Mumbai

Mumbai (Bombay) is India's economic capital, financial nerve centre, and Bollywood film hub — a city of 22 million people built on seven islands now joined into a peninsula on the Arabian Sea. For travellers, the Colaba district is ground zero: the Gateway of India arch facing the sea, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel behind it, the Colaba Causeway shopping street running south, and the Prince of Wales Museum (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya) just inland. Marine Drive — the 3.6 km curving Art Deco promenade also called the "Queen's Necklace" — is best walked at sunset. Across town, the Elephanta Caves (UNESCO World Heritage) are reached by a 1-hour ferry from the Gateway. For vegetarian travellers, Mumbai is the inventor of India's most famous street-food trinity — vada pav (spiced potato fritter in a bun), pav bhaji (mashed-vegetable curry with buttered bread), and pani puri (crispy hollow wafers filled with tamarind water). Try them at the legendary Anand Stall outside Mithibai College, Sardar Pav Bhaji at Tardeo, and the Elco Market pani puri counter in Bandra. Beyond street food, Mumbai's Gujarati and Marwari communities have built India's densest pure-veg fine-dining scene: Soam at Babulnath, Swati Snacks at Tardeo, and Friends Union Joshi Club for old-school Gujarati thalis. Best season is November to February (cool, dry); avoid June-September monsoon flooding and May humidity above 95%.