Things to do in Mumbai (Bombay)
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Fashion Street Market
Snap up a bargain backpacking wardrobe at Fashion Street Market, the cheap stalls lining MG Rd between Cross and Azad maidans (fields.) Hone your bargaining skills.
reviewed
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New Laxmi Vilas
A budget eatery that serves great southern specialities in comfortable, modern, AC surrounds. Dosas are the speciality. The thalis (Rs43) are also high calibre.
reviewed
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Pizzeria
Serves up pizzas and pasta dishes along with Indian wines, but the ocean views are the real draw.
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Barista
Coffee pub
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Theobroma
Theobroma calls its creations ‘food of the gods’ – and they are. Dozens of perfectly executed cakes, tarts and chocolates, as well as sandwiches and breads, go well with the coffee here. The solo hazelnut mousse cake (Rs80) or the genius pistachio-and-green-cardamom truffle (Rs25) will take you to the next plane.
reviewed
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Vie Lounge
Right on Juhu Beach is this glamorous party spot (opposite Little Italy restaurant). The drinks menu is 18 pages long and includes aged imported whiskies. It’s also a nice place for an early-evening coffee and snack. Call before coming to check there isn’t a private Bollywood bash on.
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Kailash Parbat
Nothing fancy, but a Mumbai legend nonetheless thanks to its inexpensive Sindhi-influenced vegetarian snacks, mouth-watering sweets and extra-spicy masala chai. Kailash Parbat Hindu Hotel across the street is its also good, more playful, cousin.
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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.
Banganga Tank is a precinct of serene temples, bathing pilgrims, meandering, traffic-free streets and picturesque old dharamsalas (pilgrims rest houses). The wooden pole in the centre of the tank is the centre of the earth - according to legend Lord Ram created the tank by piercing the earth with his arrow. The classical music Banganga Festival is held…
reviewed
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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.
It's twinkling night-time lights earned it the nickname 'the Queen's Necklace'.
Chowpatty Beach remains a favourite evening spot for courting couples, families, political rallies and anyone out to enjoy what passes for fresh air. Eating an evening time bhelpuri (crisp fried thin rounds of dough mixed with puffed rice, lentils,…
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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.
The Vikrant served in the India-Pakistan War of 1971, and in the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese, providing a sea base for Harrier jump jets, Seahawks and helicopters, some of which are still on board.
Tickets are available from the booking offices near the Gateway.
reviewed
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Mani Bhavan
As poignant as it is tiny, this museum is in the building where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during visits to Bombay from 1917 to 1934. The museum showcases the room where the leader formulated his philosophy of satyagraha (nonviolent protest popularised by Gandhi) and launched the 1932 Civil Disobedience campaign that led to the end of British rule. Exhibitions include a photographic record of his life, along with dioramas and original documents, such as letters he wrote to Adolf Hitler and Franklin D Roosevelt. Nearby, August Kranti Maidan is where the campaign to persuade the British to ‘Quit India’ was launched in 1942.
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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 neo-Gothic 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. You are permitted (and it is highly recommended) to walk around inside the building and check out the pandemonium and pageantry of public cases that are in progress.
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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.
A long concrete causeway reaches into the Arabian Sea, providing access to the mosque. Thousands of pilgrims cross it to make their visit, many donating to the beggars who line the way, but at high tide water cover the causeway and the mosque becomes an island.
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Culture Curry
As the Culture Curry folks rightly point out, there’s a lot more to southern food than idli and dosas. Exquisite dishes from all over the South, ranging from Andhra and Coorg to Kerala, are the specialty here. Vegies are particularly well served: the Kooru Curry (kidney and green beans in coconut gravy; Rs179) is extraordinary. The same owners run Diva Maharashtracha, down the street, and Goa Portuguesa, next door, specialising in fiery Goan dishes. Guitar-strumming musicians and singers wander between the two connected spaces.
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Mumbai To Chennai
24 days (Mumbai)
by Intrepid
Meet locals over a chai in Kerala, Learn of the stories behind the Kathakali dances, Discover the Gallic influences in Pondicherry, Look out over the Indian…Not LP reviewed
from USD$1,935 -
Delhi To Mumbai
16 days (New Delhi)
by Intrepid
Visit the famous Pushkar temples, Look out over the fabled blue city of Jodhpur, Mix it up in marvellous Mumbai, Visit a temple dedicated to rodents, Delve into…Not LP reviewed
from USD$1,340 -
Sanjay Gandhi National Park
It’s hard to believe that within 90 minutes of the teeming metropolis you can be surrounded by this 104-sq-km protected tropical forest. Here, bright flora, birds, butterflies and elusive wild leopards replace pollution and crowds, all surrounded by forested hills on the city’s northern edge. Urban development and shantytowns try to muscle in on the edges of this wild region, but its status as a national park has allowed it to stay green and calm.
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Indigo
Colaba’s finest eating option, Indigo has inventive European cuisine, a long wine list, sleek ambience and an absolutely gorgeous roof deck lit with fairy lights. Daily specials come with wine recommendations. Favourites include the soft basil-crusted Norwegian salmon, with asparagus, beetroot couscous and lemon and orange-caper butter (Rs985); or lemon ricotta tortellini with fennel spinach sauce, porcini mushrooms and walnuts (Rs585). Bookings are essential.
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St Thomas’ Cathedral
Recently restored to its former glory, this charming cathedral is the oldest English building standing in Mumbai (construction began in 1672, though it remained unfinished until 1718). The cathedral is an interracial marriage of Byzantine and colonial-era architecture, and its airy, whitewashed interior is full of exhibitionist colonial memorials. A look at some of the gravestones reveals many colonists died young of malaria.
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National Centre for the Performing Arts
Spanning 800 sq metres, this cultural centre is the hub of Mumbai’s music, theatre and dance scene. In any given week, it might host Marathi theatre, poetry readings and art exhibitions, Bihari dance troupes, ensembles from Europe or Indian classical music. The Experimental Theatre occasionally has English-language plays. Many performances are free. The box office ( [tel] 22824567; open 9am to 7pm) is at the end of NCPA Marg.
reviewed
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Monetary Museum
While you’re in the area, pop into this tiny and thoughtfully presented 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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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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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Prince of Wales Museum)
Mumbai’s biggest and best museum, this domed behemoth is an intriguing hodgepodge of Islamic, Hindu and British architecture displaying a mix 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.
reviewed
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Mumbai To Kathmandu
52 days (Mumbai)
by Intrepid
Mix it up in Mumbai, Laze on the beaches of Goa, Be impressed by the temples of Puri, Cruise the backwaters of Kerala, Explore the historic streets of KathmanduNot LP reviewed
from USD$4,565 -
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Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue
Built in 1884, this impossibly sky-blue 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.
reviewed