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Mumbai, the largest city and capital of Maharashtra is a melting pot of cultures, lifestyles and religions. Hundreds arrive in the city everyday with dreams in their eyes of making it big in this City of Dreams. Home to the world’s largest film industry, Bollywood, Mumbai is also known for one of the world’s largest slums, Dharavi. An amazing paradox of wealth and squalor, the elite and the downtrodden, method and madness exists here. This mega city, also the financial centre of the country is driven by glamour, wealth, power and politics. One of the prominent centres of art, culture, music, dance, theatre and cinema, Mumbai tourism offers every kind of experience to tourists. British architectural monuments, museums, beaches, temples, mosques and film sets make it an exciting tourist destination.
At the very beginning, Mumbai was just an archipelago of seven islands. But human inhabitation existed here right from the stone age. As time passed, power changed hands several times in this city. The Mauryas, the Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Portuguese, Mughals and British amongst others, have all ruled this city. The Portuguese established a trading centre here called Bom Bahia, which means the “good bay” and hence it was formerly called Bombay. In 1995, the city changed its name to Mumbai after the local goddess Mumbadevi.
Mumbai locals are the busiest railways in the world and ferry 7.5 million people every day.
India’s first train, first bus service and first airport, Juhu Aerodrome all started in Mumbai.
On the one hand, Mumbai has the world’s most expensive home – Antilia and on the other, it is home to one of the world’s largest slums, Dharavi.
Colloquially known as “Mumbaikars”, the people of Mumbai are hard-working, helpful and resilient. The original inhabitants of Mumbai are the fisher folk or ‘kolis’. But now the city is home to people from all over the country and from all major religions. Mostly, the inhabitants of the city comprise Maharashtrians, Gujaratis, Parsis, Konkanis and Sindhis.
The official language is Marathi but due to Mumbai’s cosmopolitan nature, Hindi, Gujarati, English, Kannada and Konkani are also commonly used.
Mumbai weather is moderately hot with high levels of humidity all through the year owing to its coastal setting and tropical location. Mumbai has three distinct seasons – summer from March to mid-June, monsoons from June to October and winter from November to February. Mumbai’s best season is from early December to early March.
Indian Rupee
Language Spoken
Marathi, Hindi and English
Currency used:
Indian rupee
Air – Mumbai is a gateway to India and all major international and domestic airlines have frequent flights into Mumbai. The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Santacruz Domestic Airport are the two airports in Mumbai.
Train – Trains from Central, East and West India arrive into the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Mumbai Central Station receives trains from North India.
Bus – Buses from other states as well as most inter-Maharashtra buses arrive at the Mumbai Central Bus Station.
Mumbai will fill up your senses with every kind of sight, smell and sound. Any Mumbai tourist guide will tell you that the city boasts of several varied sightseeing attractions like the iconic Gateway of India, the stunning Marine Drive, the imposing Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the unique Dhobi Ghat and the ancient Kanheri caves amongst others.
India tourism Mumbai offers an eclectic mix of experiences. Discover the history of Mumbai through heritage walks, indulge in the famous street food, go wildlife sightseeing at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, take a stroll at Marine Drive, enjoy a ferry ride at Gateway of India and pay your respects at the Siddhivinayak Temple or Haji Ali Dargah amongst others.
Is any tourism ever complete without shopping? Mumbai offers diverse shopping experiences from high end shopping at malls like High Street Phoenix and Palladium to getting a steal at street shops at Colaba Causeway, Hill Road and Linking Road. Visit the iconic Chor Bazaar for antique and vintage goods, Zaveri Bazaar for jewellery, and almost anything at the old-style bustling Crawford Market.
Mumbai is a city that never sleeps. Dance the night away at one of the numerous nightclubs, or go pub hopping. You can enjoy the night sea breeze at Marine Drive or Bandstand, or do a midnight cycling tour. Admire the British architecture of Gateway of India and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus which are illuminated beautifully and are a sight to behold at night.
Mumbai tourism offers several tour packages which include a city tour that would take 2 or 3 days visiting famous monuments, popular tourist spots and soaking in all the experiences that Mumbai is known for. Apart from that, Mumbai could be combined along with Lonavala, Elephanta Caves, Matheran, Imagica, Alibaug or Goa which are close-by tourist attractions in slightly longer tour packages.
