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Agra to Gwalior
I recently had the opportunity to take 3 days off from work along with the weekend. I decided to my wife and my son to Agra on vacation as I never had the chance to take my family to the Taj Mahal before. So, we boarded a flight from Mumbai and landed in Agra to soak in its rich culture.
Along with the Taj Mahal, we were able to check out other tourist spots and historical locations from the Mughal era. My 12-year old son soon got bored of staying in the same city for 3 days. He preferred to travel rather than spend time looking at boring monuments. And my wife being a historian by hobby, wanted to spend more time around the remnants of the Delhi Sultanate.
So in order to keep them both happy, I decided to bring in a small change in our travel plan. I was aware that Gwalior was only at a distance of about 3 hours from where we were. So I suggested that we take a day trip to Gwalior. While my son was excited, my wife was a little worried about taking this trip.
My wife’s concern was genuine as we had travelled to Agra in a flight and had no means to head to Gwalior by road (as that’s my son’s favourite way to head somewhere). At this point, I had an “I took care of it all”-attitude when I said, ‘don’t worry, I have it covered.’
I thought about booking a cab service to take us to the city. If I was able to book an AC cab from Agra to Gwalior, it would be perfect to handle any heat during the journey. After doing light research on the internet, I was chanced upon Savaari.com with cabs available for affordable prices. And I came across quite a few good reviews as well.
Reaching Gwalior by Road
So I took the chance and booked a cab for us for the next day. After making an online booking, they responded quite promptly. I had a conversation with the driver, and he suggested that we start early as it would help us avoid traffic. I was slightly impressed the next day as the driver reached about 10 minutes earlier to our departure. I was able to avail a licensed Agra cab service with Savaari, that was punctual and reliable.
So we started at around 6 in the morning and decided to have breakfast at Gwalior before we went sightseeing. The roads to Gwalior were well maintained and we didn’t need to stop anywhere for anything. The driver was polite and professional. He made sure that we had a comfortable trip to Gwalior, which showed his expertise in both driving and good customer service.
Our time in Gwalior
Once we reached the city, we stopped at Indian Coffee House to get some breakfast. The driver would refuse our offer of paying for his breakfast at the restaurant, but I insisted, and eventually, he was very grateful. After a hearty morning meal, we started our sightseeing journey in Gwalior.
The Sun temple was at the top of our list, so we visited that first. The temple was truly a marvel. The sculptures dedicated to the Sun God had a lovely vibe of positivity. Sandstone exteriors and marble interiors kept the place cool at this hour. The Gwalior fort was just 20 minutes away from here, so we decided to head there next.
Loaded with temples and 6 palaces, the fort was a magnificent and well-planned construction back in its days of glory. It had an amazing view of the city, and we spent a lot of time clicking pictures of the scenery. The driver mentioned that it was unfortunate that we were unable to make it early enough to see the sunrise from the fort. But we were not one bit disheartened, as it was still a beautiful visit.
After this, we headed to the Sasbahu temple. These were twin temples of which one was bigger than the other. These temples were on a small hill that we heard was dedicated to Lord Vishnu. We then went to the Jiwajirao Scindia Museum in the Jai Vilas Palace. This was a beautiful European style palace with slight Mughal influence seen in its architecture.
After lunch, we continued to explore more places in Gwalior. We visited the water park for a bit, which helped us experience a relatively cool afternoon. We then visited the Gujari Maha, Tomb of Tansen, and then headed to the Patankar and Sarafa Bazaars by evening. My son was eager to try the street food here, so we spent some time exploring the different types of street food by sundown.
Heading back to Agra
After a jam-packed day of travelling in the city of Gwalior, we started to head back to Agra at about 7:30 pm. The driver realised that we were tired and tried to take us back sooner while not disturbing my sleeping son in the car.
All-in-all, it was a lovely trip to Gwalior. My family and I were able to discover and explore a little more of our country’s glorious Mughal era. All while being accompanied by an experienced and professional driver and a comfortable car by Savaari.
