Delhi - Agra question?
 

Hi there,
I was wondering if anybody has driven from Delhi to Agra (Taj mahal location) in India by motorbike and how long does it take? Road condition? Is it possible to have a delhi-agra-delhi in one day and have time to visit the taj mahal?
thank you for your answers
ciao

I rode it in a day but don't think you'd do the round trip in a day! Road condition is good ( well for India)

If you go to Agra, make sure to see Fatehpur Sikri as well - probably best to do that earlier in the day and then Taj later.

Unsure re the road conditions - it's about 200kms according to google - New Delhi, Delhi, India to Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India - Google Maps

Another very daft suggestion - the Shatabdi Express trains do it in 2 hrs. As you are riding a motorbike, is it worth exploring taking it on the train?

I´d reserve at least 1 day to see Agra & The Taj. The road is two lanes each way, almost like a motorway... very rare for India actually.

But it was kinda scary, too, because some of the drivers clearly didn´t have a clue about what that unusual increase of speed does to your stopping distance, for example, so there were dozens of very badly crashed cars and trucks on the roadside! And they are not used to follow the lanes, even though they might be painted to the tarmac.... so I´d strongly advice as a tourist to drive/ride only during daylight hours, develop a 360° vision, and be extremely alert at all times (which is a good "survival-tip" for most of India, really!)

I am aware that India's been building a lot of new roads recently, but wasn't sure whether Delhi-Agra was 1 of them. Kind of makes sense though.

But here's what the road conditions are like
Clockwork Orange Hogs of the Road, Real Harashoo - YouTube

Substitute the Durango 95 with a Tata / Ashok Leyland and this is driving on Indian roads as seen from a truck cab

Agra
 

Hi,

We did the trip from Dehli to Agra by train in the morning and came back in the afternoon on the road,left the bikes in Dehli. Went with few blokes from the hostel, so we hired a minibus for the return trip. As far as I remember, there was no afternoon train. But it was still a great trip and absolutely worthwhile.
Road traffic was normal, that means mad,as it is everywhere in India.

Cheers

RM

Following on from what I put earlier - if you absolutely have to do it in a day then that's that, but if you can spend a bit longer I would think about leaving the bikes in Delhi and doing the Golden Triangle ie Shatabdi Express to Agra in the morning, autorickshaw to Fatehpur as soon as you arrive in Agra, then back to Taj in afternoon (it looks lovely as the sun sets on it!) then sleeper train to Jaipur that night then the next 2 days in/around Jaipur before sleeper train back to Delhi on the 3rd night.

+1 for Fatehpur Shikri, wonderful place, and it's only some 30 kms away (went and came back by local bus, took as AGES).

I stupidly rode from Agra to Chandrigarh in one very long tiring day (didn't stay in Delhi as was heading for the mountains), in between bouts of major poo poo's (I ate at the same place in Agra for 3 days but it was just too damn good to eat anywhere else). It was a really exhausting day when you take into account having both heat stroke and the shits at the same time, not something I did again.

As Pecha says, there is a kind of motorway/dual carriage road between Agra and Delhi however given the locals don't really care which side of the central barrier they drive on, you can't exactly sit back, relax and enjoy the ride so you have to expect vehicles/carts/bicycles/people/animals etc coming towards you in what we normally call the 'overtaking lane'.