Best Places to Visit in Mumbai

Visit in Mumbai

visit places in mumbai

Mumbai is capital of Maharashtra, is India’s largest and most populous city, as well as its commercial and financial capital. It is also home to the world’s largest cinema industry, popularly known as Bollywood.

Mumbai’s population includes Hindus, a sizeable number of Muslims and Christians, as well as Jews, Parsis and other communities from different parts of India, drawn by its vibrant entrepreneurial culture and, often by dreams of making it big in films.

The city presents extraordinary and sometimes shocking contrasts – the glamorous world of film stars and business tycoons exists side by side with the squalor of slums and shantytowns, where over five million people (more than one- third of Mumbai’s population) live.

While Mumbai is remarkably cosmopolitan, it has on occasion experienced sectarian strife since the rise of the militant Hindu rightwing Shiv Sena Party.

Strawberry fields and grape vineyards dot its rich agricultural hinter land, but the most prized crop remains the Alphonso mango, a particularly sweet and luscious variety, which is exported across the world.

Central Maharashtra has two World Heri tage sites to its credit, at Ajanta and Ellora.

Mumbai

Mumbai is a long, narrow promontory covering 603 sq km (233 sq miles), which juts into the Arabian Sea. Its downtown is the historic Fort area; located in South Mumbai, it derives its name from earlier colonial fortifications.

This is the city’s nerve centre, with the best known sights, hotels and restaurants.

Places to Visit in Mumbai

Gateway of India

This is the heart of Mumbai’s tourist district, the city’s most popular gathering place, and is always teeming with with locals, visitors, vendors and boatmen.

The Gateway commands a spectacular view of the sea and looks particularly impressive at night, when it is illuminated, with the inky black sea stretching into the horizon beyond it.

Boats and barges moored here provide regular services across the bay and to islands such as Elephanta. They can also be hired for leisurely trips down the Mumbai coastline.

Mumbai’s most famous landmark, the Gateway of India, was the first sight to greet travellers to Indian shores during the heyday of the British Raj. Ironically, it also became the exit point for British troops after India gained independence in 1947. It was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911, en route to the Delhi Durbar, but in fact, the King and Queen were met with a mock cardboard structure – the actual Triumphal Arch, built in honey-coloured Kharodi basalt, was completed only in 1924, years after the royal visit. Later, it became the ceremonial entrance to India for viceroys and new governors of the city.

This 26-m (85-ft) high monument, with two large reception halls, arches and minarets, and embellishments inspired by 16th-century Gujarati architecture, was designed by the Scottish architect George Wittet in Indo-Saracenic style.

Visit in Mumbai 2021

Marine Drive

An inexpensive evening destination for the city’s residents, it remains lively till late at night. It is also the venue for Mumbai’s largest festival, Ganesha Chaturthi, when huge crowds gather at Chowpatty Beach to immerse idols of Ganesha, the elephant- headed god, in the Arabian Sea. The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), at the southern tip of Marine Drive, is the city’s most active venue for music, dance and theatre performances.

The best way to enjoy Marine Drive during the day is from the upper floor of a red double- decker bus, which provides panoramic views of the sea and the city’s skyline.

In the evening, the area swarms with people taking their daily walks, couples meeting after work and families gathering around the vendors selling coconut water and bhelpuri.

Chowpatty Beach is the city’s most popular promenade and the southern most of Mumbai’s beaches. Earlier cluttered with food stalls and hawkers, the area has now been substantially cleaned up in a drive by the civic authorities.

The buildings of Marine Drive are characterized by a strong Art Deco flavour, popular in Mumbai during the 1930s and 1940s. With the advent of electric elevators, and with concrete replacing the earlier stone and brick, the apartment blocks on the seafront were built to a uniform height of five floors, making this the most fashionable residential area of the time.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

In 2004, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Now the headquarters of the Central Railway, over 1,000 trains and three million passengers, including crowds of suburban commuters, pass through the station daily.

Designed by Frederick William Stevens and decorated by local art students and craftsmen, it was completed in 1888 and named to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

famous places in mumbai to visit in mumbai

Wellington Fountain

Built to commemorate the Duke of Wellington’s visit to Bombay in 1801, Wellington Fountain (now renamed Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk) is encircled by magnificent colonial buildings.

These include the old Majestic Hotel (now the government owned Sahakari Bhandar) with its mock minarets and Gujarati balconies, and the Art Deco Regal Cinema, designed by Charles Stevens and completed in 1933.

His father, Frederick William Stevens, designed the imposing grey stone Indo-Gothic Royal Alfred Sailors’ Home, with a bas-relief of Neptune on its front gable, in 1876; it is now the Maharashtra State Police Headquarters.

Colaba Causeway

Constructed by the British in 1838, Colaba Causeway helped integrate the main city with Colaba, its southernmost spur.

Today, the posh Causeway, also known as Shahid Bhagat Singh Road is an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants and residential enclaves. Among them is the charming Parsi housing colony of Cusrow Baug, built in 1934, where the distinct culture and lifestyle of this dwindling community is preserved. The Causeway’s many restaurants include one that has become an institution, the Leopold Café and Bar,established in 1871, and a popular meeting place ever since. Further south are the Sassoon Docks, worth visiting early in the morning when they are buzzing with activity.

This grand Neo-Gothic structure, with a 60-m (197-ft) bell tower and imposing front porch in buff basalt stone, was built in memory of the soldiers who died in the First Anglo- Afghan War (1839–42), and the church is full of memorial stones. It has superb stained glass, especially on its windows, where an outstanding panel depicts the Crucifixion.

A tribute to the martyrs stands in the garden.

interesting places to visit in mumbai

Malabar Hill

This, they believe, is one of the most environmentally friendly ways of disposing of the dead. A fall in Mumbai’s vulture population, however, remains a cause of worry. A high wall and a thick belt of trees surround the Towers, which are closed to visitors.

Bounded by Napean Sea Rd, Ridge Rd & Walkeshwar Rd. This posh residential area, once dotted with bungalows set in large, forested compounds, is today crowded with high-rise apartment blocks, home to Mumbai’s rich and famous.

The Parsi Towers of Silence are also located in this area.

Bandra

One of the most famous place in mumbai.The Bandra-Worli Sea Link, officially known as Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, connects Bandra in the western suburbs with Worli in southern Mumbai. It has greatly reduced the traffic and travel time within the city.

The prosperous locality of Bandra, also known as the queen of the suburbs, in the north of Mumbai, is connected to the city by the Mahim Causeway. Amidst its modern apartment blocks, swanky boutiques and restaurants, are vestiges of its past as a small Portuguese enclave.

Bandra’s plush Pali Hill locality, which has the villas of several Bollywood stars, draws crowds of star-struck Indian tourists. Its other attractions are the sea- front promenades at Bandstand and Carter Road, popular with the local youth. Also situated here is a small Koli fishing village. A Portuguese fort, Castella de Aguada, also known as Bandra Fort, is a watchtower on a hill. It offers spectacular views of the sea and the hinterland. A number of Roman Catholic churches were built by the Portuguese, who retained Bandra until the late 18th century.

Also Read : 14 TOP Best places to visit in gujarat

Juhu beach

juhu is one of the famous Place in mumbai.Juhu has several luxury hotels that serve as weekend retreats for Mumbai’s tycoons and Bollywood film stars. On weekends, especially, it is packed with families of picnickers playing cricket on the beach, paddling tentatively in the water and enjoying the sea breeze. Vendors offering snacks, toys and fairground rides add to the mela (fair) atmosphere.

The Prithvi Theatre, on Juhu Church Road, was founded in 1978 by one of Bollywood’s leading families, the Kapoors.

It stages plays in Hindi, Gujarati and English, and has a lively café, popular with Mumbai’s arty crowd. A theatre festival is held in November.

popular places to visit in mumbai

Film City

Bollywood produces some 800 feature films a year, making it the world’s largest film industry, rivalled only by South India’s Telugu and Tamil equivalents.

Built in 1978 by the state government to meet the needs of Mumbai’s booming Hindi film industry, better known as Bollywood ,Film City sprawls over 140 ha (346 acres) in the city’s northern outskirts.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

In a picturesque wooded area of the park is an extraordinary complex of 109 Buddhist caves, the Kanheri Caves, dating from the 1st to the 9th centuries AD. Surrounded by rolling hills, its deciduous forests harbour a wealth of flora and fauna. Tiger and lion safaris are offered in fenced- off sections of the park.

The 6th-century Cave 3 is the most impressive, with its colossal Buddhas, richly carved pillars and brackets and hemispherical stupa.

The caves, which are best approached through the Park’s northern entrance, have been chiselled out of basaltic rock and demonstrate the influence of Buddhist art and culture in India.

An hour’s train ride north of Mumbai, this national park is one of the few in India within a metropolis and a popular tourist spot.

Elephanta Island

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Elephanta cave temples can be visited via an hour-long ferry ride from Mumbai.

Located on an island off Mumbai’s eastern shore, the 6th-century AD Elephanta cave temples, chiselled into a rocky cliff and dedicated to Shiva, contain some great masterpieces of Indian sculpture. Originally called Gharapuri, or “Island of Caves”, the island was renamed Elephanta by the Portuguese after a huge stone elephant that once stood here.

This is now in the garden of the Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai’s Byculla area.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya is renowned for its superb sculptures and miniature paintings.

Housed in a grand Indo-Saracenic building designed by George Wittet, its foundation stone was laid by the Prince of Wales (the future George V) in 1905.

Generous gifts from discerning private collectors have enabled the museum to build a rare collection of over 60,000 art objects.

EsselWorld, Mumbai

Roller coasters, kid-friendly rides, challenges, and a cheerful playground make EsselWorld the complete package.

A wide array of vibrant and exciting rides await at this famous amusement park, to give you the adrenaline rush you want while shooting up in the air or plunging into cold water.

Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg

Fort Area This busy street, also known as Colaba Causeway towards its upmarket southern end, is the bustling commercial and administrative hub of the so called Fort area.

Virtually no traces of this historic structure remain, but the area still offers a fascinating glimpse into the continuities between colonial and present day Mumbai.

There are attractive castiron grilles in the window panels. The modern high-rise offices of the Reserve Bank, across the road, stand in the grounds of the old Mint.

This is a majestic Classical-fronted building, designed and built in 1827 by Major John Hawkins, a member of the Bombay Engineers’ Regiment.

visit places in mumbai