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The best things to do in Mumbai

Mumbai is one of the world's most colourful, energising cities - Photo © Peter Adams 2015
Mumbai is one of the world's most colourful, energising cities - Photo © Peter Adams 2015

Expert guide to Mumbai

  1. Overview
    Overview

    Overview

  2. Hotels
    Hotels

    Hotels

  3. Attractions
    Attractions

    Attractions

  4. Restaurants
    Restaurants

    Restaurants

  5. Nightlife
    Nightlife

    Nightlife

  6. Shopping
    Shopping

    Shopping

Mumbai offers a dazzling range of experiences, from exploring the city’s fantastical architecture to escaping into a tangle of jungle or going birdwatching. You can, in the space of a few days, take a boat trip to Elephanta island, with its ancient cave temples, explore the sets of Bollywood, try historic Iranian recipes in a historic Parsi café, or cycle through the city in the early morning as it slowly wakes up from a heavy sleep. Get exploring with Telegraph Travel's Mumbai expert, Abigail Blasi.

Colaba & Fort

Marvel at Mumbai's magnificent railway station

So gothic that you might expect bats to come swooping out from its pinnacles, domes and buttresses, Mumbai’s main railway station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, is the preeminent emblem of the 19th-century colonial-era architecture that dots the city, built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The station may have colonial origins, but its constant throng of passengers epitomises Mumbai’s energy more than anywhere else.

Insider’s tip: The architecture is an extraordinary reimagining of Indian culture through 19th-century British eyes and is not to be missed. The station looks its most spectacular lit up after dark, when its architectural frills are artistically illuminated in jelly-bright LED colours.

Contact: 00 91 22 2369 0992
Opening times: Various
Price: free

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus - Credit: GETTY/PORAS CHAUDHARY
Mumbai’s main railway station is the preeminent emblem of the 19th-century colonial-era architecture that dots the city Credit: GETTY/PORAS CHAUDHARY

• The best restaurants in Mumbai

Cycle through the city at dawn

As Mumbai slowly stirs, it’s a wonderful experience to take a 14km (nine-mile) bicycle circuit with Reality Tours. People are still fast asleep on the pavement, devotees head to early morning prayer, and street-side stalls brew the first cup of chai with the rising sun. The easy-going tour takes in some off-beat places such as Sassoon Dock, the pungent yet fascinating fish market, and Bombay Panjrapole, a cow sanctuary.

Insider’s tip: No need to have breakfast as you’ll finish at a local café, gorging on a typical South Indian breakfast (crispy dosa/pancake served with vegetables and coconut chutney).

Contact​: 00 91 9820822253​​; realitytoursandtravel.com
Opening times​: 8am-6pm
Price​:​ ​££ ​

Cycle Tours - Credit: GETTY/FRÉDÉRIC SOLTAN
Take a cycling tour through the city, visiting a few off-beat places such as Sassoon Dock, and experience the 'real' Mumbai Credit: GETTY/FRÉDÉRIC SOLTAN

• Read our insider's guide to India

Scope out spectacular architecture

Founded by two city architects, Bombay Heritage Walks have been uncovering Mumbai’s different architectural layers for 20 years. You’ll feel dwarfed by the imperial bravado of the sea-facing Gateway of India and enlightened by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a feverish Victorian Gothic symphony of design. Learn about the buildings’ colourful histories, and discover surprising corners, such as the station’s cathedral-like vaulted ceiling.

Insider’s tip: As well as choosing between two different routes that take two hours each, participants can opt for a combination of the two, taking three-and-a-half hours.

Contact: 00 91 22 23690992; bombayheritagewalks.com
Opening times: 24 hrs
Price: free

Heritage walks - Credit: GETTY/DINODIA PHOTO
Mumbai is chock-a-block with interesting architecture Credit: GETTY/DINODIA PHOTO

• The best free things to do in Mumbai

Hang out at a Parsi café

With soaring ceilings, droopy chandeliers, whirring fans that stir up the muggy city day, and tall stained-glass arched doors opening onto the street, Britannia & Co is one of Mumbai’s few remaining grand old Parsi cafes. It’s still run by the 95-year-old Boman Kohinoor, who routinely regales foreign visitors with affectionate musings on the colonial era.

Insider’s Tip: Do try Britania’s most famous dishes — Iranian chicken, which resembles a rice-based biryani, served with cashews, tangibly sour barberries, and caramelised onion, and a sinfully decadently creamy and subtly fragrant crème caramel.

Contact​: 00 22 2261 5264
Opening times​: Mon-Fri, 12pm-4pm; Sat, 11.30am-10pm; closed Sundays
Price​:​ ​££

• The best shopping in Mumbai

Take a tour through Indian history

The fabulous Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum in South Mumbai would be worth visiting for the building alone, a colonial-era fantasy of eastern promise, topped by a white dome and set in balmy palm-fringed gardens. However, do spend time exploring the 50,000-strong collection of artefacts within, which include hand-painted snuff bottles and the personal suit of armour of Mughal emperor Akbar.

Insider’s tip: While away contented hours in the cool museum galleries to escape the heat and don't forget to pop to the museum cafeteria which is set in lush green gardens. There’s a particularly good museum shop too.

Contact​: 00 91 22 2284 4484
Opening times​: Daily, 10.15am-6pm
Price​:​ ​£

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum - Credit: 2014 Hindustan Times/Mint
Escape the heat in the cool galleries of the majestic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum Credit: 2014 Hindustan Times/Mint

• The best nightlife in Mumbai

Get your Bollywood on

The escapism dreamed up by Bollywood studios is part of the lifeblood of India, and although there are major film studios elsewhere in the country, no others have quite the hold on the national imagination as those in Mumbai. Through Bollywood Tours, glimpse some behind-the-scenes action at a shooting studio and experience the fascination yourself.

Insider’s tip: Fully research the tour companies as some are alternative outfits under smiliar names who charge for an overpriced, underwhelming tour.

Contact​: 00 91-22-22668786​; ​bollywoodtours.in
Opening times​: various
Price​:​ ​£££

Bollywood studios - Credit: GETTY/DREAMPICTURES
Bollywood is part of the lifeblood of India and going behind the scenes is a great way to experience it Credit: GETTY/DREAMPICTURES

• The best hotels in Mumbai

Byculla East

Explore the riches of Mumbai's oldest museum

Amid the pastel-coloured colonnades of the beautifully restored Dr. Bau Daji Lad Museum, discover some of Mumbai’s most remarkable treasures, including the elephant that gave Elephanta island its name. The museum is a survey of the soul, culture and history of the city: you can’t fail to be beguiled by its collection of early maps of the nascent city or displays of traditional headwear on an array of busts from the 1930s.

Insider’s Tip: The museum has a busy program of workshops and talks for both adults and children, from creative writing to guided walks – check the website before you go.

Contact​: 00 91 22 2373 1234​; ​bdlmuseum.org
Opening times​: 10am-6pm; closed Wednesdays
Price​:​ ​£​

Dr. Bau Daji Lad Museum
A magnificent creamy cake of colonial-era splendour, Dr. Bau Daji Lad Museum houses some of Mumbai's most remarkable treasures

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Elephant Island

Get lost in ancient temples

An hour-long boat trip from the Gateway of India and you’re out on a thickly-wooded island, a Unesco World Heritage site, and seemingly a world away from the mainland. Its rock-cut temples date back to the 5th century, their columns are carved out of the hillside and renowed for their mythological engravings. The largest cave, full of courtyards, shrines and halls, is fronted by a seven-metre-high sculpture of Shiva, the destroyer.

Insider’s tip: There are plenty of guides offering their services but you can wander around at your leisure, assisted by guidebook pamphlets or an app.

Opening times​: 9am-5pm; closed Mondays ​
Price​:​ ​££ ​

Elephanta Island - Credit: GETTY/JANE SWEENEY
Visit Elephanta Island, a Unesco World Heritage site with magnificent rock cut temples Credit: GETTY/JANE SWEENEY

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Northern Mumbai

Catch your breath in the city's 'green lung'

The extraordinary thing about Mumbai is that it contains an immense green lung, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Found north of the city, a lushly green landscape rippling into the distance, it is an area of outstanding natural beauty. Splendidly diverse and sliced through with streams and rivers, it hosts thousands of plant species, scuttling reptiles, birds, deer, monkeys and some shy leopards.

Insiders tip:Book a tour with the Bombay Natural History Society, which has access to all the park’s sights, most notably the Kanheri Caves which consist of 100 Buddhist dwellings dating back to the 1st century BC.

Contact​: 00 91 22 2886 0362​; ​sgnp.maharashtra.gov.in
Opening times​: 7.30am-6pm; closed Mondays  
Price​:​ ​£

Sanjay Gandhi National Park - Credit: HIRA PUNJABI/Hira Punjabi
Found to the North of the city, Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a lushly pea-green landscape of outstanding natural beauty Credit: HIRA PUNJABI/Hira Punjabi