Where the Western Line begins and the office crowd spills out.
The southern end of the Western Line. Step out and you are between two centuries: Victorian Gothic towers on one side of the Oval Maidan, a curved row of Art Deco apartments on the other. The sea is a five-minute walk west.
The guide
11 places worth getting off the train for. See the whole guide
Walk
A long green where a dozen cricket matches overlap on any weekend. Gothic towers line one side, Art Deco apartments the other.
Short walk from the stationMap for Oval Maidan (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
The 85-metre tower of the University of Mumbai, finished in 1878. You cannot go up, but it is best seen across the Oval anyway.
Short walk from the stationMap for Rajabai Clock Tower (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
A Gothic Revival courthouse from 1878 that still sits every working day. Take it in from the Oval side.
Short walk from the stationMap for Bombay High Court (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
A 1938 Art Deco picture house on the corner right outside the station. Its stepped tower is one of the most photographed in the city.
Short walk from the stationMap for Eros Cinema (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Eat
An ice-cream counter from the 1950s that serves a slab of ice cream between two wafers. Order, eat on the pavement, repeat.
On the plate: Ice-cream sandwich
Short walk from the stationMap for K. Rustom & Co. (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
The Cricket Club of India's ground, opened in 1937. It hosted Mumbai's Test matches until Wankhede was built half a kilometre up the road in 1974.
Short walk from the stationMap for Brabourne Stadium (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Walk
The northern green of the old Esplanade, named for the stone cross at its edge. Quieter than the Oval, and a shortcut most office-goers know.
Short walk from the stationMap for Cross Maidan (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Eat
An Irani café beside the station that has fed commuters for generations. Kheema pav, bun maska and chai, at tables you may have to share.
On the plate: Bun maska and chai, Kheema pav
Short walk from the stationMap for Stadium Restaurant (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Eat
A restaurant and bakery on Veer Nariman Road since 1956. The pavement tables are where the street's evening is watched from.
Short walk from the stationMap for Gaylord (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Walk
The business district on reclaimed land at the southern tip of Marine Drive. Walk to the very end and look back along the whole curve of the bay.
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Nariman Point (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
Five theatres at the tip of Nariman Point, home to the Symphony Orchestra of India. Music, dance and plays most evenings of the year.
Short taxi ride from the stationMap for National Centre for the Performing Arts (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Something missing or wrong around Churchgate? Tell us
On foot
9 stops · Three hours
From the Art Deco cinemas to the Georgian town hall, walking backwards through the city's architecture.
6 stops · Two hours
The whole curve of Marine Drive, timed so the lamps come on while you are walking it.
Then and now
1890sBombay University Garden · Photo by Photoglob Co., Library of Congress, Public domain
TodayOval Maidan · Photo by Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Rajabai Clock Tower was only a couple of decades old when this was taken. The tower, the lawns and the palms are all still there; the cricket has moved in.
From the people who were there
Nobody has sent one from here yet.
