Mumbai
Travel Guide

India is a country where culture, history and traditions coexist with incredible contrasts and an overpopulation that makes it a real experience to visit. Mumbai, also known as Mumbai in Hindi, is the most populated city in the country and it's the maximum exponent of all these features that make India one of the most beloved countries but also one of the most hated ones.
The richest live and most respectable citizens... of India in Mumbai along with the poorest and most despised Indian caste. Each neighborhood of this bustling city hides small treasures of the fascinating culture and history of this country and you'll find many temples of different religions and ethnic groups. Besides, Mumbai's the Mecca of Bollywood, the Indian film industry and which generates even more revenues than Hollywood itself. Two totally different worlds that divide the city and turn make it an amazing one with mixtures of east and west. Mumbai's a hard and unfair city to some but interesting and romantic to others. Anyway, it leaves no one cold.

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Mumbai Overview

Language

Marathi, a Hindi dialect, is the official language and the most spoken of the Maharashtra state, where Mumbai's located. In the same city there's more than 200 languages and different dialects although besides Marathi the most common ones are Hindi, the official language of the country and Gujarati and Urdú. Although India is a former British colony, English is a barely spoken language but through miming you can get people to understand you.

Weather

Mumbai is in the deep tropic, therefore its weather is characterized by monsoons. The rain season lasts for about 4 months, between June and September. Such is the amount of water that falls during this period that it records 95% of rains throughout the year.
Temperatures are moderate due to proximity to the ocean and they keep stable during the year: between 23º C (73,4 ºF) maximum in February, the coolest month, and 33ºC (91,4ºF) maximum between March and May, the hottest months. Among October and December the temperatures are pleasant and the weather's very dry.

Money

Indian Rupee (INR). All over India, the Rupia is the official cyrrency. In Mumbai you can find offices of major international banks and ATMs in shopping areas, though it's common to find that sometimes they don't work. On the promenade you can find lots of currency exchange houses. We recommend you to be mindful when handling money. Be careful with broken bills since scams are quite common in India.

When to go

From October to March is the best time to visit Mumbai: you are able to avoid monsoons and the hot season. From April onwards, temperatures and humidity begin to rise and, together with pollution, the atmosphere gets thicker, becoming difficult to bear. In addition, the main events in city are celebrated during these months of little rain.

Days

2 days: Even though the city's huge, we don't recommend spending more than two days in it if you don't want to end up with an overdose of population and pollution. A day to visit the center and the main buildings of the city and another one to visit the Elephant Island as well as the parks and the beach will be more than enough to get to know the best of Mumbai.

Surroundings

Sanjay Gandhi National Park (National Park)
Sindhudurg (Fortified island)
Pune (City)
Matheran (Village in the mountains)

Store Hours

There are no rule governing store hours in Mumbai because everyone does what they will, but as general rule stores open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. pm and close on Sundays. Banks are open in the mornings from Monday to Saturday and restaurants are usually open from 8 am to 10 pm. We insist though thet timetables in India are almost nonexistent.