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On foot

Walks

11 ways to spend a few hours, each starting at a station and made of places from the guide, in an order you can follow.

9 stops · Three hours

Two centuries in one afternoon

From the Art Deco cinemas to the Georgian town hall, walking backwards through the city's architecture.

Get off at
ChurchgateWestern Line
Best
A weekday afternoon, when the courts and offices are alive

  1. Eros Cinema See

    Start outside the station. This is 1938, the newest thing you will see today.

  2. Oval Maidan Walk

    Cross the green slowly. Art Deco is behind you, Victorian Gothic ahead.

  3. Rajabai Clock Tower See

    Stand under it and wait for the quarter-hour.

  4. Bombay High Court See

    Follow the railings north along the court's long front.

  5. Flora Fountain See

    It stands where the Church Gate of the old Fort wall once was.

  6. St. Thomas Cathedral See

    Step inside for the cool and the memorial tablets.

  7. Horniman Circle Garden Walk

    A bench in the garden, facing the crescent.

  8. Asiatic Society Town Hall See

    Climb the steps and sit at the top. You have reached 1833.

  9. Britannia & Co. Eat

    End with a late lunch in Ballard Estate, if you have kept to time.

6 stops · Two hours

The Queen's Necklace at dusk

The whole curve of Marine Drive, timed so the lamps come on while you are walking it.

Get off at
ChurchgateWestern Line
Best
Start an hour before sunset

  1. Nariman Point Walk

    Begin at the southern tip, with the whole bay laid out to the north.

  2. Marine Drive promenade Walk

    Walk the sea wall with the water on your left. Do not hurry this part.

  3. The Gymkhanas See

    On the landward side, evening cricket on three grounds in a row.

  4. Girgaon Chowpatty Walk

    The promenade ends in sand. Take your shoes off.

  5. Chowpatty food stalls Eat

    Bhel puri first, standing up.

  6. New Kulfi Centre Eat

    Then cross the road for kulfi, and look back at the necklace lit up.

9 stops · Most of a day

Kala Ghoda to the harbour

Museums and galleries in the morning, the Gateway and the Colaba pavements after lunch.

Get off at
CSMTCentral Line
Best
Start when the museum opens

  1. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya See

    Give the museum the morning. The garden alone is worth the ticket.

  2. Jehangir Art Gallery See

    Next door and free. See whatever is on, then the pavement artists.

  3. David Sassoon Library See

    Look into the reading room and find the garden behind.

  4. Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue See

    Two minutes' walk. Have your identification ready.

  5. Kala Ghoda Walk

    Wander the lanes of the art district on your way south.

  6. Gateway of India See

    The harbour opens up in front of you.

  7. Taj Mahal Palace See

    Turn round: the hotel is older than the arch.

  8. Colaba Causeway Shop

    Walk the stalls and bargain for something small.

  9. Leopold Cafe Eat

    Sit down at last, with a cold drink.

7 stops · Three hours

The old market crawl

Fruit, cloth, gold and gods, through the densest square kilometre in the city.

Get off at
CSMTCentral Line
Best
Late morning on any day but Sunday, when many shops are shut

  1. Crawford Market Shop

    Start under the clock tower, among the fruit and the spices.

  2. Mangaldas Market Shop

    Cross the road into the cloth lanes.

  3. Juma Masjid See

    The Friday mosque stands right in the market crowd.

  4. Zaveri Bazaar Shop

    Gold and silver, shop after shop. Keep to the left and keep moving.

  5. Mumbadevi Temple See

    The temple of the goddess the city is named for.

  6. Bhuleshwar market Shop

    Flowers, bangles and brass in the lanes beyond.

  7. Shree Thaker Bhojanalay Eat

    Climb the stairs for a thali. You have earned every refill.

5 stops · Two to three hours

The night kitchens

An evening of eating through Bhendi Bazaar and the lanes below the Minara Masjid.

Get off at
MasjidCentral Line
Best
After dark; in Ramzan it is at its most crowded and its best

  1. Raudat Tahera See

    Begin before sunset at the white marble mausoleum, while it is still light.

  2. Noor Mohammadi Hotel Eat

    Nalli nihari at a shared table. Order less than you think you need.

  3. Shalimar Restaurant Eat

    A short walk for something from the grill, or just a falooda.

  4. Minara Masjid See

    Walk towards the green-lit minarets.

  5. Mohammed Ali Road food lanes Eat

    Finish in the lanes below them: kebabs, then malpua, then phirni.

5 stops · Three hours

Up and over Malabar Hill

From the temple at the foot of the hill to the old tank at its far tip.

Get off at
Charni RoadWestern Line
Best
Early morning or late afternoon; the hill is steep in the midday heat

  1. Babulnath Temple See

    Start at the foot of the hill and take the steps up.

  2. Kamala Nehru Park Walk

    A taxi up the hill, then the view down over Chowpatty and Marine Drive.

  3. Hanging Gardens Walk

    Cross the road to the terraces and the clipped hedges.

  4. Jain Temple, Walkeshwar See

    Downhill along the ridge road to the marble temple.

  5. Banganga Tank See

    A short taxi to Walkeshwar. Sit on the steps of the tank until evening.

9 stops · Half a day

Bandra, from the station to the sea

Up Hill Road past the bakeries and churches, through the old village, and out to the fort.

Get off at
BandraWestern Line
Best
Late afternoon, to reach the fort for sunset

  1. Bandra station See

    Look up at the station building before you leave it.

  2. Bandra Talao Walk

    A turn around the lake to get your bearings.

  3. Hill Road Shop

    Now the long climb, shopping as you go.

  4. Elco Pani Puri Centre Eat

    Stop for pani puri on the way up.

  5. Ranwar village Walk

    Turn into the village lanes: old houses, painted walls and wayside crosses.

  6. St. Andrew's Church See

    Back on Hill Road, where it meets the sea. This is 1575.

  7. Mount Mary Basilica See

    Uphill to the basilica and the wax-offering stalls.

  8. Bandra Fort See

    Down to the fort for the sun going into the sea beside the Sea Link.

  9. Bandstand promenade Walk

    Walk back along the promenade in the dark with everyone else.

6 stops · Two hours

Breakfast in Matunga

Idli, filter coffee, temple bells and jasmine, before the day gets hot.

Get off at
MatungaCentral Line
Best
Seven to ten in the morning

  1. Cafe Madras Eat

    Join the queue. Idli, then rasam vada, then filter coffee.

  2. Matunga market Shop

    Walk it off among the banana leaves and flower sellers.

  3. Asthika Samaj See

    Look in at the temple on Bhandarkar Road.

  4. Cafe Mysore Eat

    A second coffee at King's Circle. You are allowed.

  5. Maheshwari Udyan Walk

    Sit in the round garden while the traffic goes round you.

  6. Five Gardens Walk

    Finish under the old trees of the Parsi Colony.

8 stops · Half a day

Dadar, from flowers to the sea

The flower market at dawn, a Maharashtrian breakfast, then the park and the beach.

Get off at
DadarWestern Line
Best
Start at sunrise; the flower market is over by mid-morning

  1. Dadar flower market Shop

    Be here early, when the marigolds are still coming off the trucks.

  2. Plaza Cinema See

    Pass the old cinema on your way west.

  3. Prakash Shakahari Upahar Kendra Eat

    Breakfast: sabudana vada and a glass of piyush.

  4. Portuguese Church See

    A sixteenth-century parish in a 1970s building.

  5. Shivaji Park Walk

    Walk the edge of the park and count the cricket nets.

  6. Savarkar Smarak See

    The memorial stands across the road.

  7. Chaitya Bhoomi See

    Go on to the sea, and Dr Ambedkar's memorial.

  8. Dadar Chowpatty Walk

    End on the sand, with the Sea Link across the bay.

7 stops · Half a day

Byculla and the Mazgaon hill

A zoo garden, the city's oldest museum, a synagogue and a village the city forgot to knock down.

Get off at
BycullaCentral Line
Best
Morning; the museum and the zoo each have a weekly closing day, so check first

  1. Byculla station See

    Start with the station itself, one of the oldest in the country.

  2. Rani Baug Walk

    Walk under the old trees of the botanical garden.

  3. Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum See

    The museum is inside the same gates. Do not miss the ceiling.

  4. Gloria Church See

    Across the main road, the tall Gothic church.

  5. Magen David Synagogue See

    A sky-blue synagogue a few minutes north.

  6. Matharpacady Walk

    A taxi to Mazgaon, then slow down: this is a village.

  7. Joseph Baptista Gardens Walk

    Climb to the hilltop garden for the docks and the harbour.

6 stops · Three hours

The washing, the horses and the saint

From the open-air laundry to the mosque in the sea. The tide decides the last part.

Get off at
MahalaxmiWestern Line
Best
Morning for the washing; reach the causeway at low tide

Check this week’s tides before you go

  1. Dhobi Ghat See

    Look down from the bridge beside the station before the washing is taken in.

  2. Mahalaxmi Racecourse Walk

    Walk along the rails of the course.

  3. Mahalaxmi Temple See

    On to the temple on the rocks above the sea.

  4. Haji Ali Dargah See

    Out along the causeway, if the tide lets you.

  5. Haji Ali Juice Centre Eat

    Back on land, a fruit cream standing at the counter.

  6. Cafe Noorani Eat

    Or sit down properly, for kebabs.

The times allow for stopping, not for queues. Carry water, start early in the hot months, and in the rains look at the Monsoon Room first. Opening days are not listed here, so check any museum or temple you are counting on. For what to order along the way, see The Plate.