Mumbai Tours & Experiences

Things to do in Mumbai

Eat your way round the street stalls

Our Mumbai street food tour spends a few hours moving between busy stalls with a local guide, for vada pav, pav bhaji and bhelpuri, and most of what you taste is vegetarian; tell us about allergies or Jain needs before you go. In Ramadan it can be timed for the evening stalls of Mohammed Ali Road. Seafood lovers should look out for bombil fry, crisp Bombay duck from the Koli fishing tradition.

Take the ferry to Elephanta

Boats for Elephanta Island leave from the Gateway of India and take about an hour. Climb the steps to the caves, or take the toy train if you would rather not walk, to see the Mahesamurti, Shiva's three faces carved in caves that the Archaeological Survey of India dates to around the 6th and 7th centuries. Go on any day but Monday, when the caves are shut; shorter boat rides round the harbour also leave from the Gateway.

Walk the Fort and Kala Ghoda

From the Gateway, walk through Kala Ghoda to the Oval Maidan, the centre of a World Heritage Site of 94 buildings: Gothic Revival courts and university halls on its east side, Art Deco blocks on the land reclaimed for Marine Drive on its west. Finish at the turrets of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, still a working station, or spend the afternoon in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, which has an audio guide and opens seven days a week.

Watch the sunset on Marine Drive

At dusk, the promenade of Marine Drive fills with families watching the sun go down over the Arabian Sea; follow it north to Girgaon Chowpatty and its beach stalls for bhel puri.

Ganeshotsav and Dahi Handi

Mumbai's biggest festival, Ganeshotsav, comes in August or September: families and communities install Ganesh idols in homes and pandals for a day and a half, five to seven days or eleven, then carry them to the sea. With our Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai experience, a private guide plans visits to famous and neighbourhood pandals around the queues and, on immersion day, finds you a place to watch while the driver works around the closed roads. Also in August or September, at Janmashtami, Govinda teams build human pyramids to break the Dahi Handi pots.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Kanheri

In the northern suburbs, Sanjay Gandhi National Park keeps about 103 sq km of forest, roughly a fifth of the city's area. Hire a cycle at the gate, visit the butterfly garden at the Nature Information Centre, walk one of the park's trails and climb to the Kanheri Caves, a Buddhist complex cut into the rock. Our Mumbai guide covers the city's sights in more depth.

Choosing between our tours and experiences

The street food tour is a walk of a few hours that runs all year, from a meeting point confirmed when you book, usually in South Mumbai; it suits vegetarians and anyone curious about the city's snacks, and pairs easily with Marine Drive or the Gateway the same day. Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai happens once a year and is best given two full days or more, one for the pandals and one for the immersion; it suits travellers who enjoy dense, cheerful crowds and are not on a tight schedule. The tour is also listed on our Mumbai tour packages page and the festival among our festivals in Mumbai.

When to go for these

For walking the city, aim for late October to February. Maharashtra Tourism advises against March to May for the heat and humidity, and IMD's normal dates for the city's monsoon, 11 June to 8 October, cover the months that bring nearly all of its rain. That wet season is when Ganeshotsav falls and when Maharashtra Tourism points nature lovers to the greenery; the Elephanta crossing can be rough then, and heavy rain can cut short an outdoor food walk.