Places to visit in Uttar Pradesh
These are the places Uttar Pradesh trips are built from. Each trip page lists exactly which of them it covers, and a private trip can swap one for another.
- The ghats of Varanasi: The riverfront of Kashi, best seen by boat at dawn from Assi Ghat, with the evening Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh and the cremation fires of Manikarnika.
- Kashi Vishwanath and the Varanasi temples: The Jyotirlinga temple at the heart of the old city, reached through its new corridor, with Kaal Bhairav, Sankat Mochan, the Durga temple and the Banaras Hindu University campus.
- Sarnath: Where the Buddha gave his first sermon, half an hour from Varanasi: the Dhamek Stupa and the museum that holds the Ashoka lion capital, India's national emblem.
- The Ram Mandir, Ayodhya: The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple, consecrated in January 2024, with Hanuman Garhi, Kanak Bhavan, Dashrath Mahal and the evening aarti on the Sarayu.
- Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj: A boat out to the meeting of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the unseen Saraswati, the site of the Kumbh Mela, with the reclining Hanuman temple and Anand Bhavan, the Nehru family home, in the city.
- Lucknow's imambaras: The Bara Imambara and its Bhool Bhulaiya maze, the Chota Imambara, Rumi Darwaza and the ruins of the Residency from the 1857 siege, in the old city of the Nawabs.
- Mathura: Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi, the Dwarkadhish temple and the evening Yamuna aarti at Vishram Ghat, in the town held to be Krishna's birthplace.
- Vrindavan: Banke Bihari, the ISKCON temple, Radha Raman and the white marble Prem Mandir, lit up after dark, with the grove of Nidhivan in the old town.
- Gokul, Govardhan and Barsana: The Braj villages of Krishna's childhood: Raman Reti and Brahmand Ghat at Gokul, Govardhan hill and Radha Kund, and the Radha Rani temple on the hill at Barsana.
- The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort: Shah Jahan's white marble tomb for Mumtaz Mahal, best early in the morning and closed on Fridays, with the red sandstone fort along the Yamuna and the sunset view from Mehtab Bagh.
- Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandra: Akbar's abandoned red sandstone capital with the Buland Darwaza, and his tomb at Sikandra, on the roads out of Agra.
- Naimisharanya: The old forest tirth near Sitapur, with Chakra Tirth and Vyas Gaddi, on the long yatras between Lucknow and Ayodhya.
What to eat
Lucknow is the food stop: Awadhi kebabs such as the galouti, biryani, nihari and sheermal for meat eaters, and the chaat, makhan malai in winter and kulfi for everyone. Varanasi is known for kachori-sabzi and jalebi at breakfast, lassi in clay cups, malaiyo in the winter months and Banarasi paan after dinner. Mathura is famous for its peda and Agra for its petha. Vegetarian food is easy to find everywhere, and the temple towns of Mathura, Vrindavan and Ayodhya are vegetarian by custom.