Agra Cantt to the Taj Mahal: every way there, what it costs and which gate to use

The Taj Mahal is about 6 km from Agra Cantt railway station — 6 to 7 km by road, depending on the gate — and usually 20 to 30 minutes away by auto or cab. The easy way is the prepaid booth at the station or a ride-hailing app to the parking at the West or East Gate, then a battery bus or golf cart for the last stretch.

That last stretch exists because no polluting vehicle is allowed within 500 metres of the monument, so nothing with an exhaust pipe drops you at a gate. And the metro, for all its Taj-named stations, does not reach Agra Cantt yet.

Most of the fast trains from Delhi — the Gatimaan, the Shatabdi and the Vande Bharat — stop at Agra Cantt, so this is where a lot of Taj days begin. Below is every honest way across town, what each costs and takes, which gate to aim for, what to leave behind, and how to make the evening train.

We run a rooftop restaurant on MG Road 2, not a taxi stand, so no driver, booth or app on this page pays us a rupee. Where an official source gives a number we have used it; where none exists, as with auto and cab fares, we have given a range and said so.

Every way from the station to the Taj

The prepaid booth: the default

Agra’s official district site suggests a prepaid taxi or an auto from Agra Cantt, and with luggage the prepaid booth is what we would pick. You tell the booth which gate, the fare is fixed before you get in, and there is nothing to haggle over. An auto is fine for two people with small bags; take a taxi if there are more of you or the bags are big.

An app cab

Uber works in Agra, and so do other ride-hailing apps; the price is quoted before you book, which takes the negotiation out of it. Set the pickup once you are out in the station forecourt rather than on the platform. It saves a round of phone calls with the driver.

An auto from the rank

There will be drivers offering rides the moment you step outside. That is fine if you agree two things before you sit down: the fare and the gate. Use the prepaid rate as your anchor, and say no to any stop you did not ask for, however helpful it is made to sound.

A shared e-rickshaw

The cheapest way across town, at tens of rupees a seat, and the slowest. E-rickshaws run fixed routes, stop for everyone and have nowhere to put a suitcase, and the station-to-Taj journey can take more than one. Good if you are travelling light with a morning to spare; not for anyone working to a train.

On foot

It is about 6 km along main roads, an hour and a half at a steady pace, and in May and June the heat makes it a bad idea. Save your legs for the Taj: there is a lot of walking once you are inside.

The costs below are rough 2026 ranges for one way, not official rates. The booth slip or the app’s quote is the real number, so check before you go.

Can you take the metro? Not from Agra Cantt, yet

No. Agra’s first metro line opened in March 2024 with six stations, from Taj East Gate past the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort to Mankameshwar Mandir, and its extension heads north-west, away from Agra Cantt. None of its stations is a sensible hop from the platform.

A second line, from Agra Cantt to Kalindi Vihar, is being built. When we checked in October 2026, its first stretch out of Agra Cantt was expected to open around the end of the year, and the two lines are planned to meet at Agra College. Until both are running, the metro is no use straight off the train: you would need a road vehicle to reach a station, and by then you may as well stay in it to the Taj.

Which gate to aim for

The Taj has three gates and, at present, only two of them let you in. Decide before you leave the station, because they are on opposite sides of the complex and each has its own parking.

• West Gate. The main entrance — the official site describes it as facing Agra Cantt and the city — and the shorter drive from the station. Vehicles stop at the Amrood ka Teela parking, the ticket windows are near Saheli Burj, and the cloak room is in the shopping complex. Being the main entrance, it is also where the crowds go.
• East Gate. The one the official site itself recommends to avoid the crowd. The site names Shilpgram as the place vehicles stop and where visitors for the night viewing report, and the ticket windows and a cloak room are at the gate. Shilpgram’s car park closed at the end of May 2026 for building work, so check where East Gate parking and the night-viewing reporting point are before you go. A slightly longer drive from Agra Cantt, and usually worth it.
• South Gate. It opens onto the lanes of Taj Ganj and is exit-only for now, so do not let anyone drop you there expecting to get in.

The ticket windows at both entry gates open an hour before sunrise and stop selling 45 minutes before sunset, with separate queues for Indian and foreign visitors.

The last 500 metres

No polluting vehicle may go within 500 metres of the Taj, so every road journey ends at Amrood ka Teela or Shilpgram, not at a gate (Shilpgram’s car park closed for building work at the end of May 2026; check where East Gate cars stop). From both, battery buses and golf carts run to the gates. They are free with the foreign, SAARC and BIMSTEC tickets and a small fare for everyone else; you can also walk, or take one of the e-rickshaws and tongas that work the approach.

Allow a quarter of an hour or so between the auto stopping and the start of the security queue, and more at a busy gate on a weekend or a holiday.

Tickets, and buying them online

Buy online if you can: it skips the ticket-window queue and costs a little less. The official Taj Mahal site lists the prices and links to the Archaeological Survey of India’s booking. As listed in October 2026:

• Indian visitors: ₹50, or ₹45 paid online.
• SAARC and BIMSTEC nationals: ₹540, with the same extras as the foreign ticket.
• Foreign visitors: ₹1,100, or ₹1,050 online, with shoe covers, half a litre of water, a map of Agra and the battery bus or golf cart included.
• The main mausoleum: ₹200 more, to go inside the white marble tomb.
• Children under 15: free.

The ₹200 is worth it. Without it you see the Taj from the gardens and the forecourt, but you do not go inside to the cenotaphs.

What you cannot take in

Security checks bags at both gates, and the list of what it will not let through is longer than most people expect. The official list includes food (down to toffees), tobacco and anything for smoking, knives, headphones, phone chargers and other electrical goods (except cameras), tripods and drones. Phones go in but must be off or on silent, and photography is not allowed inside the main mausoleum.

Water is allowed. Big bags are not a good idea: the official advice is to avoid them because they slow the security check, and nobody will thank you for wheeling a suitcase up to it. Leave luggage at your hotel; on a day trip, ask at the station about the railway cloak room before you head out, rather than finding out at the gate. There are cloak rooms at the East Gate and in the shopping complex by the West Gate for anything security will not let through.

Fridays, sunrise and the Delhi trains

The Taj is closed to visitors every Friday. The Gatimaan Express does not run on Fridays either, a useful reminder if you are booking the train first. If Friday is the only day you have, here is what to do in Agra on a Friday instead.

On every other day it opens 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 minutes before sunset. In Agra that puts the opening at about 4:50 AM in June and about 6:40 AM in January. None of the fast morning trains from Delhi gets you here in time, so sunrise at the Taj means a night in Agra.

Timetables change and trains run late, so check the running status on NTES on the morning you travel.

Getting back to Agra Cantt with time to spare

Work backwards from the train. Allow for the walk or cart back to the parking, finding a ride, 20 to 40 minutes on the road in evening traffic, and half an hour at the station. For the Gatimaan at 5:35 PM, that means walking out of the gate by about 4:00 PM.

Leave by the gate you came in: your parking, your transport and the battery buses are on that side. Book the app ride as you reach the parking, or agree an auto there, fare and destination both, before you get in.

The evening trains leave a gap. The Taj closes 30 minutes before sunset, between about 5:00 PM in December and 6:45 PM in June, so with the Vande Bharat at 9:00 PM or the Shatabdi at 9:25 PM there are two to four hours to fill before you need to be on the platform.

And after that

That gap is what we would spend on dinner. Altitude is on the top floor above MG Road 2 (Jaipur House), open every day from 1:00 PM, with the kitchen on the roof and the last order at 11:00 PM. There is no Taj view from our terrace — you will have had the real thing by then — just the city, a cold mocktail and a proper meal before the train. Every mocktail is 30% off from 1 to 6 PM.

Book a table online: it is free, confirmed instantly, and you can cancel up to two hours before if the train moves your plans. Leave yourself an hour between the bill and the departure. Off a morning train we are open for lunch from 1:00 PM, and if you are staying the night and would rather not go out again, order from the same kitchen to your hotel.

For the rest of the day around the Taj, our one-day Agra itinerary picks up where this leaves off.