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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Prince of Wales Museum)
Mumbai's biggest and best museum is an intriguing hodgepodge of Islamic, Hindu and British architecture displaying a mixed bag of dusty exhibits from all over India. Opened in 1923 to commemorate King George V's first visit to India (back in 1905, while he was still Prince of Wales), its flamboyant Indo-Saracenic style was designed by George Wittet - who also did the Gateway of India.
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus)
Imposing, exuberant and overflowing with people, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus) is the city's most extravagant Gothic building, the beating heart of its railway network, and an aphorism for colonial India. Historian Christopher London uttered 'the Victoria Terminus is to the British Raj, what the Taj Mahal is to the Mughal Empire.'
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Chowpatty Beach
Chowpatty is still a favourite spot for anyone out to enjoy what passes for fresh air. Get the full experience by strolling through the many beachside stalls for some bhelpuri or a head massage. The water is not the cleanest but the beach is litter-free, patrolled by lifeguards and lit up at night. Visiting Chowpatty in the evening is an essential part of any trip to Mumbai.
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Colaba
The unofficial headquarters of Mumbai's tourist scene, Colaba sprawls down the city's southernmost peninsula. It's a bustling district packed with street stalls, markets, bars and budget to midrange lodgings. Colaba Causeway (Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg) bisects the promontory and is the traffic-filled artery connecting Colaba's jumble of side streets and gently crumbling mansions.
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Cooperage Football Ground
The Cooperage Football Ground is home to the Mumbai Football Association and hosts national and state league soccer matches between November and February. Tickets are available at the gate.
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Crawford Market
The colourful indoor Crawford Market (or Phule Market) is the last outpost of British Bombay before the tumult of the central bazaars begins. It used to be the city's wholesale produce market before this was strategically moved to New Bombay. Today it's where central Mumbai goes shopping for its fruit, vegetables and meat.
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Elephanta Island
Every day except Monday, a flotilla of tourist boats heads out from the Gateway of India to this magnificent island, home to the most famous cave temples in Maharashtra. Carved into the solid rock of the island are a series of ornate Shaivite temples, covered in ornate carvings of Hindu deities.
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Gateway of India
The bold basalt Gateway of India arch faces out to Mumbai Harbour at the tip of Apollo Bunder. Derived from the Islamic styles of 16th-century Gujarat, it was built to commemorate the 1911 royal visit of King George V. It was completed in 1924: ironically, the gateway's British architects used it just 24 years later to parade off their last British regiment, as India marched towards independence.
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Haji Ali Mosque
Floating like a sacred mirage off the coast, the Haji Ali Mosque is one of Mumbai's most striking shrines. Built in the 19th century, it contains the tomb of the Muslim saint Haji - legend has it that Haji Ali died while on a pilgrimage to Mecca and his casket miraculously floated back to this spot.
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High Court
A hive of daily activity, packed with judges, barristers and other cogs in the Indian justice system, the High Court is an elegant 1848 neogothic building. The design was inspired by a German castle and was obviously intended to dispel any doubts about the authority of the justice dispensed inside, though local stone carvers presumably saw things differently: they carved a one-eyed monkey fiddling with the scales of justice on one pillar.
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Jehangir Art Gallery
The Jehangir Art Gallery is one of Mumbai's principal commercial galleries, hosting interesting weekly shows by Indian artists; most works are for sale. Rows of hopeful local artists often display their work on the pavement outside this gallery.
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Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue
Built in 1884, the impossibly sky-blue Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue still functions and is tenderly maintained by the city's dwindling Jewish community. One of two built in the city by the Sassoon family (the other is in Byculla), the interior is wonderfully adorned with colourful pillars, chandeliers and stained-glass windows - best viewed in the afternoons when rainbows of light shaft through.
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Mahalaxmi Racecourse
Mumbai's horse-racing season runs from November to the end of April. Races are held on Sunday and Thursday afternoons (Saturday and Sunday towards the end of the season) at Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Big races, such as the Indian Derby in February, are major social occasions.
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Malabar Hill
Mumbai's most exclusive neighbourhood of sky-scratchers and private palaces, Malabar Hill is at the northern promontory of Back Bay and signifies the top rung for the city's social and economic climbers. Surprisingly, one of Mumbai's most sacred and tranquil oases lies concealed among apartment blocks at its southern tip.
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Mani Bhavan museum
As poignant as it is tiny, the Mani Bhavan museum is housed in the building in which Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his visits to Bombay from 1917 to 1934. Dedicated to this amazingly insightful leader, the museum showcases the simple room where Gandhi formulated his philosophy of satyagraha (truth, nonviolence and self sacrifice) and launched the 1932 civil disobedience campaign that led to the end of British rule.
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Marine Drive
Built on land reclaimed from Back Bay in 1920, Marine Drive (Netaji Subhashchandra Bose Rd) arcs along the shore of the Arabian Sea from Nariman Point past Chowpatty Beach (where it's called Chowpatty Seaface) to the foot of Malabar Hill. Lined with flaking Art Deco apartments, this is one Mumbai's most popular promenades and sunset-watching spots.
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Monetary Museum
If you're in the area, it's worth popping into the tiny and thoughtfully-presented Monetary Museum, run by the Reserve Bank of India. It's an engrossing historical tour of India through coinage: from early concepts of cash, to the first coins of 600 BC, through Indo-European influences, right up to today's Gandhi-covered notes. Also on display is the world's smallest coin, probably found in the crack of an ancient couch.
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Mumbai Zoo
The Mumbai Zoo is remarkably well-maintained. Set in the sprawling and lush grounds of Victoria Gardens, its worth visiting not least for its green hillocks, shady grassy bits and soundtrack of birds chirping in place of cars honking.
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Museum Ship Vikrant
Built in 1945 and bought by the Indian Navy in 1957, the massive aircraft carrier INS Vikrant now serves as a fascinating museum. Admission includes the ferry ride out to the ship, then a walk through the various quarters, the hold (displaying diving bells, submarines and various aircraft) and finally the enormous deck with take-off and landing strip.
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National Gallery of Modern Art
This gallery in the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Public Hall is a bright, spacious and modern exhibition space showcasing a range of changing exhibitions by Indian and international artists. There's a small permanent collection of contemporary Indian art in the top-floor Dome Gallery.
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Nehru Centre & Nehru Planetarium
The most striking thing about the Nehru Centre & Nehru Planetarium cultural complex, which includes a decent planetarium and the serpentine-but-interesting history exhibition Discovery of India is the bold modern architecture of the buildings. The tower looks like a giant cylindrical pineapple, the planetarium a UFO. There's also a theatre here .
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St Thomas' Cathedral
Recently restored to its former glory, the charming St Thomas' Cathedral is the oldest English building standing in Mumbai (construction began in 1672, though it remained unfinished until 1718). The church is an interracial marriage of Byzantine and colonial architecture and it's airy, whitewashed interior is full of exhibitionist colonial memorials. A look at some of the gravestones reveals many colonists died very young of malaria.
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Taj Mahal Palace
The sumptuous Taj Mahal Palace hotel is a fairy-tale blend of Islamic and Renaissance styles jostling for prime position among Mumbai's famous landmarks. Facing the harbour, it was built in 1903 by the Parsi industrialist JN Tata, supposedly after he was refused entry to one of the European hotels on account of being 'a native'.
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University of Mumbai
Looking like a 15th-century French-gothic masterpiece plopped incongruously amongst Mumbai's palm trees, University of Mumbai, still commonly known as Bombay University, was designed by Gilbert Scott of London's St Pancras Station fame. It's possible to take a peek inside both the exquisite University Library and Convocation Hall, but the 80m-high Rajabai Clock Tower, decorated with detailed carvings, is off limits.
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Wankhede Stadium
The cricket season runs from October to April. Test matches and One Day Internationals are played a handful of times a year at Wankhede Stadium. To buy tickets apply in writing well in advance.
Showing 1-25 of 25 results
