Mumbai Travel Guide
Travel guide to Mumbai, India with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Mumbai sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.
Mumbai Overview
Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the most populated city in India, with some 13 million people. It can be found on the west coast of India and is actually on an island called Salsette. With it's good location it has become one of India's main ports, handling over half of the country's passenger traffic.
Being such a busy port it is no surprise to find that Mumbai is also the economic capital of India, with the stock exchange and all the major corporations situated here. A major industry here is film making, with the area known as Bollywood for its status as second only to Hollywood in the United States for the number of films produced. Over 300 are made here every year, tending to be best suited to the Indian market but having had mainstream success in the last few years, they have generated vast sums of money and made megastars out of the actors.
The city has a vibrant nightlife with many clubs and discos around that are open until the early hours and there are literally hundreds of restaurants serving wonderful local cuisine.
Around the city itself there is a wonderful diversity of attractions, from cultural icons and museums to local markets, each combining to give the city its unique personality.
Top Mumbai Attractions
Amongst the many museums, galleries and temples that proliferate here, some of the most popular places to visit are the Ghandi Museum, the Marine Drive, known as the Queens Necklace for its beautifully lit walkway and the not to be missed Gateway to India, a monument built in 1911 to welcome the visiting King George V.
Shopping in Mumbai
Mumbai is a fantastical mix of the exquisite and the avoidable. There are some beautiful shopping areas offering the best fashions available anywhere, in modern stores that are a pleasure to shop in. The many markets also offer some lovely goods and a pleasurable shopping experience. However the other side of commerce here is the proliferation of copies, sometimes sold as the genuine article by unscrupulous traders. Take the time to look around and get a feel for who is selling something, and walk away if it isn't right.
Mumbai Sporting Events
Cricket is the preferred sport here as in the rest of the Indian sub-continent. Played by everyone, from street games all the way through to International Test Matches, the sport is enormous here. Football is played too, but not to the same level as cricket. There are many sports clubs around the city where all manner of sports and games can be enjoyed, with the court games of badminton and squash being some of the most popular.