Why hourly hire works in Braj
Vrindavan and Mathura are twelve kilometres apart, and most of what you want to see sits inside a few kilometres of lanes. A point-to-point taxi would stop and start all day. With an hourly package the driver stays with you, waits outside the temple, and knows which gate is closest for elders.
Most families take the full-day package. It covers Banke Bihari, Prem Mandir, ISKCON, Nidhivan and the ghats at a relaxed pace. If you only want to reach one temple and return, the one or two hour package is enough.
A day that usually works
- Early morning: mangala or morning aarti at ISKCON, then breakfast of kachori and sabzi nearby.
- Late morning: Banke Bihari. Timings change with the season, so we check them the evening before.
- Afternoon: temples rest in the afternoon. This is the time for lunch, a lassi in a kulhad, and a pause.
- Evening: Prem Mandir lit up after dark, and Yamuna aarti at Vishram Ghat in Mathura.
Beyond the town
Govardhan is about 25 km from Mathura, Gokul about 15 km, and Barsana and Nandgaon are 43 and 48 km away. A full-day package covers one of these with the town temples, or two of them if you start early. For the full Govardhan circuit, see our Govardhan Parikrama page. We try to follow the path Krishna gave in the Gita, so we plan the day around what you can comfortably do, and keep responsibility for the car and the timing.