Travel
If you’re flying this far, stay a few extra days. Four trips out of Mumbai are worth
the detour, and the only question that matters is how much time you can give one.
They’re listed below in order of commitment - the first is a long weekend, the last
needs most of a week.
My own ranking, for what it’s worth - and note two entries that don’t have a
chapter of their own: Gokarna/Udupi (the Goa of the 1980s, harder to reach,
covered at the bottom of the Goa page) and Bangalore, which is worth a stop
if your flights route through it anyway.
Notes:
- Goa — 1 h flight, 3–4 days. The easiest add-on: Portuguese-Konkani coast,
beaches, and a cuisine you can’t get anywhere else. Rent a scooter, pick north
(parties) or south (decompressing), and don’t try to do both. - Ajanta & Ellora — 45 min flight or 5 h train, 2–3 days. The shortest
detour with the biggest single sight: rock-cut caves and the Kailasa temple.
Check the closing days before you book anything - Ajanta shuts Mondays,
Ellora Tuesdays. - Hampi — overnight train (or a flight plus a drive), 2–3 days. Harder to
reach, and the one that rewards you most for slowing down: an empire’s ruins
spread across a boulder field. Go if the phrase “lost world” does something to you. - Kerala — 2 h flight, 5+ days. The furthest and the most expensive in
time, and the trip people come back raving about. Backwaters, tea hills and the
best breakfasts in the country. My default recommendation for a first-time
visitor with a week to spare.
Picking one:
- Three spare days and no appetite for logistics: Goa.
- One unforgettable sight, minimum travel: Ajanta & Ellora.
- You’d rather walk ruins than sit on a beach: Hampi.
- A full week, and you want the trip to be the holiday: Kerala.
Booking trains is a chapter of its own - the Hampi page covers IRCTC,
ixigo and which sleeper class to pick, and that advice applies to any of these.