Agra punishes the unprepared wallet — but only inside the Taj gates. Beyond them sit riverfront tombs at ₹25, Mughal ruins with zero entry fee, petha shops selling sweets by the kilo, and rooftop views of the world's most famous dome for the price of chai.
The tomb of Afzal Khan, Shah Jahan's Persian prime minister, is the only Indo-Persian monument in India faced entirely in glazed tilework. Entry is completely free, there is no ticket counter, and you will likely be the only visitor. Open sunrise to sunset daily.
Akbar's five-storey sandstone and marble mausoleum sits in a 119-acre deer park 10 km north of the centre. Indian nationals pay ₹35; foreigners ₹310 — still the cheapest major Mughal site. Blackbuck and langurs roam the lawns freely.
Shah Jahan's daughter Jahanara built this red sandstone congregational mosque in 1648, facing Agra Fort across the railway line. No entry fee, no camera charge, no queue. The zigzag marble inlay on the domes is unique in Mughal architecture.
A public stretch of riverbank due west of the Taj where locals wash buffalo and fly kites at dusk. The full south facade of the mausoleum is visible across the water at no cost whatsoever, with none of Mehtab Bagh's ₹300 foreigner ticket.
Agra's signature sweet is petha — translucent ash-gourd candy boiled in sugar syrup, sold since 1926. Plain, kesar, angoori and paan varieties run ₹200–320 per kilo. Loose sampling is free and expected before you commit to a box.
A pavement counter that has fed Agra since 1978, running four grills at once. Chicken frankies cost ₹80, tandoori half-plate ₹160, and the vegetarian counter next door does paneer rolls for ₹60. Cash only, no seating, permanently mobbed.
The old city's wholesale lane behind Jama Masjid, selling zardozi embroidery, brass, bangles and marble offcuts. Marble coasters that cost ₹800 near the Taj go for ₹150 here. Alleys are two metres wide and closed to cars — walk in from Johri Bazaar.
A 1935 halwai where Agra families eat bedai and jalebi for breakfast and kachori-sabzi at night. A full plate runs ₹50–70, lassi in a clay kulhad ₹40. Upstairs has fans and marble tables; downstairs is standing room at the counter.
Akbar's abandoned capital lies 40 km west. UP Roadways buses leave Idgah Bus Stand every 30 minutes for ₹60 each way. The Jama Masjid complex and Buland Darwaza are free; only the palace courtyards charge ₹50 for Indians, ₹610 for foreigners.
The oldest surviving Mughal garden in India, laid out by Babur in 1528 — sixty years before the Taj. Entry is ₹25 for Indians, ₹300 for foreigners, and on most weekdays the terraced water channels and stone pavilions are entirely empty.
The 17th-century workers' quarter immediately south of the Taj, built to house the mausoleum's craftsmen. A cycle rickshaw circuit of the four caravanserai gates costs about ₹150 for an hour. Motor vehicles are banned within 500 m of the monument.
A scruffy guesthouse terrace with an unobstructed head-on view of the Taj's south gate and dome. Non-guests are welcome for the price of a drink — chai ₹30, lime soda ₹60 — which makes it the cheapest elevated Taj viewpoint in the city.