Mumbai - Getting Around & What to Actually Do

Getting Around

  • Local trains are the city’s bloodstream and an experience in themselves. Rules of engagement: buy a ticket (or the UTS app), travel outside rush hours (avoid 8–11 am toward south, 5–9 pm toward north), and consider First Class (still cheap, ~4× the second-class fare, noticeably less compressed). Women: the ladies compartments are a calm parallel universe and locals will actively wave you into the right door. Doors stay open!! stand back from them and enjoy the breeze like everyone else.
  • m-Indicator (app) is the local-train oracle - platforms, timings, everything.
  • Metro: the newer underground Line 3 (Aqua Line) finally connects South Mumbai upward - clean, cold, efficient. Good for Colaba↔Bandra-ish hops without traffic roulette.
  • Kaali-peeli taxis (black-and-yellow Fiats): metered, charming, no AC. Some might try to negotiate a price with you, usually standing firm on wanting a meter works.
  • Uber/Ola: work everywhere; Uber also offers autos (rickshaws) north of Bandra. Note: autos don’t operate in South Mumbai (south of Bandra/Sion) so it’s taxis or metro there.
  • Ferries: the Gateway of India jetty runs boats to Elephanta and (RoRo car ferry) to Alibaug/Mandwa. Being on the water is the best way to grasp the city’s geography.

Crossing the street

South Mumbai tends to be walkable, but in general crossing the street can be an experience in India. The main thing, don’t panic and don’t go backwards - The traffic expects you to move forward to the other side and they will route around you. Just confidently walk through the gaps, stick your hand out to indicate them to stop if you want. It feels wrong for like a day or two, but it sort of works. Just don’t panic and run!

The Classics (do them, but strategically)

  • Gateway of India: go at 7 am. You’ll share it with pigeons and joggers instead of ten thousand selfie sticks.
  • CSMT station (Victoria Terminus): admire from outside, then actually go inside - it’s a working station and UNESCO site at once.
  • Marine Drive: sunset with the crowd, or 6 am with the walkers. Don’t bother going there in the middle of the day when its hot.
  • Dhobi Ghat, Hanging Gardens etc.: They’re all nice, but don’t plan a full day around just this.
  • CSMVS Museum (Prince of Wales Museum): genuinely world-class, great AC break, 2 hours well spent.
  • Dharavi/Slum tours: I personally avoid them since I don’t want to fetishize the life of people who live in different conditions than me. But tours can be a good source of income for the locals if done right, if you do decide to partake - please do so with the respect of going into someones home and realize that they live nuanced and full lives that can’t be captured in film or books. There are tours that reframe Dharavi from “slum” to what it is: a hyper-productive recycling-, leather- and pottery-economy. Skip any operator that markets it as poverty sightseeing.

Off the Beaten Path — the good stuff

  • Banganga Tank (Walkeshwar): an ancient temple tank hidden inside Malabar Hill’s high-rise forest. Ghats, ducks, temple bells, almost no tourists.
  • Khotachiwadi (Girgaon): a tiny heritage village of pastel Portuguese-era wooden houses swallowed by the city. Ten minutes of lanes, a century of atmosphere. People live here, so please be respectful of that.
  • Sassoon Docks (Colaba) at dawn: the fish market in full swing at 5:30–7 am is one of the great Mumbai spectacles - Koli women, mountains of ice, permanent street-art installations on the warehouse walls. Intense smells, incredible photos. Go early or don’t go.
  • Worli Koliwada: the original fishing village that predates the city, at the foot of the Sea Link. Walk out to Worli Fort for the best free view of the bridge. This is Mumbai’s oldest community.
  • Dadar Phool Galli (flower market), sunrise: wholesale flower market under the Dadar station bridge. Marigolds by the tonne. Pairs perfectly with breakfast in Matunga (see food section).
  • Global Vipassana Pagoda (Gorai): a golden pagoda with one of the world’s largest unsupported stone domes, reached by a short ferry from Gorai jetty. The ferry + pagoda + Gorai beach makes an oddly serene half-day far from any tourist trail.
  • Chor Bazaar & Bhuleshwar: the “thieves’ market” — antiques, Bollywood posters, gramophones, car parts, and everything between. Bargain with a smile, expect to pay a third to half of the opening price, and treat it as theater. Nearby Bhuleshwar’s temple lanes and the Madhav Baug area are old Mumbai at full density.
  • Kala Ghoda beyond the cafés: duck into the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue (sky-blue, beautifully restored), gallery-hop (Jehangir, Chemould, Project 88).

Food & Drink

Disclaimer I’m vegetarian so my food preferences might vary from yours

Mumbai has a phenomenal food scene! Its a paradise for vegetarians, if you were ever curious - India is THE country to be vegetarian in. Veganism isn’t as visible from the outside, but most establishments can cook without animal products and offer dishes even if they are grouped under vegetarian (South Indian food is very often vegan if you ask them to leave the Ghee out). India also has more unique food traditions such as Jain food (a strict lacto-vegetarian diet based on the principle of ahimsa (non-violence). It completely excludes meat, fish, eggs, honey, and root vegetables like potatoes, onions, and garlic because harvesting them harms the plant and soil microorganisms).

At a high level, every state in India has its own language, culture and cuisine. As a metropolitan city, you’ll find all of it represented in Mumbai. I’ll abstract and focus on a few here that I associate with and elaborate below:

  • South Indian
  • North Indian
  • Street food
  • Indo-Chinese food
  • Irani cafes

Indian food can be easy to navigate if you learn a few words. DIshes tend to be called quite literally by whats in them.
E.g: Aloo == Potato, Gobi == Cauliflower. A dish with predominantly potato and cauliflower is called Aloo Gobi.

South Indian

Largely represented by rice based dishes and a vast number scrumptious breakfast dishes, each state in the south has its own unique style but you can look for generic “Udupi” restaurants that sell a generic version of it in Mumbai. While I call them breakfast dishes, you can eat them whenever you feel like!

Dishes to try:

  • Idli: Steamed batter made of rice and lentils, eaten with a coconut chutney. This delicious dish is also your best bet if you have a sick tummy or want an easy meal. The steamed nature of it means its usually safe to eat without worry of falling sick!
  • Dosa: Often referred to as a savoury crepe, you get a potato filling and a lentil stew called sambar with it. Probably in the top 3 dishes that I miss the most living abroad (You can find it in many countries now, but I’m from Bangalore and I crave a very particular style of Dosa)!

The menu for south indian breakfasts can be massive, just follow your taste buds. You can easily eat just south indian for a full week and not explore the entirety of the menu.

North Indian

Largely represented by curries and bread-like items, although each state has its own unique take on the mix. More often eaten for lunch or dinner, expect to share the meal - it isn’t too common to order for yourself, instead the table orders together and shares.

Dishes to try:

  • Paneer butter masala + Kulcha: Its paneer cooked in a tomato cashew gravy and a ton of butter, calories galore but it tastes amazing! Kulcha is a different style of bread from naan, try it out!
  • Chole Bature: Its puffed dough with a chickpea curry. My friends and I celebrate a made up holiday every year to eat it(https://cholebature.day/).
  • Biryani: Rice cooked with a ton of spices (People from Hyderabad, don’t hate me for putting biryani as a north indian dish). Try the various variants, they all taste uniquely different and are usually spicy!

Street food (choose a good place and don’t fear!)

  • Choose a sit down and nice looking restaurant and order street food from there, skip the street stalls if you aren’t sure of the quality or gotten an explicit recommendation!

Dishes to try:

  • Vada pav (Indian burger with a potato patty) is the city’s soul, you shouldn’t leave mumbai before trying one
  • Pav bhaji is a mixed vegetable strew with bread as a side, its a Portugese-Indian fusion dish that I absolutely love (Pav from portugest Pao)!
  • Bhel puri / sev puri, puffed rice flakes mixed with spices and sauces
  • Pani puri: puffed balls filled with sauces and potato, eat it as a whole and expect an explosion of flavor in your mouth once you bite in

Note: Don’t trust your instagram reel to show you how street food is made, I lived off of this stuff as a teenager and turned out (mostly) fine. Choose a good spot and sit back and enjoy it.

Indo-Chinese food

Probably my favorite cuisine of all time! It started off with Chinese immigrants to Bengal, India in the 1800s. Its a fusion of the cuisines and tastes nothing like either. Parts of the cuisine were even invented in Mumbai as late as the 1960s.

Dishes to try:

  • Gobi Manchurian: fried Cauliflower in a chilli tomato gravy, crunchy and perfect as a side dish with some noodles or rice.
  • Chilli Garlic Fried Rice: need i say more?

Irani cafés

Created by zoroastrian irani immigrants in the 19th century, they became a mainstay in Mumbai! There aren’t many of them left in Mumbai, so I’ll just list the places for ease.

  • Kyani & Co. (Marine Lines): 120 years old, bun maska + chai under slow fans.
  • Britannia & Co. (Ballard Estate): Parsi institution - vegetarians get the veg berry pulao; the sali boti is for your omnivore friends.
  • Yazdani Bakery (Fort)

Water: don’t drink tap water; brushing teeth with it is fine. Restaurants will ask “regular or mineral?” - “regular” is filtered water and fine in proper restaurants; say “Bisleri” (bottled) if you want the sealed option. Many hotels have filtered refill stations - bring a bottle with you.

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