Taj Mahal tickets and timings: fees, hours and the Friday closure

The Taj Mahal is open from about 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes before sunset, every day except Friday. As listed on the official ticketing page in November 2026, entry costs ₹50 for Indian citizens, ₹540 for citizens of SAARC and BIMSTEC countries, and ₹1,100 for other foreign visitors. Entering the main mausoleum, the domed tomb itself, is a separate ₹200 ticket for everyone. Children under 15 do not pay.

That is the short version. The rest of this page covers what each ticket includes, where to buy it, and a few rules that catch people at the gate.

What each ticket costs

Fees at the Taj Mahal are set by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which looks after the monument. For foreign visitors the price also includes a toll charged by the Agra Development Authority. These are the prices on the official Taj Mahal ticketing page when we checked in November 2026:

SAARC covers Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. BIMSTEC adds Myanmar and Thailand. Bring the passport you will show at the gate, because the category on your ticket has to match it.

Fees in Agra have changed several times over the last decade, usually upward and usually with little notice. Treat the numbers above as a guide and check the portal before you pay.

What the foreign-visitor fee includes

The higher price for foreign, SAARC and BIMSTEC visitors comes with a few extras. The official visitor rules list a half-liter bottle of water, shoe covers, a tourist map of Agra and rides on the battery buses and golf carts that run from the parking areas to the gates. Indian visitors pay a small fee for the golf carts, listed at ₹25 per person.

The Agra Development Authority toll inside the foreign fee also counts toward other monuments visited on the same day. According to the Agra district administration, it covers the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's Tomb at Sikandra and Itimad-ud-Daulah. In practice this means Agra Fort costs a foreign visitor less if they visit it the same day as the Taj. Keep your Taj ticket until the end of the day.

The main mausoleum ticket

The ₹200 mausoleum ticket gets you inside the tomb chamber under the great dome, where the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan sit behind a carved marble screen. The real graves are in a crypt below and are not open to visitors.

Is it worth it? For most first visits, yes. The inside is dim and crowded, and you move through in a slow loop, but it is the only way to see the screen and the inlay work up close. Photography is not allowed inside. If you are short on money or time, or you are coming back for a second visit, you can skip it and still see everything else.

Where to buy tickets

You can buy tickets at the counters near the east and west gates, or online. The official Taj Mahal site points visitors to the ASI's online ticketing portal, and the Agra district site says online tickets are slightly cheaper. Online tickets come as a QR code on your phone, which you scan at the turnstile.

Buying online has two practical advantages. You skip the ticket queue, which can take longer than the security line on a busy morning, and you can buy the mausoleum add-on at the same time. Buy only from the official ASI portal. Plenty of sites sell "Taj Mahal tickets" at a markup, and touts near the gates sell printed tickets that may not scan.

Opening hours

The gates open about 30 minutes before sunrise and close about 30 minutes before sunset. That means the hours shift through the year. In December and January the gates open a little before 7 a.m. and close around 5 p.m. In May and June they open soon after 5 a.m. and stay open until about 6:30 p.m.

Last entry is the closing time. Security staff start moving people toward the exits as sunset approaches, so if you arrive late in the afternoon you may have less time than you expect.

There are three entrances. The east gate is the closest to most of the big hotels and usually has the shortest lines early in the morning. The west gate is the busiest because tour buses and many day-trippers from Delhi arrive there. The south gate is closest to the old town and is used less. All three lead into the same forecourt in front of the great gateway.

The Friday closure

The Taj Mahal is closed to visitors every Friday. The mosque on the west side of the garden is still in use, and on Fridays the complex opens only for the midday prayers, which tourists cannot join.

This catches a surprising number of people, especially on tight itineraries. If Friday is your only day in Agra, spend it at Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri or Mehtab Bagh, which stay open. Mehtab Bagh is across the river from the Taj and has a good view of the back of the tomb. Note also that the Gatimaan Express from Delhi does not run on Fridays.

Night viewing

Night viewing is a separate program with its own ticket, run on five nights around each full moon. It is not included in a day ticket and you cannot use a day ticket to stay after dark. Prices on the official site are ₹510 for Indian visitors and ₹750 for foreign visitors. There is a full explanation in our night viewing guide.

Rules worth knowing before you buy

A few things affect the ticket itself:

• Your ticket is for one entry. If you leave the complex, you need a new ticket to come back in.
• Many sources describe a three-hour limit on a day ticket. It is rarely enforced to the minute, but don't plan to spend the whole day inside.
• Food is not allowed past security, so eat first. Water is allowed.
• Bags are searched at the gates, and the list of banned items is long. Our guide to what you can bring covers it.

Fees for Agra's other monuments, including Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, are in the Agra beyond the Taj guide.