Travelling to Mumbai?
Mumbai is the city of money, movies and tropical Victorian Gothic: CST station is a World Heritage Site and still moves three million people a day. At sunset, everyone ends up on Marine Drive.
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What to see in Mumbai
8 ROUTESOur routes, not a list of everything. Places that have been there for centuries: no opening times or prices, which go stale.
- 01
Mumbai in a day
9 hSeven islands separated by marsh: that was Mumbai. Much of the ground you walk on today is sea filled in by hand over two centuries.CST station · The Gateway of India · The art district and the Gothic · Marine Drive at duskRead the full guide - 02
A weekend in Mumbai
20 hFive thousand men deliver two hundred thousand home-cooked lunches a day, by train and bicycle, with a colour code. They almost never get it wrong.Saturday: the south, all of it · Saturday night: Bandra · Sunday morning: the laundry · Sunday: the shrine of the tideRead the full guide - 03
What to see in Mumbai
8 hThe last British troops left India through an arch built to celebrate a king’s arrival. Twenty-four years separate the two.The tropical Victorian Gothic · The hotel on the corner · The Elephanta Caves · The commuter trains, which are the cityRead the full guide - 04
Where to eat in Mumbai
3 hThe local sandwich bread is called pav, from the Portuguese pão. Four hundred years on, it’s still called that and it’s the city’s food.The vada pav · The Irani cafés · Parsi food · The duck that’s a fishRead the full guide - 05
Mumbai’s neighbourhoods
6 hThe most expensive private house in the world has twenty-seven storeys and it’s here. And from the top you see where half the city lives.Colaba and the south · Bandra · Malabar Hill and the towers · Dharavi, and the uncomfortable questionRead the full guide - 06
Day trips from Mumbai
9 hAn hour away by boat there are temples cut inside a mountain in the fifth century. And a national park inside the city itself.Elephanta · The national park inside · The beaches and forts down the coast · The mountains to the eastRead the full guide - 07
From Mumbai airport to the city
1 hOnly one of the prepaid counters is the official one. The rest look identical, with queues and uniforms, and charge two or three times.The official counter: which one · The new metro · The apps and the black-and-yellows · The hour, which decides everythingRead the full guide - 08
Mumbai: practical tips
1 hIn Maharashtra, technically, you need a permit to drink alcohol. It genuinely exists, and almost nobody knows.The monsoon, which here isn’t a season · Alcohol, and dry days · Getting around, and the women’s carriages · The India basics, hereRead the full guide
Airport to city centre
2 OPTIONSThe real options, with what actually decides it: which terminal it leaves from and where it drops you. Fares and timetables live with the operator, who keeps them current.
- TaxiColaba · BandraUse the official MIAL prepaid counter inside arrivals: there are other counters that look official and charge two or three times as much. Pay there, check the slip has the driver’s name and vehicle number, and give him nothing extra. The historic south is a good hour’s ride. Bandra hotels sit halfway.·Fares and timesCSMIA / MIAL (prepaid oficial)
- MetroL3 AquaBKC · Cuffe ParadeThe new underground line has an airport station and runs down towards the financial district and the south.·Fares and timesMMRC
VIP lounges in Mumbai
10Before you fly, or on the layover. Pay per visit, whatever airline.