Taj Mahal: tickets, timings, gates and the best time to visit

In 1631, Mumtaz Mahal, the favourite wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, died giving birth to their fourteenth child. The emperor, the chroniclers say, went into mourning so deep that his hair turned white. The tomb he built for her on the bank of the Yamuna at Agra took some twenty years and the work of an estimated twenty thousand craftsmen, and when it was finished it was unlike anything the world had seen: a white marble mausoleum set in a garden of paradise, perfect from every side.

Nearly four centuries later, the Taj Mahal draws millions of visitors a year, and seeing it well takes a little planning. This guide covers the tickets and their prices, the hours and the Friday closure, which gate to use, what you can carry, night viewing on the full moon, and the time of day and year when the marble is at its best.

Taj Mahal timings

The Taj Mahal opens 30 minutes before sunrise and closes 30 minutes before sunset, so roughly 6 AM to 6:30 PM, shifting with the seasons. It is closed every Friday, when only local worshippers may enter for the afternoon prayer at the mosque inside the complex. If your trip includes a Friday, see Agra Fort and Mehtab Bagh that day instead.

Ticket prices in 2026

The entry ticket lets you into the gardens and the platform; the mausoleum ticket of ₹200 takes you inside the main tomb, to the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. It is worth it: the light filtering through the carved marble screens is part of the experience. Buy tickets on the official ASI booking site or at the counters by each gate; online tickets with a QR code let you skip the ticket queue, though not the security line.

Which gate to use

There are three gates. Vehicles that burn fuel are not allowed within 500 metres of the monument, so you walk, take a battery bus or ride a cycle-rickshaw from the car parks.

What you can and can't carry

• Allowed: phone, camera, a small bag, a bottle of water, your ticket and ID.
• Not allowed: food, tobacco, lighters, tripods, drones, large bags, knives, chargers and many electronic items.
• Inside the mausoleum, photography is not allowed. Shoes must be removed or covered.
• Cloakrooms near the gates take bags for a small fee; leave anything doubtful at your hotel.

When to go: the time of day

Go at sunrise. In the first hour, the marble turns from grey to pink to white, the gardens are quiet, and the haze that often settles on Agra by midday has not yet risen. Late afternoon is the second-best time, when the stone takes on a warm, golden tone, but it is far busier. Midday is the worst time on every count.

When to go: the time of year

Night viewing on the full moon

On the night of the full moon and the two nights either side, five nights a month, the Taj opens for night viewing between about 8:30 PM and 12:30 AM, except on Fridays and during the month of Ramzan. Visitors go in eight batches of 50, for about half an hour each, and see the Taj from the red sandstone platform near the entrance rather than up close. Tickets cost about ₹510 for Indian adults and ₹750 for foreign visitors, are limited to 400 a night, and must be bought at least a day ahead from the ASI office on Mall Road in Agra, with ID. In November 2026, the full moon is on 24 November.

What to see, and how long to allow

1. 1The Great Gate (Darwaza-i-Rauza), of red sandstone inlaid with white marble and Quranic calligraphy that seems the same size from top to bottom, because the letters grow as they rise.
2. 2The charbagh garden, divided into four by water channels, symbolising the gardens of paradise.
3. 3The mausoleum, with its cenotaphs inside a carved marble screen; the real graves lie in a crypt below.
4. 4The pietra dura: flowers of carnelian, lapis lazuli, jade and other stones inlaid in the marble. Look closely at the walls.
5. 5The mosque and the guest house on either side, of red sandstone, which balance the composition.

Allow two to three hours. At sunset, cross the Yamuna to Mehtab Bagh, the Mughal garden directly opposite, for the classic view of the Taj across the water, and see Agra Fort and the exquisite tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, often called the Baby Taj, the same day or the next.

Planning a journey

Agra fits naturally into a journey across north India: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur for the Mughal and Rajput courts, or Agra and Varanasi for the two great faces of Indian history. For the Ganga side of that journey, read our guide to how many days to spend in Varanasi. We plan private journeys to Agra on request, built around a sunrise at the Taj.