Kinari Bazaar

Behind the Jama Masjid begins Kinari Bazaar, a maze of narrow lanes where the old city trades as it has for centuries: wedding finery and glass bangles, fabrics, spices, shoes, sweets, garlands. It's loud, crowded, and completely unstaged, the opposite of the souvenir rows near the Taj.

Come in the morning when the lanes are still passable, keep your bag in front of you, and treat it as a walk rather than a shopping mission, though prices here, with a bit of bargaining, are the most honest in the city. Combines naturally with Agra Fort and the Jama Masjid into one old-city outing.

The old city's trading lanes