Team-BHP - Mumbai - Places of interest?

asethi,

Welcome to the frenetic city of Bombay.
Your place of stay, if you plan to stay in a hotel, will depend upon your budget.
You will find 3 star/4 star hotels in almost all locations- in the western suburbs, such as Juhu, Santa Cruz, in the eastern fringes such as Thane and in the central locations such as Chembur, or in the city proper in areas like Colaba, Churchgate.

Whereas Bombay is not as ancient, nor as historic as Delhi, it does have its share of old forts ( not in pristine condition), its touristy areas such as Nariman Point, Churchgate, the VT railway station, British era buildings in the Fort area and its malls and studios and matinee idols.

The standard sights are typically 'filmi', the homes of the matinee idols, and such symbols of Bombay as the Hanging Gardens, Siddhivinayak Temple, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Prince of Wales Museum- you will get it all in various websites and through travel agencies.

Regards

If you do not have anyone to show you around in Mumbai, its better to hop-in into one of the sight-seeing buses that you could get from any place that you would be based in. It'll cover almost all of the places that issigonis mentioned above. I am not very sure about the Bandra Worli Sea Link though.

Have a nice stay in Mumbai.

Regards,
Sandeep

Few Must Dos in Mumbai

1. visit to CST (victoria terminus) and a ride on the train during the rush hour

2. visit to Gateway of India, ride on the charriot and the boat, visit to Taj Hotel and having a cup of coffee in the resturant there

3. Visit to Nariman point, Queens Necklace either during early mornings or evenings

4. Byculla Zoo

5. Elephanta Caves: you can go there via boat from gateway of India

6. Visit to Dharavi and witness the poverty as well as the zeal to go up in life

7. Juhu beach, Taj Lands End, Band Stand, homes of famous film stars on the way, ISKON Temple

8. Matunga / King Circle and visit to some of the legendary south Indian resturants

9. Spend some time at the gate of SEEPZ in Andheri during the morning (9 AM) and/or Evening 5:30-6:00 PM to witness the buzz and the activity at the India's first Special Economic Zone.

10. Kanhere Caves, Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivili

11. Navi Mumbai, City of 21st Century

12. Dombivili and or Virar : Chaotic Suburb where the people do not have time to enjoy even small pleasures of life.

Mumbai is the life line of India, you can experience anything and everything in Mumbai, what you need is time, money and willingness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by navan49 (Post 1643203)

Hi Vega,

You have given a good list of places to visit. I have copied your post in my notes and kept it for the future. There is not an immediate plan now. May be after my Hongkong Visit in June.

Mumbai is the heartbeat of India, There is no city in India like Mumbai
Some of the key things one must experience in Mumbai are

1. Speed of Life : No other city/town offers you this experience in India. Nothing waits for anyone, if we fall behind, we would stay behind, if we are willing to keep up, then there is plenty of things to keep up with.

2. Diversity of Food: from a 2 Re Zhunkar Bhakar on street corner to Chefs Floor on the Taj Mahal Hotel top floor, from food from various parts of India to various countries of the world one can experience everything

3. Tolerance and never give up sprit of the Mumbaikar and ability of Mumbai to accomodate anyone and everyone, No dream is small for Mumbai. Unless one spends considerable time in mumbai, this is very difficult to experience.

4. Availability of Transport and Food any time of the day and night. If you have money, you will never go hungry in mumbai and never stuck anywhere. Unlike city like Bangalore where rickshaw fellows only take us where they are going, in Mumbai, Rickshaw/Taxi fellows come where you want to go any time of the day/night. Even at 2 in the mid night one can get food to eat if needed.

5. Co-existance of extreem powerty and filthly richness side by side. Nowhere in India you can experience this like mumbai. Poorest suburbs like
Dharavi, Shivajinagar, Mankhurd, Govandi etc Vs the Richest Indians = Multi Billionaires share the same roads.

Thanks guys! Will take a note of all this!
One more thing, any idea where can I get sightseeing buses/cabs in Mumbai? Any contact details would be welcome. And regarding the stay options, should I stay in the south Mumbai or some where else, keeping in mind the major tourist attractions?

And at last, not sure if anyone of you knows about this, where is the Fashion Street in Mumbai? My wife heard about this from one of her friends, and doesn't want to miss the visit there! :)

Sightseeing buses wont be a problem at all. You get it from almost all parts of Mumbai. Assuming you would be staying in a hotel, the hotel could easily guide you. To stay in South Mumbai or not would depend primarily on budget ( South Mumbai is relatively more expensive ). Also, if you are taking a flight out of Mumbai, it'll be quite a long taxi drive to the airport.

Fashion Street again is located in South Mumbai very close to Churchgate station. If you walk down from Churchgate towards CST station ( formerly VT ), you should easily find Fashion street.

Regards,
Sandeep

Quote:

Originally Posted by asethi (Post 1645712)

visit this site for one of the option.

Bombay/Mumbai Sightseeing Bus (Mumbai Darshan) - India Travel Forum | IndiaMike.com

You can also check with BEST depot at CST terminal or Dadar.

Stat options are plenty in mumbai, depends on your budget, i would suggest you to stay in south mumbai as most of the things are closer. if you want cheaper, you need to move to suburbs viz. Anderi and beyond, Thane, Navi Mumbai etc.

Google will throw several options for you. You can also use travel sites like makemytrip.com to shortlist your hotel options.

Regarding Fashion street, jump into a taxi and ask driver to take you to fashion street, it is very famous.

It is located at

Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil Marg
Marine Lines, Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Well, technically this is not the first time I'm in Mumbai but on previous trips the only places I have seen are airport, office and the company guest house stupid:

So this time I'm here for 2 weeks and I have the coming weekend to explore the city. Any recommendations on stuff to do/see/experience here over the weekend? My preference would be around food and archaeology but any suggestions are welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkiran (Post 3748013)

Any recommendations on stuff to do/see/experience here over the weekend? My preference would be around food and archaeology but any suggestions are welcome.

1. http://canvaslaughclub.com/ -- awesome stand up comedy shows on weekends. Ticket is 750 Rs.
2. Taste Ramazan food : http://www.burrp.com/know/ramzan-foo...-mohalla-75360
3. Visit Marine drive in Night

Your timing is great. Do stop by Mohd Ali Road after sundown and enjoy the Ramzan spread!

Most touristy stuff is around South Bombay (SoBo) area. So you can visit Gateway of India, Taj Mahal hotel, Bade Miya's (all within walking distance of each other), Marine Drive for a nice walk by the seaside, Taraporewala Aquarium (hear it's been refurbished and quite nice these days), Nehru planetarium at Worli. If you're driving, take a trip on the Bandra-Worli sea link as well (remember there is a speed limit of 50!) Haji Ali is an attraction as well, though I haven't gone beyond the juice centre of the same name not too far away :D (recommended for late night eats). Noorani's is another place you can try for the food. As you head further close to Central Mumbai, there's Imax at Wadala (highly recommended to watch a nice 3D IMAX movie- I watched Gravity there- awesome!) and Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi.

If you're further North, Bandra has a nice seaside as well (Bandstand- you can see Shah rukh Khan's bungalow if so inclined). Mount Mary and Mahim church are close by, Linking Road for cheap and fun shopping. Juhu beach has been cleaned up a fair bit now. If you're even further North, try Erangal or Aksa beach near Marve. Quaint koli village with a Goa-esque feel, though the traffic these days is pretty insane on those narrow roads. Malad/Goregaon/Versova are the mall and multiplex centre so you can take your pick between InOrbit, Infiniti, Fun Republic and several others.

Be careful how you time your outings: especially heading to and from teh Western suburbs in peak hour is a nightmare! Have fun.

Adding to all that, please dont try boarding a local train at peak hours. :) You can just go to any station and have a look but dont try. It would be lethal.

Use google maps to show you the traffic conditions before you venture out. That would save you some time as Mumbai's western suburbs that noopster mentioned as the mall and multiplex centre is always full of traffic.

Cheers,
Raj