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Mumbai Darshan is a daily day bus tour of the city that starts early in the morning with a visit to the Siddhivinayak temple and ends at just about time to catch the setting sun at the famous Juhu beach. Mumbai Darshan tours are carried out by a host of private bus operators and a seat on one of these air-conditioned buses costs Rs. 450 for the day and non ac 250 per head.
The Darshan
Mumbai is a large city... covering all the places of interest at the right time is not something that will happen during this trip. Also if its shopping that you are looking for ,better avoid this and head to
Bandra Linking Road for clothes and accessories on any day and Chor Bazar in mumbai central on Friday morning at 5 am for anything at all.(keep yourself safe here)
About 9:30 Am: The tour starts here with a visit to the 200-years-old Siddhivinayak temple.The Siddhivinayak temple trust is the richest temple in Mumbai and is a frequent haunt of the country’s leading film stars and politicians alike. Photography is strictly prohibited within the temple’s compounds and the rush at the temple depends on the day of your visit. Tuesdays along with Sundays and Saturdays are days when the temple experiences heavy rush.
The bus left the temple in about an hour’s time. If you didnt want to go to the temple there's an alternative for a park/garden.And the next stop on our list was the Nehru Science Centre in Worli. But along the way the guide kept on talking to us about famous landmarks as we passed them. Like headquarters of some of India’s most valued companies that are scattered all around South Mumbai.
About 11 Am: If you’re travelling with your little one, then The Nehru Science Centre at Worli comes
across as an ideal destination. The only adults I spotted at the centre
were us and the group of teachers accompanying school children who had
come on a school visit. But don’t miss out on the special screenings of
35-40 minutes documentaries at the newly opened planetarium called ‘Science Odyssey’. The
one I saw was called, “The Amazing Caves” and was a real good one.
However, the question I’d wanted the tour guys was whether it was a good
idea to subject a bunch of people to a documentary show in a
planetarium when all one wants is to get to know the city better and
that too in a day!!
We left the science centre by 12:30 and headed for the Tarapore Aquarium on Marine Drive.
About 1 Pm: Skeletal remains of a giant whale welcome you to the Tarapore Aquarium. The aquarium is a small one with different varieties of fish at display, a few rare turtles and if I recall correctly a deadly sea snake. My personal favourite were the turtles. Such lovely creatures but trapped within glass walls.
We got done with the aquarium pretty quickly and headed for the monument whose photographs adorn most postcards meant for Mumbai, The Gateway of India. The bus stopped near the Regal cinema square where we had lunch at a nearby restaurant that the tour guide recommended us. The food here was just about average and nothing to write about.
About 1:45 Pm: The Gateway of India was built in 1911 to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at 1911. In the days when global transport depended only on shipping, Bombay was India’s most famous port of entry, hence the given name. It’s a grand structure and one can stare at it for hours. The boats and ferries floating on the sea behind add immensely to the picture postcard beauty of this great monument. Along with the majestic Taj Mahal hotel that sits diagonally opposite the Gateway, this was perhaps the highlight of the day tour.
About 2:30 Pm: The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya or the CST Museum is a stone throw distance from the Gateway of India. Formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum, it is among the finest museums of India and offers facilities such as the guided walking tour in Hindi, Marathi and English. But the time allotted for the visit is just about 40-45 minutes within which one can only be expected to quickly steal a glance at the thousand of exhibits on display. I’m pretty sure here that the really interested ones will go back for a second outing.
About 3:30 Pm: Thiboat ride into the sea for you to glance at the sea facing façade of this great city.
s is where once gets to see Mumbai form the sea. It’s a short
After the boat ride, the Mumbai Darshan bus took us through the localities of Walkeshwar, Napean Sea Road and Breach Candy with Naushad giving us tit-bits of information like showing us Vinod Khanna’s residence or the hospital where former PM Vajpayee got his knee operated upon (Breach Candy).
And following a hurried stopover at the Mahalaxmi temple, it was time to head for the tour’s final destination – the Juhu Beach (Naushad badly wanted us to be at Juhu beach to catch the sunset).
About 6:30 PM: After negotiating through Mumbai’s heavy traffic we reached the Juhu Beach via Mumbai’s newly built showpiece, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
6:30 Pm (Just in time for the sunset at Juhu Beach):
Watching the sun set over a clear horizon is definitely amongst the
most romantic things in the world. But what is unique about this beach
is the sight of aeroplanes that have just taken off from the Santa Cruz
airport nearby. The aircraft juxtaposed against the setting sun – now
that’s what we call a happy ending!
Also, Adjoining the Juhu beach is the famous chowpatty. This place is known to dish out some of the meanest Pav Bhajis and Barf ka Golas. Dive in!
Mumbai Darshan is a daily day bus tour of the city that starts early in the morning with a visit to the Siddhivinayak temple and ends at just about time to catch the setting sun at the famous Juhu beach. Mumbai Darshan tours are carried out by a host of private bus operators and a seat on one of these air-conditioned buses costs Rs. 450 for the day and non ac 250 per head.
The Darshan
Mumbai is a large city... covering all the places of interest at the right time is not something that will happen during this trip. Also if its shopping that you are looking for ,better avoid this and head to
Bandra Linking Road for clothes and accessories on any day and Chor Bazar in mumbai central on Friday morning at 5 am for anything at all.(keep yourself safe here)
About 9:30 Am: The tour starts here with a visit to the 200-years-old Siddhivinayak temple.The Siddhivinayak temple trust is the richest temple in Mumbai and is a frequent haunt of the country’s leading film stars and politicians alike. Photography is strictly prohibited within the temple’s compounds and the rush at the temple depends on the day of your visit. Tuesdays along with Sundays and Saturdays are days when the temple experiences heavy rush.
The bus left the temple in about an hour’s time. If you didnt want to go to the temple there's an alternative for a park/garden.And the next stop on our list was the Nehru Science Centre in Worli. But along the way the guide kept on talking to us about famous landmarks as we passed them. Like headquarters of some of India’s most valued companies that are scattered all around South Mumbai.
Lord Ganesh at the Siddhivinayak Temple
We left the science centre by 12:30 and headed for the Tarapore Aquarium on Marine Drive.
About 1 Pm: Skeletal remains of a giant whale welcome you to the Tarapore Aquarium. The aquarium is a small one with different varieties of fish at display, a few rare turtles and if I recall correctly a deadly sea snake. My personal favourite were the turtles. Such lovely creatures but trapped within glass walls.
We got done with the aquarium pretty quickly and headed for the monument whose photographs adorn most postcards meant for Mumbai, The Gateway of India. The bus stopped near the Regal cinema square where we had lunch at a nearby restaurant that the tour guide recommended us. The food here was just about average and nothing to write about.
About 1:45 Pm: The Gateway of India was built in 1911 to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at 1911. In the days when global transport depended only on shipping, Bombay was India’s most famous port of entry, hence the given name. It’s a grand structure and one can stare at it for hours. The boats and ferries floating on the sea behind add immensely to the picture postcard beauty of this great monument. Along with the majestic Taj Mahal hotel that sits diagonally opposite the Gateway, this was perhaps the highlight of the day tour.
About 2:30 Pm: The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya or the CST Museum is a stone throw distance from the Gateway of India. Formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum, it is among the finest museums of India and offers facilities such as the guided walking tour in Hindi, Marathi and English. But the time allotted for the visit is just about 40-45 minutes within which one can only be expected to quickly steal a glance at the thousand of exhibits on display. I’m pretty sure here that the really interested ones will go back for a second outing.
The Gateway of India
The Taj Mahal Hotel
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Prince Wales Museum)
s is where once gets to see Mumbai form the sea. It’s a short
After the boat ride, the Mumbai Darshan bus took us through the localities of Walkeshwar, Napean Sea Road and Breach Candy with Naushad giving us tit-bits of information like showing us Vinod Khanna’s residence or the hospital where former PM Vajpayee got his knee operated upon (Breach Candy).
And following a hurried stopover at the Mahalaxmi temple, it was time to head for the tour’s final destination – the Juhu Beach (Naushad badly wanted us to be at Juhu beach to catch the sunset).
About 6:30 PM: After negotiating through Mumbai’s heavy traffic we reached the Juhu Beach via Mumbai’s newly built showpiece, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
Also, Adjoining the Juhu beach is the famous chowpatty. This place is known to dish out some of the meanest Pav Bhajis and Barf ka Golas. Dive in!
The Mumbai Coastline as seen from the boat ride
The Giant Shoe at Hanging Gardens on Napean Sea Road
Round Trip Cab provide cabs at reasonable rate for Mumbai Darshan.
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