How to Visit the Taj Mahal for Sunrise

The Taj Mahal is one of the Wonders of the World, and rightly so: it absolutely blew me away, exceeding every expectation I had. I went twice on my trip to Agra: once for sunset and then the morning after for sunrise, when it was much quieter. Here are my top tips for visiting the Taj Mahal for sunrise.

Contents

What time should you arrive?

What should you bring?

The best way to visit

Do you need a guide?

What time should you arrive?

We arrived in the queue for the Taj Mahal at 5:15am, having already purchased tickets online in advance and collected them at the booth (it’s well signposted). Booking online is a must. At this time of day, we were among the first 20 people in the queue. By 5:25am, the line was all the way down the street.

What should you bring?

Don’t bring anything to the Taj Mahal apart from your camera. You get given a water bottle when you collect your ticket, which you can take in, but anything else will slow you down through security. They take away pens as well as anything dangerous. If you have too many things, you will have to wait for a long time at security, and by then all the people behind you in the queue will have gone ahead and will be pre-ruining your photos!

You need to have your shoulders and knees covered to visit the Taj Mahal out of respect.

The best way to visit

Hear me out: don’t stop at the entrance when you get the first view of the Taj Mahal. It’s incredibly tempting as it is an incredible sight, but trust me, it will get better once the sun is fully up, and not many people can ruin your photos at this viewpoint anyway. 

Head straight to the right side of the Taj (as seen looking at it from the entrance). There is a fence on the left side which ruins photos, and all the famous photographs are from the arches on the right hand side. If you go straight there rather than stopping, you will basically have the entire place to yourself for 15 minutes, so make the most of it!

You can then relax and watch the sun come up, which is absolutely magical. Nothing prepares you for how beautiful this place is! Once the sun has risen, it will start getting busy, but take your time and walk around and enjoy it. If you have tickets for the mausoleum, head inside at the very end. In my opinion, this wasn’t worth it, but if you’re there, you might as well!

Once you are on your way out, you can go back to the entrance and take the famous photo. At this time, the light is still beautiful but you will benefit as the whole Taj Mahal is now in sunlight. The trees lining the reflecting pool do a good job of hiding the people too. And it still won’t be as busy as it is at sunset.

Do you need a guide?

I would recommend getting a guide to tell you about the Taj Mahal, as it is a truly incredible story. However, don’t get one for sunrise as they will slow down the process and it’ll be crowded by the time you get to the end of the history lesson! The ideal situation would be to find a guide after you have exhausted yourself taking pictures!

I hope you enjoy this beautiful monument as much as I did. Sunrise makes it absolutely magical. I am still thinking about it today! Please look after the place and be respectful, leaving only your footprints behind :)