What to do in Mumbai and how to organize a hassle-free visit

Bombay or Mumbai (मुंबई), the economic capital of India, is a vibrant, cosmopolitan place that has something for every type of traveler. From its impressive historical monuments from the British imperial era to its lively cultural and gastronomic scene, Mumbai is a city that never ceases to amaze if you like urban life, trends and a mix of cultures. I tell you how to organize a visit and what to see in Mumbai in one or two days to discover the most advanced city in India.

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Things to see in Mumbai in one day

If you are only in Bombay for a day you should stay in Colaba and visit the neighborhoods of Kala Ghoda, Fort and Malabar Hills. There you will find the main historical attractions and a good representation of the best stores, cafés and restaurants in the city.

That is what the mumbaikars call SoBo (for South Bombay), one of the areas where the richest people of the city live. There is a guided tour that you can book at this link. If you go on your own, you can’t miss it:

• Gateway of India: This impressive monument was built in 1924 to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to India. It is a popular place to take pictures and enjoy the views of the sea. Next door is the famous Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Station: This impressive train station, built in the 19th century, is a magnificent example of Victorian architecture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of British Bombay, which also includes the University of Bombay, the Rajabai Clock Tower or the High Court building around the Oval Maidan.

• Colaba: This neighborhood, full of art galleries, fashionable stores and restaurants, is the cultural center of Bombay. It is a perfect place to stroll around and enjoy the lively life of the city. In addition, you can walk along the coastline and appreciate the changing scenery as the tide rises and falls.
• Kala Ghoda: This neighborhood gets its name from the sculpture of a black horse at its entrance. It is another place to get lost among cafes and chic restaurants, designer stores and also special places like the Bombay Synagogue or the beautiful Kitab Khana bookstore.

• Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach: If you like walking you can not miss this great promenade that leads to the foot of Malabar Hills. Many locals come here to watch the sunset and get together with friends. The atmosphere is especially lively in the evenings. Malabar Hills is a small hill at the end of the bay where the richest families of the city live and where the mysterious Towers of Silence of the Parsees are located, the place where they expose the bodies of their dead. Don’t get excited because these gardens are closed to the public.

All these visits can be done on foot. Other places that are usually included in a day visit to Bombay are Gandhi’s house and the Mahalaxmi public laundry ghat, but I recommend that, if you can, leave them for a second day in the city.

Things to do in Mumbai in two days

If you are going to spend two days in Bombay, this day can be arranged according to your interests. Some of these attractions are a bit far from each other an, andd you will have to take cabs or trains to cover as much as possible. For me, the must-sees are:

• Mani Bhawan or Gandhi’s House: Gandhi had no property, but this was his place of reference in Bombay until 1934. Here he met with Congress politicians and humble people of any caste and condition. It is a beautiful historic house for those who want to know more about this symbol of Indian independence.
• Dhobi Ghat of Mahalaxmi: These open-air laundries surrounded by large buildings concentrate the laundry business of the city. The scale of this place is overwhelming. You can see it from a lookout point, or you can hire a tour or pay a laundry guide to tell you how it works and take you inside the alleys.

In addition to the first two, you can finish designing your day by including some of these places:

• Bandra : Here you will be surprised by the large number of houses with Portuguese surnames. In Bandra you will find the great old mansions of Bombay. Today it is a trendy neighborhood with many cafés and restaurants for the more cosmopolitan upper middle class. Besides that, you can walk along Chapel Road where the people of Start India Foundation have made a series of cool Bollywood themed murals. At the end of the neighborhood, a promenade to the ruins of Bandra Fort and the luxury hotel Taj Lands End.

• Siddhivinayak Temple: This temple in Dadar, dedicated to the god Ganesha, is one of the most revered temples in India. Bombay is renowned for its festivals to the elephant-headed god that last more than a week. This temple is a popular place of pilgrimage for Hindus from all over the world.
• Dargah of Haji Ali: The Sufi tomb and shrine has the particularity of being located on a small island linked to Bombay by a bridge whose path is flooded with the rising tide. The path is flanked by many pedestrians and is not always a good experience. However, it is a very iconic stamp of Bombay and introduces us to another of the great communities of the city: the Muslims.

• Bollywood cinema: Bombay is the capital of Indian cinema, so it never hurts to spend an afternoon watching a movie. Bollywood movies are very entertaining and, even if you don’t understand Hindi, you will see that there is a non-verbal language that makes it easy to follow the plots. If you are motivated, I recommend you to go to the Maratha Mandir Theatre where for almost 30 years they have been showing the movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge by SRK and Kajol non-stop. You can also join a Bollywood Tour with dance show.
• Parsi Colony: On the first day in Bombay, I have already commented something about the Parsis and their Towers of Silence. The Parsi community in India consists of about 50,000 people living, mainly in Bombay. There are some neighborhoods with a strong Parsi presence and where you will find numerous residential buildings in the art deco style with Parsi symbolism. One of these neighborhoods is the Parsi Colony in Dadar East.

Half-day excursions from Mumbai

Many people visiting Bombay consider going to an island off the peninsula, where the famous Elephanta Caves are located. This set of rock caves, located about 10 kilometers from Bombay, houses a series of impressive stone sculptures. Elephanta is a significant site that is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You have to take a boat near the Gate of India, so it will take you half a day to get there and back. In addition, on the island, there are many monkeys that make the visit a little uncomfortable. Personally, I only recommend this visit if you are not going to go to other places with excavated temples such as Ajanta, Ellora or Badami, or even the temples of Mahabalipuram near Chennai.

Other half-day excursions in Mumbai include these:

• Mumbai bike tour through the main monuments in Bombay.
• Excursion to Kanheri caves in Borivali, north of Mumbai.
• Free Tour in Bombay to start exploring the city.

Getting around Bombay

The city of Bombay has a reputation for having the worst traffic in India, with the permission of Bangalore. Being on a peninsula with two main arteries running along the east coast and the west coast, there are not many alternatives if you choose to get around by car or cab. These are the transportation alternatives in the city:

• Black and yellow cab (nicknamed kaali-peeli). Unlike other Indian cities, in Bombay cabs in Mumbai put the meter on as soon as you enter the vehicle and do not discuss the destination or the price. Riding in public cabs is a pleasure and, as long as there are no traffic jams, it is a good way to get around, as they are very competitively priced.
• Local trains. There are two main lines that run along the coast and terminate at Colaba and Fort. These trains are the quick way to avoid traffic, but at peak times they can be crowded. They cost only 5 rupees and are the most popular mode of transport in the city.

• In Mumbai, you can book a car with a driver through the Ola and Uber apps. If you want to know the prices of the rides or have them come to pick you up at the door, they are fine, but perhaps not as necessary as in other cities, since the kaali-peeli work very well.
• Several Mumbai Metro lines are under development. Right now, they are still quite disconnected and mostly serve Navi Mumbai and outlying areas of the city, so they are not usually useful for commuters.
• You also have the shuttle service from the airport to the city center, which is especially useful when you arrive for the first time and do not know the city.

Whatever your means of transport, it is important to avoid rush hours on the train network, the subway or on the roads. It will save you from spending a lot of time cramped or locked in a car.

What to eat in Bombay

Mumbai is a city with a rich gastronomic tradition. Bombay’s cuisine is a blend of Indian, European and African influences.

Typical food from Bombay

Mumbai is a very cosmopolitan city, meaning that you can find almost anything from around the world and from all corners of India. However, it is also famous for a number of popular snacks that combine Marathi, Portuguese and British heritage. Some of the typical Bombay dishes you have to try are:

• Bhel puri: A dish of fried rice noodles topped with tomato, raw onion, roasted chickpeas, chutneys and a good squeeze of lemon.

• Pav bhaji: Something similar to ratatouille or pisto, but with the spices of Indian cuisine. It is a Portuguese-influenced dish served with pav, a slightly sweet bread reminiscent of a brioche that was introduced by the Portuguese.
• Vada pav: A sandwich made with pav and filled with a fried potato dumpling and various chutneys.
• I have a hard time considering it a recipe, but Parsi-style bread with butter and raisins (bun maska) is also a popular snack.

In the city, the more elaborate local cuisine is rather overshadowed by the gastronomy of neighboring Goa with its touch of Indo-Portuguese fusion. Also, very visible are the Iranian cafés founded by Parsis and the cuisine of northern India, especially Punjab and southern India, especially the dosas of Tamil Nadu.

Some recommended restaurants in Bombay

In a megacity like Mumbai it is difficult to make a list of the best restaurants in Bombay. So, here are a few that I have been to either on the recommendation of locals or on my own initiative and liked so that they can guide you in your choice. Some recommended restaurants in Colaba to try the local food include:

• Leopold Café: I put it first not because I think it is the best place to go to eat, but because it is a very famous place and, surely, you will want to make a stop at some point during your visit. A bit like Café Mondegar, both are Bombay classics. The latter has paintings by illustrator Mario Miranda.

• Kitchen Garden: You have one in Colaba and another in Bandra. This restaurant and cafeteria is the perfect place if you need to eat something healthy, with organic products and accompany it with a good tea or coffee. It is expensive for India, but you will realize that these are Bombay prices.
• New Martin Hotel: This Goan cuisine restaurant is as simple as it is popular. They have very authentic food, but when it’s gone, they close the beach bar. Don’t be scared off by the small size of the place, the dishes are delicious.

In Kala Godha:

• Folk: This restaurant serves Indian food from various regions and has a cool decor. The clientele is very varied, but in the evenings it is very busy. What we ordered was more than good.
• Kala Ghoda Café: This restaurant and café is the best known in the neighborhood. The truth is that it is usually difficult to get a table. It serves various Indian dishes, including vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, and an excellent coffee.

• Trishna: This restaurant in Kala Ghoda serves fish and seafood with Marathi recipes. Keep in mind that we are by the sea, and the further south India goes, the more central fish becomes to the Indian diet.
• Chetana Veg Restaurant: A strange mix between a local thali restaurant and a bookstore with esoteric themes, spirituality and philosophy. I found it a good choice for a hearty thali in a restaurant full of locals.

In other areas of the city:

• Sardar Pav Bhaji: The temple of this Bombay snack is in Tardeo. It is on your way to Mahalaxmi or Haji Ali’s dargah; otherwise it is far away.
• Subko Café: There are several branches of this specialty coffee shop with delicious desserts. I recommend the one inside the Kitab Khana bookstore for the vintage feel of the space.
• Farmer’s Cafe: A restaurant and café with dreamy pastries. It is very popular with families. It has many proposals of gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian sweets.

• Project Hum: Fast and simple food restaurant with local and organic products. You can follow them on social media because they are a very cool initiative in Bandra that attracts Indian millennials.
• Natural Ice Cream: Bombay’s organic ice cream parlor that you will find all over the city. The tender coconut ice cream and mango ice cream are my favorites.

Where to sleep in Bombay

I could write a whole article about the best neighborhoods to stay in Bombay and the hotels I like the most, however, to make it shorter I leave you three options that can work for your visit to Bombay.

The three hotels are in Colaba-Fort because it seems to me that staying in this peninsula you will be able to visit the city in two days in a more comfortable way. By the way, accommodation in Bombay is more expensive than in other places in India, especially if you want to stay in SoBo.

• Hotel Suba Palace is located very close to the Gateway of India, in the heart of Colaba. It is a typical Indian 3 star hotel, correct, with good service, but without much charm. A good option for location and comfort. It is around 150 euros per night.
• Residency Hotel en Fort is a practical option with good service near the CST station. The price for a double room is around 100 euros.
• For about 50 euros a night for two people, you have the Elphinstone Hotel, with small but adequate rooms 500 meters from Crawford Market.

Normally, in all Indian cities, I always recommend Bloom hotels for budget travelers. In Mumbai, you have the Bloom Boutique Bandra, in one of the liveliest neighborhoods of the city.

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The other is the Bloomrooms in Bombay which is on Juhu beach, a bit far from everything. It is a good area to stay, but requires a lot of transportation.

Five Instagram profiles for Bombay lovers

I don’t usually recommend following influencers to prepare your trip, but I love these three Instagram profiles and they can serve as inspiration to prepare your visit.

• Humans of Bombay is an account that explains life stories of citizens of the Indian megalopolis. A good way to approach the economic capital of India.
• @thegreaterbombay is the account of artist Rachel Lopez. Her trademark is photographs of the roofs of typical Bombay cabs. I’ve been following her for a while now and her profile is fun, lighthearted and sometimes with great recommendations.

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• A benchmark for the best places to eat in Mumbai is screenwriter and actor @sehgaldhruv90, co-star of the Netflix series Little Things where he portrayed himself and toured the best of Mumbai’s popular cuisine.
• Another journalist whose recommendations I love is @sonamsavlani who I met on a press trip in Spain. Her café and restaurant recommendations are great, and she’s always up-to-date on what’s going on in the city.
• @artdecomumbai is a profile that recovers all the heritage of the early twentieth century in the city. Since it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site it has received greater attention and the truth is that in Bombay it is infinite.

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Other tips before visiting Mumbai

• It is best to visit Mumbai during the dry season, which runs from October to March. During this time, the weather is warm and sunny, with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius.
• Mumbai is a busy city, so it is important to be prepared for crowds, although more orderly and respectful than in other Indian cities.
• If you are traveling on a tight budget, it is best not to plan too much time in Mumbai. It is an expensive city for all services, but especially for accommodation.
• Mumbai is a safe city, but it is important to take the usual precautions, such as not carrying valuables in sight and being aware of your surroundings. Female travelers will feel much more comfortable than in other parts of India. A girl can go alone at any time of the day or night and dress as she pleases. In this they are much more advanced than in Delhi or Calcutta.

Mumbai is a fascinating city that offers something for every traveler. With a well-planned itinerary, you can make the most of your visit and enjoy all that the city has to offer. I hope I have been helpful.