Mumbai

India·Asia

Currency

INR

Language

Marathi, Hindi, English

Timezone

Kolkata

Continent

Asia

Our guide

Discover Mumbai

Mumbai is an island joined to the mainland by landfill, which explains its density and its orientation towards the sea. The Gateway of India, a basalt arch raised in 1924 facing the harbour, is still where the city arranges to meet. Opposite, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is a Victorian station in Indo-Gothic style and a World Heritage site — one of the most extravagant railway buildings ever put up. The museum of the same name holds the city's collections. Marine Drive draws a seven-kilometre curve along the bay, and the Haji Ali Dargah, a Sufi tomb built on an islet, is reached only at low tide.

When to go

November to February: warm, dry, bearable. March to May turns stifling with crushing humidity. The monsoon, June to September, is spectacular but serious — Mumbai takes most of its two metres of annual rain then, and flooding regularly stops the city. October is the transition, still humid.

Getting around

The suburban railway carries more than seven million people a day and remains the fastest way around, provided you avoid the peaks, when the carriages pass any density you can picture. The metro is extending line by line. Ride-hailing and the black-and-yellow taxis cover the rest. The city is stretched north to south: give one day to the colonial south and another further north, without trying to combine them.

Where to eat

Vada pav — a potato fritter in a bun — is Mumbai's sandwich and costs a few rupees. Pav bhaji and bhelpuri are eaten on the beach at the end of the day. Parsi cooking belongs to this city and is worth seeking out: dhansak is its emblem. Four halal addresses are explicitly listed, which badly understates a city with a large Muslim community.

Good to know

The rupee is the currency and cash still helps on the street. Tap water is not drunk. Distances deceive: traffic turns ten kilometres into an hour, and train times are more reliable than road ones. Covered clothing is expected at places of worship, and shoes come off at Haji Ali as at the temples.

Smart Planning