7 Days In And Around Mumbai

hairycanary

Hello All - what a great set of forums, I had been digging around the usual discussion boards for days before I found you all, thankyou already

I have:

7 days between 15-23 September flying in and out of Mumbai
First trip to India for myself and husband, mid 30s.
Meeting up with similar friends who are on a longish honeymoon.

This won't be a trip of a lifetime type trip, just an enjoyable week. We've done loads of cheap backpacking, but are happy to flash some cash this time as it's only a week.

We like: eating, drinking, generally wandering around, not too much travel as it's a short trip.

We want to avoid: huge crowds, hassle, more than 3 hours travelling at a time (save those for the 3 month trip )

Because it's only a week the budget is around Rs 6000 pppd for accom, food & drink. And due to the short time frame I'd love to plan a few things like great restaurant ideas in advance.

I have no illusions about 'doing India in a week' etc, so I thought it best to approach the week as a well off Mumbai local might do - like planning a couple of nice long weekends.

Our friends don't want to go south for the week as they've been before.

So I'm thinking:

2/3 days in Mumbai itself - a walking tour, some great dinners

2 days in a hill station - either Matheran or Malshej Ghat

2 days on the coast/beach - Kashid or Kihim or Daman

For transport we'll hire a car and driver for the travelling mornings, so convenient public transport isn't necessary.

Any words of advice would be appreciated on:

Which hill station and why? Or neither? Or forget the hill stations?
Which beach and why?
A walking tour in Mumbai?
Any sensational restaurants you like?
The best (non international chain) hotels you know for around Rs3500 / dbl room /per night? For example I was looking at the Verandah in the Forest at Matheran.

Thanks heaps in advance. Promise I will return with a full report.

hairycanary

Now I've dug around a little more I've found the huge threads on restaurant and bars in Mumbai. So feel free to not provide advice on that, and not to flame me for it!

s4ur4bh

Hi,

I can talk about Kashid and Kihim. Was there last weekend only. Its about 150 odd KMs from Mumbai (near Alibaug). From what I saw, there aint much to do at those places. They are like go in the morning and come back in the evenings.

The best part about Kashid is the drive. For a better part of the journey, there is sea on one side and hills on the other.

I have heard people compare to Old Mumbai-Goa hihgway.

I would not recommend Kashid or Kihim.

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amarshah

Hi, i think when you will arrive into Mumbai, Ganesh festival would be towards its peak..it would be fun seeing the festive air around but will be crowded for sure.

For Hill Stn. Matheran would be great as compared to Lonavala or Khandala quite a bit to walk around and see also.

You could spend 2 days at Kashid, it is a quite beach, you can go up to the Murud fort, i suggest go via boat to Alibaug instead of car will save you time n money. Also not sure how the road would be post the rains, last year had a hell of a drive after the rains to kashid.

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capt_mahajan

If you want to avoid huge crowds, you just picked the wrong city.
But you could do decent drinking and eating, and even a bit of walking around (in crowds).

Matheran isn't much of a 'hill station', its a weekend getaway since Mumbai does not have anything better.

Considered Mahabaleshwar? It will be a longer trip, though well within a days drive. Slightly better hill station than Matheran.
And you could make a stopover at Alibaug.

sald

No way!! The hills around Mumbai are at their best in the monsoons. So I strongly suggest you visit one. But within 3 hours of Mumbai, no hill station will be free of crowds. In Matheran for example, you'll be dodging people (and horses!!) while walking in the market area. But the hill station is peaceful in the weekdays. And the Verandah is a lovely place to stay in. You won't regret it for a minute. Also check out Bhandardhara, a 4-hour drive from Mumbai. Its not a hill station, but surrounded by mountians and a great experience in the Monsoons.

I am not sure if beaches would be a good idea in September. Kashid is a nice beach, peaceful and clean. But there are no 'beach activities' there. All you could do is take long walks on the beach.

I suggest you spend the weekdays in the hills, and the weekend in Mumbai, eating and drinking.

shahronakm

Matheran is probably the only hill station in India where vehicles are not allowed.
Post monsoon Matheran will be full of greenery & will def. be pleasing to the eyes. One can go for plenty of short / long walks in & around Matheran. For eg. Sunset Point (Monkey point), Sunrise Point, Garbet Plateau, Charlot Lake, One tree hill etc.,
If walking is not your thing then all the places can be visited on horseback.
Toy train is also one of the major attractions of Matheran. Of course it's slow but one can enjoy it's entire journey becuase of the views. I would recommend it at least while going down if not coming up.

Me & wife had stayed at Matheran for seven days some three years back. Mind you it was not our honeymoon. We used to woke up early & hire three horses (two for us & one was horse owner whould wold come with us) & go on long riding trips to different places every day. One day we went to the race course where you could indulge in some fast horse riding. Every evening we used to go for long walks, different places every day. It was real fun walking on the red soiled road minus the vehicles.

Ronak.

samirofdelhi

Hi,

I went to Bombay a couple of years ago. I liked a restaurant called Swati. I would also visit the JW Marriott Hotel in Juhu, the restaurants are very good.

I hope that your trip to Bombay goes well,

hairycanary

thanks everyone so far, for the pluses (and also especially for the minuses, most valuable!)

regarding crowds, that first post probably sounded a bit silly. we live in London, so we're used to/happy with lots of people and people watching etc. Just maybe not as much as say the Grand Bazaar in Marrakech say. Hard to judge till you get somewhere I guess.

we were sticking around Mumbai as our honeymoon friends fly in there and it's convenient, but maybe we should suggest to them to head somewhere else for the week?

hmmm more thought required.... thanks everyone .... where to go for a nice week of eating and drinking and general hanging out that's less than 3 hours from Mumbai (flight or train or car) cost no problem (I realise this may sound a little insensitive, sorry it's not meant to be, it's our only week off this year so we're happy to spend up).

yogeshg

Some places that i would like to recommend are Mahabaleshwar, Matheran and Kashid beach resort.

regards,
Yogesh Gadre

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Familyonthemove

I'm planning a trip to the Grand Bazaar in Marrakech for a bit of peace and some space

Matheran is great fun - you can go part way up by train or car .... but the last bit you you need to do on foot, in a hand-pulled cart or by horse. I recommend the horse. Riding into a car-free town on a horse is like riding into a Western movie.

Not sure if the 'Toy Train' will be running by then - as it stops for the monsoon?

As for non-chain hotels here .... that's brave!

.... also - have you considered Mumbai and Goa or Kerala. It's only a 1.5 hour flight away? A hotel in Juhu or Bandra would be near the airport to avoid the worst of the traffic?

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hairycanary

Familyonthemove -

I think you have superpowers, about a week ago we decided just to fly in and straight out of Mumbai, and are now doing our week in Kerala instead!

Thanks all for the ideas.

HC

bijapuri

good luck in Kerala (post about Mums deleted)

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gohome

How about Diu? A short flight from Mumbai, beach, Portugese heritage, fishing village and relatively quite.

Look it up, you may be interested.