optional ₹200 more to enter the main mausoleum, both amounts including the Archaeological Survey of India and Agra Development Authority fees, according to the site's home page. Buying online takes ₹50 off each foreign ticket. Children under 15 enter free.

The site also lists a night-viewing programme on the full-moon night and the two nights before and after it, between 20:00 and 23:59, in 30-minute batches of up to 50 people. The official FAQ page says night tickets can be booked online up to seven days ahead.

Sunrise, sunset or mid-morning?

The FAQ names October to March as the best season. It says most visitors prefer sunrise, that sunrise also helps you avoid summer heat and crowds, and that sunset is a good second choice with cooler temperatures and soft light, though it usually draws more visitors than sunrise.

The decision comes down to what you want from the monument. At sunrise you see the white marble shift from grey to warm tones with fewer people in the frame. In the middle of the day the light is flat and bright and the queues are longer. At sunset the crowds are bigger, but the light on the marble is gentler than at noon.

Plan for the gate, not for the sky. Security screening happens at each entrance, and the walk from the gate to the main platform takes time. If you arrive at the opening time, you will not be alone. Foreign-ticket queues are shorter than domestic ones, and an online ticket saves minutes at the counter, though not the security line.

Why sunrise rarely works as a Delhi day trip

Delhi is about 204 km from Agra by road, according to the Taj Mahal site's getting around page, and a road-network estimate (OSRM, no traffic) puts the drive at roughly 2 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes from central Delhi, depending on where you start. Neither the train nor the car gets you to the gate at dawn without a very early start.

We could not confirm the Gatimaan Express's departure time or running days on an official page, so check them on IRCTC or the National Train Enquiry System (call 139) before you plan around it. A morning train generally puts you at the monument in the mid-morning, with the sun well up. By car, only a departure in the small hours gets you to the gate for a winter sunrise, and the drive back after a full morning is long.

The honest answer is that a sunrise visit needs a night in Agra. Arrive in the afternoon or evening, check in, eat, sleep, and walk to the gate the next morning. A day trip from Delhi is a mid-morning-to-afternoon visit, and that is perfectly good if you plan for the crowds. If your plan is a day trip from Delhi's airport after a long flight, our page on the Delhi airport to Agra transfer covers the overland route, and the guide to jet lag and business travel explains why a drive of around three hours straight off an overnight flight is a bad idea.

Gatimaan Express, the Yamuna Expressway and the rest

The Taj Mahal site lists several trains between Delhi and Agra, including the Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Gatimaan and Taj Express, and says to check schedules on the IRCTC site or by calling 139. It also notes that Agra is connected to Delhi by road, with regular buses from the ISBT and Idgah stands. The newer road option is the Yamuna Expressway, which its authority describes as a 165 km expressway connecting Noida, Greater Noida and Agra.

Check the running days of any train you plan around, especially if your trip touches a Friday, on IRCTC or the National Train Enquiry System before you buy a ticket, because timetables change. Winter fog between December and January can delay trains and slow the expressway, and speed limits have been cut in past winters, so give yourself a buffer if you have an evening flight.

The train is excellent when your hotel is close to a main station and you travel light. A car wins when you are three or more, when you have luggage, when you want to stop at Agra Fort and a viewpoint on the way, or when you are landing at Delhi airport and want a direct run to a hotel in Agra without a station transfer. Our Delhi airport guide and the terminal guide explain where drivers meet you.

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The Friday plan: what is open when the Taj is closed

Friday is the day many itineraries break. If it falls in the middle of a trip, there are still things to do in Agra, and the Taj Mahal can still be seen from a distance.

• Agra Fort. The official Agra Fort page lists it as open from sunrise to sunset all week. The foreign tourist ticket is ₹650, or ₹600 on Fridays. Entry is only through the Amar Singh Gate, and the page gives the distance from Agra Cantt station as about 5.5 km. Carry ID.
• The Taj View Point near Mehtab Bagh, on the far bank of the Yamuna. Its page says visitors can see the Taj Mahal from there on Fridays and on full-moon nights. Its normal hours are sunrise to midnight, with different tickets for the daytime and evening windows. The page also mentions a temporary COVID-era curfew, so confirm current hours with the contacts it gives.

A Friday in Agra therefore reads: the fort in the morning, lunch, the river view in the late afternoon, and the Taj proper on Saturday. If you are only in town for a day, move the trip to another date rather than settle for a view across the river.

Agra Fort, Mehtab Bagh and fitting them in

On an open day, the fort and the Taj pair naturally. The fort sits on the same side of the city, a short drive from the monument, and the combination fills a day without strain. Do the Taj first in the cool, then drive to the fort, then eat. The fort's single entrance, the Amar Singh Gate, can have a queue, so ask your driver to drop you there and fix a pickup time.

Mehtab Bagh and the river viewpoint suit the late afternoon, when the light softens. For the sunset, the viewpoint offers a place to watch the monument without the crowds inside the grounds. Give yourself an hour for the river bank, and bring water.

If your driver is coming from Delhi, agree the route and the stops beforehand and keep the day to three sites at most. A personal driver booked for the day lets you change your mind about the order without renegotiating. For a smaller party, the booker's private transfer option covers the single trip, and for VIP guests or senior executives the luxury chauffeur page describes the options.

A sample Delhi–Agra–Delhi day by car

1. 5:30 Depart central Delhi, before the traffic.
2. 9:00 Arrive in Agra, clear security at the Western or Eastern Gate.
3. 10:00 to 12:30 Taj Mahal grounds and mausoleum.
4. 13:00 Lunch.
5. 14:00 Agra Fort.
6. 16:00 Optional river viewpoint, then depart.
7. 20:00 Back in Delhi, later in fog or on a festival weekend.

This version assumes a non-Friday. On a winter day, shift it earlier, since the gate closes 30 minutes before sunset and the fort closes at sunset.

Common mistakes

• Planning a Friday trip. The Taj Mahal is closed for general viewing.
• Assuming a fixed daily opening time. It depends on sunrise.
• Booking a Gatimaan ticket without checking the running day.
• Arriving with a large bag. Check the official Do's and Don'ts list, which the Taj site publishes separately; we could not retrieve it, so ask your guide.
• Starting at 7 am from Delhi and expecting a sunrise photograph.
• Skipping the online ticket. It saves ₹50 for a foreign visitor and a few minutes at the counter.
• Not allowing for winter fog on the return.

For wider planning across the region, the Asia-Pacific hub lists our other transfer pages, and the full transfers index covers the routes we publish.

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