Why this ride
From Agra it runs 143 km to Agra; allow about 2 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Fatehpur Sikri, Keoladeo National Park and back through Fatehpur Sikri.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Taj Mahal and Keoladeo National Park starting at Agra
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 143 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 11
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Taj Mahal
Everyone knows the picture, and the odd thing is that the real thing still lives up to it. The Taj Mahal stands on the south bank of the Yamuna in Agra, a city of about one and a half million people, and was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 giving birth to their fourteenth child. Building took about two decades, with some twenty thousand workers and craftsmen, and the white marble came from Makrana in Rajasthan, hundreds of kilometres away. Inlay work of semi-precious stones decorates the tomb, and the calligraphy around the great arches is cleverly sized so that the letters seem equal in height from the ground.
Read the complete Taj Mahal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Taj Mahal is where the day begins. Next is Fatehpur Sikri.
2. Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri rises on a sandstone ridge west of Agra, a red city of palaces, courtyards and mosques built by the Mughal emperor Akbar in the 1570s and abandoned just a few years later. Akbar built it to honour the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who had predicted the birth of his son and heir, and for over a decade it was the capital of his empire. Then, for reasons that are still debated, perhaps a lack of water or political changes, the court moved away, and the city was left almost intact, a time capsule of Mughal architecture and a World Heritage site.
Read the complete Fatehpur Sikri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fatehpur Sikri comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Keoladeo National Park.
3. Keoladeo National Park
For decades the Maharajas of Bharatpur kept this marshland as a duck-shooting estate, and the scale of the sport is hard to believe. On a single day in 1938 the viceroy Lord Linlithgow and his party shot more than four thousand birds, a record that still shocks people today. The shoots ended after independence, and in 1971 the area became a protected sanctuary. It is now Keoladeo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985 and one of the finest bird sanctuaries in Asia.
Read the complete Keoladeo National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Keoladeo National Park. Next is back through Fatehpur Sikri.
4. back through Fatehpur Sikri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fatehpur Sikri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fatehpur Sikri, late in the day. Next is Taj Mahal.
5. Taj Mahal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Taj Mahal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Taj Mahal. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Taj Mahal to Fatehpur Sikri
Taj Mahal → Fatehpur Sikri is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fatehpur Sikri to Keoladeo National Park
Fatehpur Sikri → Keoladeo National Park is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Keoladeo National Park to back through Fatehpur Sikri
Keoladeo National Park → back through Fatehpur Sikri is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fatehpur Sikri to Taj Mahal
back through Fatehpur Sikri → Taj Mahal is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.