Half-Day Mumbai Must-sees: (No Footprints Style): Recommended by Emma Chamberlain

If you have less time in the city and want to explore the highlights of Mumbai’s tourist insignias, then Mumbai Highlights is just the one for you. Cover Mumbai’s top highlights that you cannot miss on your visit to the city.
Starting point for almost every soul that wants to explore the city, this tour too starts from the Gateway of India, Mumbai’s very own victory arch, built to commemorate the landing of King George the fifth and Queen Mary for the Delhi Durbar. The Gateway of India was built as a symbol of the power of the British. Ironically, this beautiful structure also marked the end of British rule, as the last infantry left Indian shores from the Gateway.

Further exploring the fort area of Mumbai, Kala Ghoda, literally Black Horse, is a neighbourhood in the South Mumbai area of Maharashtra state of India. The crescent-shaped precinct is the city’s premier art district. You will drive past a large number of the city’s heritage buildings, museums, art galleries and educational institutions like the Jehangir Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya and The Arts Trust.

Post this, you get to see the Dabbawalas (Shut on weekends), the 6 Sigma workers of Mumbai sending over 5, 00, 000 boxes of lunch to their rightful owners with extreme precision. Studied by consultants and business schools for the secrets of their proclaimed near-flawless efficiency, the dabbawalas have been feted by British royals (Prince Charles) and titans of industry (Richard Branson) alike. Even FedEx, which supposedly knows something about logistics, has paid them a visit. 

Further driving down to what’s presently called the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), this station has a unique place in Indian history. The first train of India departed from CST and travelled a distance of 40 km. Today, the station sees a footfall of nearly a million people daily.

Our next stop is a popular tourist spot known as the Dhobi Ghat. It has the power to make your jaw drop. It is an area where the laundrymen, more popularly known as the Dhobhis, wash the clothes of Mumbai folks. You will see the Dhobhis at work, flogging and beating the clothes tirelessly to ensure it is devoid of any stain. With nearly most of Mumbai’s washing done here, it comes as a little surprise that these guys can be safely christened as the ‘Washing Machines’ of Mumbai.

The next stop, Mani Bhavan is one of the few important places hallowed by Mahatma Gandhi’s close association. 

Mani Bhavan, a modest two-storied building on the Laburnum Road in the comparatively quiet locality called Gamdevi, served as Gandhi’s Bombay headquarters for about seventeen long and eventful years (1917-1934). It was from Mani Bhavan that Gandhi initiated Civil Disobedience, Satyagraha, Swadeshi, Khadi and Khilafat movements.