Taxis etc in Mumbai

A friend has recommended that I hire a taxi for a full day to see the sights of Mumbai. What roughly should I pay for this? Any ideas for an itinerary? Thanks!

Air con private taxi is 800 to 1000 rupees per 8 hour 80 km shift. Comes with driver.

Schedule depends on what you like to see... or do.....

No need to hire a taxi for the day as it is pretty useless unless you are travelling a lot and continuously moving from one place to another in a few minutes every time. It is cheaper to take a taxi or even walk for most of the sights in Mumbai so it is not really recommended to get one and spend a thousand rupees for just 8 hours. The use never justifies the price you pay and then parking is always a problem in most places too as well as finding the driver when you are finished with your sight seeing in each place and when you want to leave you spend more time in finding the driver than in travelling!!!

Lots of places to see in Mumbai!!! There is the art and heritage buildings in the Fort district of South Mumbai and also the two UNESCO world heritage sites ...... the Elephanta Caves just 9 kilometers away (an hour's boat ride) from the Gateway of India and the Chatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus also earlier known as Victoria Terminus or VT and still very popularly known by that abbreviation!!! There is the Town Hall building, the St. Thomas' Cathedral, the Prince of Wales Museum also now known as the Chatrapati Shivaji Vastusangrahalaya (museum), the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Jehangir Art Gallery, the Gateway of India, the Rajabai Clock Tower and the Bombay University buildings, the Bombay High Court buildings, the Art Deco buildings along the Marine Drive & the Oval Maidan, the Girgaon Chowpatty (Beach) and it's food stalls for some mouth watering snacks (highly avoidable if you look at how they make them but delicious when you eat them!!!), the Kanheri Caves in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivali (a northern suburb of Mumbai), the Mani Bhavan (Mahatma Gandhi lived here and is now converted into a museum), the Hanging Gardens, the Chor Bazar (Flea Market actually translated as Thieve's market), the Alpaiwala museum, the Nehru Science Center and Museum (if you are interested in seeing how things work in and with science) and the Nehru Planetarium if you want to see the stars in the daytime!!! (If you want to see them at night then contact me!!!). These are just a few of the places that you can visit in Mumbai ...... the city of gold!!! I'm sure you will love it here!!!

Hope you have a lovely trip to India and enjoy the colours, sights, sounds, smells, food, wildlife, festivals, clothes and most of all the people of this vibrant, colourful country!!! And have a safe stay and journey throughout India too!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

A taxi for a full day is needed if you are going to be in mumbai for 1-2 days and wants to see all the sites and also do all your shopping the lenght and breadth of the city.A non A/c cab would be about 600-650 .But if you are staying longer than 2 days then its not needed if you are comfortable finding your way around ,and used trains buses or changing taxis and autorickshaws.

For a single female tourist I would recommend taking the same taxi for the whole day. Most of the drivers have their own mobile phone and you can walk around and then call the driver and tell him to pick you up from wherever you have walked to. This eliminates any possible hassle and tension.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to be there for 5 days, so I'll see how I get on on my own to begin with I think and take a taxi for a day later if I find it too difficult/tiresome and still have lots to see. Cheers! The way things have worked out I'm now staying with a family (long story!) so I'm sure they'll be full of invaluable info too!

I can't believe it, we're actually off in a month! Funny how how all your months of preperation condense down.
Just a couple of questions, I read on another thread about how likely taxi driver are to rob/pinch you. How genuine a threat is that? It surprises me because I often find that I rely a great deal on taxi drivers, and Now I'm wondering is one company better/more reliable than another one?
Any advice, please.

its not that big an issue. the only problem you are really likely to face is that the drivers might take the 'scenic route' to your destination. If you can, get an estimate of the fare before hand and mention this to the driver before you start so he knows you know what it should cost. But most of the time you wont know until you tell some local what you paid, and they will, helpfully, tell you that you paid too much. But we are only talking a difference of a couple of dollars, so its still not a huge problem.

Oh, and make sure they use the meter, which they must turn on before you start. If they dont, get out and find another taxi, there are always hundreds of them.

Of course worse things can and do happen, but the usual personal safety guidelines apply, as in any large city, anywhere in the world.

Taxis in Mumbai run on meters. The tariff is fixed. Get hold of an Taxi Tariff card (you may get it at the Airport) & keep it with you when you are likely to travel in a Taxi. Before seating in a taxi ask the driver to change the meter (turn the meter - so that it does not carry forward it's previous passengers reading.

Ronak.

See this link.

You can now print out your own taxi auto and aircon taxi tariff card before you arrive in Mumbai...
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Just thought let me update in this Forum about the premium cab service now i Mumbai which is call centre driven, and most reliable as they also give bills.. any problems you could report to the Company.

If you are travelling alone, and look naive, you may be taken on that infamous "scenic route". But, what I've learnt over the years is get into a cab, mention the destination, and wind the meter up yourself, so it looks like you know what you're doing, and as posted by AvidTrekker, is is very handy to carry those meter cards. Beware though; if you mention you are Aussie they most likely will be talking to you about cricket for the whole trip.

There are not many companies which run taxi services .But there are some new companies which run the luxury taxi fleet. I have not tried the service but they look impressive

http://www.merucabs.com/meru_Advantage.asp
* Modern, brand-new, air-conditioned luxury cabs
* Round the clock availability of cabs backed by a location tracking GPS - based dispatch technology and a 24x7 Customer Care Center. This means a quicker pickup and faster response time to your call for a cab
* Tamper-proof digital cab meters, integrated with the GPS-system to ensure every fare is tracked, thereby ruling out any possibility of over charging by the driver
* A printed receipt for every fare, providing details of distance traveled and total amount payable
* Thoroughly trained Chauffeurs in a smart MERU uniform, fluent in English and Hindi
* Basic amenities inside the car like face tissues, FM Radio etc.
* Ability to track the location of the cab ‘real-time’ through the GPS technology - provides security in case of an emergency
* Emergency security features installed in the taxi for complete safety, including display of our Customer Care Center numbers inside each cab
* Routine spot checks by our Patrol Vans to ensure highest standards of service


http://www.merucabs.com/book_a_MERU.asp
Care Center is operational for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just call us on 4422 4422
Book Online
http://www.merucabs.com/book_meru_taxi.asp
Fare Structure
http://www.merucabs.com/Fare_Structure.asp

Has anyone used the new MERU taxi service in mumbai ?

I have heard they have gps tracking and if the cab stops for an hour the office will call the cab and ask for an explanation on why the cab was stopped on route to the destination .

http://www.merucabs.com/meru_Advantage.asp

the cars had a 24 hours number 4422 4422
http://www.merucabs.com/taxi_tips.asp

http://mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper....1648453926b1dc

I'd be interested in hearing about people's experiences with ECabs (http://www.ecabs.in), a new taxi reservation service between Mumbai airport and Pune.