Bandra-Worli Sea Link

Slung low across the mouth of Mahim Bay, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link is the bridge that rewrote Mumbai's picture of itself. Officially the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link and opened to traffic in 2009, it was India's first cable-stayed bridge raised over open sea, and its twin pylons - each standing roughly 128 metres above the water, strung with great fans of steel cable - now stand in for the city on news bulletins, book jackets and film title cards alike.

• The crossing runs a little over five kilometres including its approach viaducts, carries eight lanes of traffic, and replaced a grinding road journey through Mahim and Dadar with a few minutes over open water.
• Seen from the shore, its low curve and taut geometry make a deliberate counterpoint to the Art Deco and colonial-era stone that defines the older city to the south.
• The bridge is something to look at rather than a place to linger on: it is a tolled motorway, and pedestrians, cyclists, two-wheelers and three-wheelers are not permitted.
• The rewarding way to see it is from the shore.
• At the northern landfall, the Bandstand promenade and the weathered ramparts of Bandra Fort frame the cable fans against the Arabian Sea, and the walkway fills each evening with joggers, courting couples and families sharing paper cones of snacks.
• On the southern side, Worli Sea Face gives you the long, uninterrupted profile of the whole span, best about an hour before sunset, when the pylons catch the light and the harbour haze turns copper.
• After dark the deck lighting draws a bright line across the bay, visible from Dadar Chowpatty and the Mahim causeway.
• If you cross by car or taxi, the drive takes well under ten minutes, though the approach roads at Worli Naka and Bandra Reclamation can clog badly at peak hours.
• A one-way toll applies for cars and is collected at the plaza on the Bandra side.
• Stopping on the bridge for photographs is not allowed, so plan your pictures from the promenades instead.
• During the monsoon, high winds and heavy rain occasionally bring speed restrictions or short closures, and the sea wall at Worli takes spectacular spray - thrilling to watch from a safe distance, and a good reason to keep cameras covered.
• Food around both landfalls is mixed, so choose with care.
• The lanes of Bandra West hold long-running pure-vegetarian South Indian and Udupi-style cafes turning out idli, medu vada, rava dosa and filter coffee, while the Prabhadevi and Worli side leans towards Gujarati and Jain thali kitchens serving rotli, shaak, dal, rice and a changing farsan.
• Dadar, one suburban station away, adds Maharashtrian snack counters with misal pav, sabudana khichdi, batata vada and kothimbir vadi, and Matunga, a short ride further, is the city's best-known cluster of vegetarian South Indian dining rooms.
• Because a great many kitchens in this part of Mumbai also cook fish and meat, look for a board that clearly says pure vegetarian and confirm at the counter before you order; if you follow a Jain or satvik diet, ask about onion and garlic in the same breath.