Taj Mahal Tickets and Timings 2026: Prices, Hours and Booking

There are four visitor categories, and for each paying one, a base complex entry plus an optional mausoleum fee.

The ₹200 mausoleum fee is worth explaining, because it causes the most confusion at the gate. The base ticket lets you into the whole complex: the gardens, the great gateway, the platform and the outside of the marble mausoleum, which is where the famous photographs are taken. The extra ₹200 lets you step inside the mausoleum chamber, past the screen around the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Inside you spend only a minute or two and cannot photograph, so many domestic visitors skip it, while photographers and first-timers who want the full experience usually pay it. It is entirely optional.

The Taj Mahal is open from sunrise to sunset, so the exact hours shift through the year: the gates open around 6 AM from April to September and around 6:30 AM from October to March, with last entry roughly 45 minutes before sunset. It is closed all day every Friday, for the congregational prayers at the mosque within the complex. If your only day in Agra is a Friday, spend it at Agra Fort or Fatehpur Sikri and see the Taj at sunrise the next morning.

The official channel is the ASI ticketing portal at asi.payumoney.com, linked from the government site tajmahal.gov.in. The process is straightforward: select Agra and then the Taj Mahal, choose your date, pick your visitor category, enter the number of visitors and their ID or passport details, tick the mausoleum option if you want it, and pay by card or international payment. Save or print the e-ticket with its QR code, and carry a backup screenshot, since mobile signal near the gates can be poor. Tickets are non-refundable but the date can be changed up to 24 hours before, and there is no re-entry once you leave.

The Taj Mahal has three gates, and the distinction matters. The East Gate and the West Gate both sell tickets and allow entry; the East Gate is usually the calmer of the two at opening, which is why we favour it for a sunrise visit. The South Gate is now exit-only, so you cannot enter through it. If you book online you can go straight to the entry queue at the East or West Gate and skip the ticket counter.

The Taj also opens for night viewing on five nights each month, around the full moon: the night of the full moon and the two nights either side. These are separate, limited tickets, around ₹750, in 30-minute slots, booked in advance at the Taj Mahal office rather than online, and night viewing does not run on Fridays or during the month of Ramzan. It is a special experience but a restricted one, so plan ahead if your dates fall near a full moon.

Security is strict. Carry a photo ID that matches your booking, a passport for foreign visitors. Large bags, food, tripods, drones and most electronics beyond a phone and camera are not allowed, and there are cloakrooms for what you cannot take in. Photography is free in the complex but not permitted inside the mausoleum chamber. Dress modestly, and expect to put on the shoe covers provided, or remove your shoes, on the marble platform.

There is no official skip-the-line ticket at the Taj, but three things achieve the same effect. Book online, so you bypass the ticket counter entirely. Arrive at opening, before the tour groups flood in between 10 AM and 1 PM. And use the East Gate in the early hours, which is usually quieter. On our tours we handle all three, so you spend your time at the monument rather than in a queue.

We are Experience My India, and on every Agra trip the tickets, the timing and the gate are handled for you, so you skip the queue and arrive for the best light. For the monument itself, its history and what to see, read the Taj Mahal guide; for when to come, see the best time to visit Agra. See our sunrise Taj Mahal tour and Agra tour packages, or message us on WhatsApp for a quote.