5 Hours in Mumbai - what to do!

Hello!

My first post here... First of all thanks for all the great information. It has really helped in putting together my trip. I am about to go off on my first trip to India with my wife and staying 3 wks and visiting Shimla, some of Rajasthan, Varanasi and Kerala. I know 3 wks is too short....!

In my schedule on the way back from Cochin to Delhi (where I will catch my flight back to Europe) I was able to have a 5 hr stop-over in Bombay. We will land around 3pm and need to catch a connecting 8pm flight (I could take a later one but don't want to cut it too close with my night fight back home).

So as a first time visiter to Bombay with only 4-5 hrs what should we go and do? How long does it take to get from the airport to the city? All suggestions are welcome!

Many thanks!

Marcus

I'm in the same situation, have a little longer though, 8 hours.
I was thinking about going to Colaba since I now the area, but if someone has a better idea...

Time is too short to go into the city and back to the airport, as you need to be at at least one hour before departure at the airport. Suggest Bandra, a shopping area called hill road, or linking road....

Hi,

You can always check out the Hara Krishna Temple / museum in juhu, its a short cab ride from the airport. Good time pass activity.

Hi there, this is my first time posting onto this site. I have booked a ticket to arrive from london in mumbai and 23:05 and my connecting flight to Cochin is at 5 am. Any suggestions on what i should do while waiting? Are they hotels nearby where I can freshen up? Is it worth visiting the neighbourhood of the airport? thanks for your help

I totally recommend the Krishna/ISKON temple in Juhu too. You can get a fabulous meal in their restaurant too. Its near enough to the airport and a full experience for a few hours in Mumbai.

You could also spend some time in the malls at Andheri / Malad

Um, not in the middle of the night, you can't.

Keep in mind that it will be probably midnight by the time you get your luggage and come out of arrivals, and that a 5 AM domestic flight has a 3 AM check in. So your six-hour layover quickly becomes three. Personally, I wouldn't advise leaving the airport vicinity, but if you do, at least you won't have to worry as much about the traffic

Stay in the airport, everything will be closed till the morning of next day

Your flight lands at 23:05. By the time you clear immigration, get luggage and pass through customs, it will be midnight or even later.

You also need to transfer from International Terminal to Domestic Terminal for which you need to keep aside one hour (30 minutes if things go with clockwork precision).

You need to check in for Cochin flight at least one hour before.

After all the above, you hardly have 3 odd hours.

Kill some time in duty free area after landing in the international terminal, have a coffee and all. It is a very safe place.

Report at domestic terminal 2 hours before only. Have another coffee or something.

Be very careful and wary outside the international terminal when transferring to domestic terminal, especially of scamsters and touts.

You could catch a pre paid taxi and go to a hotel close to the domestic airport get some fresh air ( ) have a meal and a drink just to kill some time but yes apart from that theres not much to chose and yes if you take a few hundred rps with you and have a quite word with the hotel manager then he will give you a room to freshen up but make sure its cash as itll go straight in his pocket and hell be happy to do things for you
Sharon

Too short a time to venture out too far from the airport. The traffic is perenially thick and your time calculations can drastically go wrong.

Try a meal at "Gajalee" - A Seafood restauarnt in Vile Parle East. Should take around 20 minutes from the airport. I have had it several times and always liked it. Here is the link http://www.themumbaimall.com/clientd...clientID=10837

Did not check the time of OP's visit to Mumbai.

It would be adivsable to while for some time in the airport and then move to the domestic airport.

Thanks everybody for all your tips in Bombay. I have another question - i have 4 days in kerala and would like to do the following itinary, is it feasible? day 1: cochin day 2: drive to kumarokum and do a backwater tour day 3: drive to periyar day 4: enjoy periyar and drive back in the evening to cochin day5: leave for bombay? i know its gonna be really rushed but is it feasible? thanks again.

wow your gonna need time off work to get over your holday