Taj Mahal sunrise tour, from Delhi by car.

This is the Taj Mahal sunrise tour we list: a private day trip by air-conditioned car from Delhi, with pickup across the Delhi region and its airports and a private guide for the monuments. The listing gives the length as 6 to 12 hours, a wide range because the pickup time is yours to choose. The listing adds that the tour can be customised, so ask for what you want when you book.

The stops run in a fixed order. First the Taj Mahal at sunrise with the guide, then a breakfast break of 1 hour, then Agra Fort for 1 hour and the Baby Taj for 1 hour, with the drive from Delhi listed at 3 hours. Nothing in that order is rushed for the sake of it; the point is to see the marble while it is quiet and then spend the warm hours indoors and in shade.

It is a long day on purpose. Agra sits a drive away from Delhi, so you trade an early alarm for a monument at its best hour. Our guide pages cover each part of the day in detail, from the gate hours and the Friday closure to what you may carry through the entrance and where the photographers stand. Nothing here replaces the official pages, which we link at the foot of every guide, but everything on them is in plain English.

The tourism department says the Taj looks pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines, with shades in between across the hours and the seasons. At sunrise the first colour is the pink, and it changes quickly once the sun clears the horizon. Plan for the first minutes after the sun is up, because the colour changes fastest then.

Mist is part of many mornings. The department calls the early-morning Taj most alluring in the relative quiet of the day, shrouded in mists and bathed in a soft red glow. It describes a look rather than a forecast, so some mornings are crisp and clear and others soft and grey, and both are worth the early start.

The department adds that most tourists prefer sunrise for the pink twilight, and that early morning avoids the summer heat and the crowds. That is the whole case for the early pickup in one sentence. Our photo spots guide shows where to stand for the reflection, the front view and the mist. The guide pages go deeper into the light than this page can, and each one comes with a checklist for the morning.

The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays for general viewing and open on the other days, the tourism department says. Check the weekday before you pick a date. Tickets are priced by visitor type, and our tickets guide lists each fee in rupees as the department states it. Fees change from time to time, so treat the figures in our guides as the department's published numbers at the time we read them.

At the gate the department asks visitors to avoid big bags and books, because they may increase the security check time, and says every tourist must carry an identity proof. Drones are strictly prohibited inside and around the monument, and tripods need permission from the Archaeological Survey of India.

None of that is hard, but it explains why a light kit moves fastest through the entrance. Our packing guide has the full list: what to carry, what to leave in the car and where the cloak rooms are. If you book the day tour, the guide briefs you on all of it before you reach the gate. Our own checklists turn those rules into short lists you can read on the drive, so nothing is a surprise at the gate.