Hanging Gardens
Hanging Gardens and the Kamala Nehru Park both provide relaxing atmosphere & greenery is 20km from the hotel and it takes approximately 1 hour. Also known as Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens, the Hanging Gardens were built in 1880 and renovated in 1921. These gardens are popularly known as Hanging Gardens, because of their location on the slope of a hill. The terrace garden looks south from Malabar Hill towards Colaba, and affords a panoramic view of the city or a breathtaking sunset. It is built over three reservoirs, which store 30 million gallons of water pumped here for cleaning before being supplied to the town.
Juhu Beach
Juhu is about 18 kms north of the city centre and reaching there is not a difficulty. Juhu is the symbol of family beach and a large number of locals and tourists visit the beach. Juhu is the best place to bring the entire community (Mumbaikars – residents of Mumbai) on common social grounds and much interaction takes place amidst the natural ambience provided by the beach. Children, adults and aged, locals and tourists all make up the population that inhibits the beach especially on weekends.
Marine Drive
Built on land reclaimed from Back Bay in 1920, Marine Drive runs along the shoreline of the Arabian Sea from Nariman Point past Chowpatty Beach to the foot of Malabar Hill. It’s one of Mumbai’s most popular promenades and a favourite sunset-watching spot. You certainly won’t be loitering on the sea wall long before you’re engaged in conversation, even if it’s with someone offering to show you how well their monkey can breakdance. The promenade is lined with decaying Art Deco apartments just begging for a paint manufacturer to prove what their product can do to brighten up an area. Tourist brochures are fond of dubbing it the Queen’s Necklace, because of the dramatic curve of its streetlights at night. It’s less spectacular during the day, though there are plans afoot to beautify the area.
Elephanta Caves
Elephanta Caves is well known tourist spot is accessible by boat from the Gateway of India. A pleasant half an hour motor-boat ride from the hustle and bustle of city life brings one to the vicinities of the famous Elephanta caves located in the quiet island by the same name. This island is home to a series of seven magnificent rock cut caves which dates from the 4th-9th centuries A.D. These caves are situated at a height of about 76metres above sea-level. The most impressive of these caves has a 40 metre square main hall with two wide columnades. At the western end of the hall, there is a lingam shrine which stands guarded by stone doorkeepers leaning on dwarfs. The lingam symbolic of lord Siva is still worshipped by devotees during festivals. One of the most striking features of this cave is the 6m high Maheshmurti, the three headed bust of lord Siva depicting his three facets-creator, destroyer and protector. Besides, the cave contains a series of nine massive sculptured panels which show various incidents in the life of lord Siva and other dramatic moments from Hindu mythology. These are chiselled with immense artistic finesse.
Mani Bhavan
Mani Bhavan is the old Mumbai residence of Mahatma Gandhi. It’s a pretty, two-storied structure that now houses a reference library with over 2000 books, a photo exhibition of the Mahatma’s life, and well preserved memorabilia, including an old charkha or spinning wheel that Gandhiji used to use. Today, its only a symbolic exhibit that lies unused, but many old Gandhians still visit the place to pay homage to their hero and demonstrate the noble art of spinning your own yarn!
Gateway of India
Gateway of India is 26 metres high stone archway is the first landmark of Bombay. It is only extra-ordinary things that excite human beings but Gateway of India not only excites but also astounds the most discerning eye. The most famous monument, it is an architectural marvel that scores over other buildings in Mumbai. Having advantages of both location and architectural construction, it shines every morning with morning sun of Mumbai. There is something magical about Gateway of India that attracts tourists in hordes. Words fail to describe and picture postcards fail to capture the exact beauty of the monument. Pride of Mumbai, the Gateway of India occupies a special place in the hearts of Mumbaikars. It is to them what Red Fort is to Delhiites. Locale of many Hindi movies, people flock to the place especially in the evening to watch bashful play of waves and feed pigeons. Besides being one of the important landmarks in the city, it is also base camp from where people start towards Elephantaisland in motorboats.
Siddhivinayak Temple
Siddhivinayak Temple where the idol of Ganesh is two and a half feet in height and two feet in width. In India, faith is known to move mountains. Rich and poor, educated and unlettered, they Indians all converge at temples and churches and mosques to offer their destinies to the Divine. Nowhere is this more evident than at Siddhi Vinayak, a temple devoted to Ganesh, the elephant-headed God of Good Fortune. On auspicious Tuesdays, the serpentine queue of worshippers is over 2kms long. People stand for several hours with offerings of flowers and coconut, waiting patiently for a two minute “Darshan” or meeting with the Lord. The path to the divine is never easy, but it is said that those who tread it with true devotion will always have their wishes fulfilled.
Haji Ali Mosque
A cluster of white domes rising out of the blue expanse to kiss another blue expanse. Seems that the white domes are there to provide a vital connection between earth and heaven. After meandering through a rocky path, one reaches Haji Ali mosque, which is in the midst of sea. The mosque can be reached only in low tide as the path connecting to the mosque gets entirely submerged in water during monsoons. In monsoon one gets the impression that entire mosque is floating in the sea and hence Haji Ali is also called the floating mosque of Mumbai.
Sanjay Gandhi National Park
This large protected area of forested hills on Mumbai’s northern outskirts is best known for the 109 Kanheri Caves which line the side of a rocky ravine in the centre of the park. They were used by Buddhist monks between the 2nd and 9th centuries as viharas (monasteries) and chaityas (temples). The most impressive is cave 3, the Great Chaitya Cave, which has a long colonnade of pillars and a 5m (16ft) high dagoba (pagoda) at the back of the cave. There’s also a Lion Safari Park inside the park.