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Places to visit near Mathura
Vrindavan
Krishna's boyhood country: some five thousand temples in a town of 85,000, the crush at Banke Bihari, the marble and light of Prem Mandir, quiet courtyards like Radha Raman where the ritual has not changed in centuries. Come in the cool months, and keep a hand on your glasses; the monkeys here are famous for taking them.
~10 km as the crow flies
Govardhan
A low sandstone ridge nobody climbs, because the hill itself is what is worshipped: Krishna is said to have lifted it to shelter Braj, and the way to honour it is the 21 km walk around it. Tanks, sandstone pavilions and prasad stalls line the route; most people come over from Vrindavan or Mathura for the day.
~20 km as the crow flies
Agra
Marble and red sandstone on one bend of the Yamuna: the Taj Mahal at dawn, the fort where Shah Jahan spent his last years looking at it, and the 'Baby Taj' whose inlay work the Taj borrowed. Most visitors leave by sunset; the old city's bazaars and petha shops reward those who stay.
~50 km as the crow flies
Delhi
Eight capitals stacked on one plain, and you can walk between them: a 12th-century victory tower, the Mughal tomb that taught the Taj its shape, colonial New Delhi's avenues, and the spice lanes of Chandni Chowk. Most trips to North India start here. Give it two days and it stops being just an airport.
~130 km as the crow flies
Jaipur
India at its most royal: hilltop forts, honey-stone palaces, the lace-like Hawa Mahal, and bazaars piled with block-print, gemstones and sweets. Rajasthan's classic first stop: maharaja grandeur and the best shopping in the north.
~200 km as the crow flies
Haridwar
Where the Ganga leaves the mountains for the plains stands one of Hinduism's great sacred cities: every evening Har Ki Pauri fills for the Ganga aarti, a river of lamps, bells and chanting. India's most stirring riverside ritual, and a host of the Kumbh Mela.
~280 km as the crow flies
Rishikesh
Where the Ganga leaves the Himalaya: ashrams and yoga halls, swaying footbridges, riverside cafés and evening aarti by the water. The world's yoga capital, white-water rafting, and the gateway to the mountains.
~290 km as the crow flies
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