Plan Your Trip to Mumbai
The practical side of a Mumbai trip, in one place. These guides are written by people who live here and updated when things change, from the new airport to the app you now need for train tickets.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Before you go
When to come, what things cost, and the local habits worth knowing.
When to Visit Mumbai: Weather, Monsoon and the Festival Calendar
Mumbai has three seasons (pleasant, hot and wet) and a festival calendar that can make or break a trip. Here's what each month is like and when the city is at its best.
Money, Costs and Tipping in Mumbai
What things cost, how to pay, how much to tip and where to haggle: the practical money questions every visitor asks in the first hour.
Mumbai on a Budget: What Things Cost in 2026 and How to Save
Real prices for a budget trip to Mumbai in 2026: hostels and hotels, street food and thalis, trains, metro and taxis, sample daily budgets from ₹1,500, and whether ₹15,000 is enough for three days.
Mumbai Etiquette and Safety: What First-Time Visitors Should Know
Mumbai is one of India's safest big cities and one of its most relaxed, but it has its own rules: for temples, trains, photographs and the monsoon. The essentials, in one place.
Getting here and getting around
Two airports, where to stay, the local trains, the metro, taxis, autos and ferries.
Arriving in Mumbai (2026): Airports, Terminals, SIM Cards and Getting Into the City
Terminal 1 closes on 25 October 2026, and Mumbai now has two airports. What to do before you land, how to get a SIM, and the best way into the city from BOM, Navi Mumbai and the main railway stations.
A Layover in Mumbai: Visas, Transit Hotels and What to Do in 4, 8 or 12 Hours
Changing planes in Mumbai? Whether you need a visa or the e-Arrival card, how long you need to leave the airport, what you can see with eight or twelve hours, the transit hotel and lounges, and connections to Navi Mumbai airport.
Where to Stay in Mumbai: Choosing an Area (2026)
Colaba, the Fort, Bandra, Juhu, BKC or near the airport? How to choose a base in Mumbai, what rooms roughly cost, and the check-in rules on ID, couples and foreign guests that catch visitors out.
Getting Around Mumbai: Local Trains, Metro, Taxis and Autos
Mumbai is long and thin, and the way you move through it decides your day. How the local trains, the metro, both airports, black-and-yellow taxis, auto-rickshaws and ride apps work in 2026, and which to use when.
Neighbourhood guides
Mumbai one area at a time, each with a walking route, where to eat and when to go.
Fort and Kala Ghoda: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
Mumbai's UNESCO-listed Victorian and Art Deco heart: a walking route from CSMT to the Oval Maidan, the museum, galleries and synagogue of Kala Ghoda, where to eat and the best time to go.
Colaba: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
The Gateway of India, the Taj, the Causeway market, Sassoon Docks at dawn and the Afghan Church: a walking route through Colaba, with where to eat, how to shop and what to watch out for.
Marine Drive: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
The Queen’s Necklace from Nariman Point to Chowpatty: the UNESCO-listed Art Deco front row, Eros and Wankhede, sunset on the sea wall, what to know about nights and monsoon tides, and where to eat around Churchgate.
Girgaon: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
The old Marathi heart of the island city: the restored Royal Opera House, the wooden houses of Khotachiwadi, the chawl where public Ganeshotsav began, Babulnath, and sunset with bhel at Girgaon Chowpatty.
Mahalaxmi, Mumbai: A Neighbourhood Guide
A morning walk from breakfast at Saat Rasta past Dhobi Ghat and the racecourse to Haji Ali and the Mahalaxmi Temple, with tide and Navratri tips and where to eat, from a 1950 eating house to Masque.
Worli: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
From Haji Ali along the new Coastal Road promenade and Worli Sea Face to the Koli fishing village and its 1675 fort, with sunset over the Sea Link and where to eat.
Lower Parel: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
Mumbai’s old mill district, now its densest run of restaurants and bars: the story of Girangaon, Phoenix and Kamala Mills, the Lalbaug spice market, and where to eat and drink.
Dadar and Shivaji Park: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
The middle of Mumbai and the centre of its Marathi life: the flower market at dawn, a century-old breakfast house, Ranade Road, cricket on Shivaji Park, Chaitya Bhoomi and sunset on the seafront.
Matunga: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
Mumbai's South Indian quarter, one breakfast at a time: a morning trail through Ram Ashraya, Cafe Madras and the old Udupi rooms, filter coffee from Mysore Concerns, the Asthika Samaj temple and a banana-leaf thali.
Sion, Mumbai: A Neighbourhood Guide
Where the island city ends: climb the 1670s Sion Fort for the view, eat a samosa at Gurukripa, then head to Sion Koliwada, the Punjabi neighbourhood where prawns koliwada was invented.
Chembur, Mumbai: A Sindhi Breakfast Guide
Chembur is where Sindhi refugees settled after Partition, and their sweet shops and snack counters still serve the best Sindhi breakfast in Mumbai: dal pakwan, chole pattice and dal moong, plus where to eat later in the day.
Bandra: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
The Queen of the Suburbs on foot: Hill Road, the murals and village lanes of Ranwar, St Andrew's Church, Mount Mary, Bandstand and sunset at Bandra Fort, with where to eat and when to come.
Khar, Mumbai: A Neighbourhood Guide
Bandra's quieter neighbour: a walk from Khar Road station past the Ramakrishna Mission and Union Park to the Koli fishing village of Khar Danda and Carter Road at sunset, then where to eat and drink.
BKC, Mumbai: A Guide to Bandra Kurla Complex
How to make the most of Mumbai's business district: free public art and shows at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, the best restaurants, events at Jio World Centre, the US Consulate rules, and getting around a district not built for walking.
Juhu: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
An honest guide to Juhu: what the beach is and is not, an evening from Prithvi Theatre and the ISKCON temple to the Chowpatty food stalls, where to eat, and where to go if you want a cleaner beach.
Vile Parle, Mumbai: A Neighbourhood Guide
The suburb that named Parle-G: Marathi theatre and Malvani seafood on the east side, the college streets of the west (and what happened to the Mithibai khau galli), and where to eat near the airport.
Andheri, Mumbai: A Neighbourhood Guide
Andheri beyond the airport: the 1,500-year-old Mahakali Caves by metro, the basalt column of Gilbert Hill, sunset at Versova beach and its fishing village, and where to eat in Lokhandwala and near the airport.
Malad, Mumbai: Aksa, Marve and the Madh Coast
Malad's coast: the Marve to Manori ferry, sunset at Aksa Beach, Madh and its Portuguese fort, and the ferry back to Versova, with the safety rule that matters most here and where to eat in Malad.
Powai: A Neighbourhood Guide (2026)
An evening by Powai Lake and in Hiranandani Gardens, honest notes on the promenade and the crocodiles, what to do with a few free hours near IIT, and where to eat.
Day trips
Caves, forts, hill stations and the coast, within two or three hours of the city.
Day Trips from Mumbai (2026): Caves, Forts, Hill Stations and the Coast
Seven day trips from Mumbai that really work: Elephanta, Kanheri, Vasai Fort, Alibaug, Lonavala and the Karla Caves, Matheran and Karnala, with trains, ferries, fees, closing days and the best season for each.
Lonavala from Mumbai: Karla Caves, Forts, Monsoon Rules and Chikki
A day or a night in Lonavala: getting there by train or the Expressway's new missing link, the 2,000-year-old Karla and Bhaja caves, Lohagad and Rajmachi forts, the viewpoints and Bhushi Dam, monsoon rules, and where the chikki comes from.
Alibaug from Mumbai (2026): Ferries, Beaches, Forts and Konkani Food
Mumbai's weekend coast: the Gateway catamarans and the Ro-Ro, the beaches from Kihim to Nagaon, walking to Kolaba Fort at low tide, Kanakeshwar, Korlai, Murud-Janjira, Konkani seafood and Alibag white onions.
Matheran from Mumbai (2026): Toy Train, Viewpoints and How to Get There
Mumbai's car-free hill station: the train to Neral, the taxi to Dasturi, the toy train and its monsoon break, e-rickshaws after the 2025 ban on hand-pulled rickshaws, the best viewpoints and practical tips.
Festivals coming up
The big dates in the weeks ahead, with what to expect and where to go.
Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra in Mumbai 2026: dates, where to go and what to expect
Nine nights of garba from 11 October, more than 30 Durga Puja pandals from the 16th, and Dussehra on the 20th. What happens where, what it costs, what to wear and when the music has to stop.
Diwali in Mumbai (2026): Dates, Where to See the Lights and What to Expect
Diwali 2026 in Mumbai: the dates (Laxmi Pujan is Sunday 8 November), the Shivaji Park lights, Mahim's lantern lane, Dharavi's potters, where to buy faral, and this year's new firecracker rules.
Christmas in Mumbai (2026): Bandra's Lights, Midnight Mass and Plum Cake
Where to see Christmas in Mumbai: the lit-up lanes of Ranwar and Hill Road in Bandra, midnight Mass at Mount Mary and the city's oldest churches, kuswar and plum cake from century-old bakeries, and what is open on the 25th.
New Year's Eve in Mumbai (2026): Where to Go and How to Get Home
How Mumbai welcomes the new year: the crowds on Marine Drive and at the Gateway, the train horns at CSMT, parties and bar hours, the special trains and all-night metro, and the safety rules for the night.
Plan your days
- Itineraries: Ready-made half-day, one-day and two-day plans.
- What's on: Concerts, theatre, festivals and markets in the next two weeks.
- Mumbai at night: Bars, clubs, karaoke and live music, food after 1:30 AM, and getting home.
- Things to do: Landmarks, museums, beaches and markets, with hours, fees and the nearest station.
- 100 things to do: The best of the city on one list, from the big sights to where locals go.
- Free things to do: Places that cost nothing, and a few that cost very little.
- Hidden gems: Places most visitors miss, and Bollywood beyond the tour bus.
- Travelling solo: Safety, advice for women, eating out alone and meeting people.
- Mumbai with kids: Penguins, toy trains, rainy-day ideas and getting around with children.
- Shopping: Street markets, old bazaars, saris, bargaining and what to take home.
- Wedding shopping: Bridal saris, lehengas, sherwanis, jewellery and rentals.
- Where to eat: Restaurants rated on food, service, ambience and value.
- Near me: Restaurants and places close to where you are standing.