Mumbai Travel Forum

Hi there!

I will be working in Dharavi slums in Mumbai from 2nd of May till the 14th and then I have only 2 days till the 17th to visit some places in India. I have to be back to Mumbai on the 17th to catch my flight back to London, U.K.

I would like to know what can you do in those 2 days? I'm not interested in Goa as it's full with Western tourists and doesn't represent India at all. When I think of India, the images of Varanasi and Armitsar come to my mind, but it seems to be too far away.

Would it be possible to visit Jaipur and other sites in Rhajastan? I want to see the temples, ancient architecture.

I am also on a tight budget as I'm finishing my degree in urban development therefore cannot afford to take flights or any other expensive means of transportation or expensive hotels.

How are the local buses and trains?

I would appreciate your feedback, dear travellers.

Cheers,

ronaldpk

Would it be possible to take a train early in the morning on the 14th of May or late night train on the 13th of May, arrive in Agra the next day,see Taj Mahal, visit Jaipur and take a return train from Agra to Mumbai and then catch a flight from Mumbai to Heathrow on the 17th of May?

I aggest you karle-bhaja caves, gharapuri caves and few places in Pune. 180 km from Mumbai. you can visit few forts. especiaaly sea-fort in murud-janjira.

If you're not going to fly, it's going to be very tough for you to go very far outside Mumbai (Pune is an option, but even that is a several-hour drive in a private car, and longer via train/bus). Trains in India tend to be very slow.

You may not realize that there are several low-cost airlines operating in India. These can be quite affordable, so you may want to check out that option. SpiceJet and JetLite are decent and (mostly) reliable carriers; there are also some others (GoAir and Simplifly) that are super-cheap and less reliable.

Hi - two days is not a lot and you'll need to fly as the trains to either Agra or Jaipur will eat up much of your time. I think you need to pick either Agra or Jaipur. Jaipur is wonderful (one of my 2 favorite cities in India) and there is plenty to see there - temples, forts, palaces, etc. You can do it in 2 days but it will be a lot of running. If you can take a flight out sometime on the 14th that would help.

Of course, the Taj is magnificient - more so in person than any photo you've seen. You can see the Taj and Agra Fort which is also really great. You can take a flight from Mumbai to Delhi and then a car or bus to Agra. I would recommend one of the low cost airlines - SpiceJet or GoAir. I've flown on both many times without any more problems than small delays (which happens to many flights out of Mumbai). Indigo is another low cost airline. Enjoy!

Actually, a round trip between 50-70 pounds is not a bad price as a round trip train ride Mumbai-Agra is about 33 quid.

How do you get to Agra from Delhi? How long does it take on the bus? And how would I get to Jaipur? By bus or train from Agra?

Thanks for your tips!

Question for Gourav - how do you get to Pune from Mumbai? By bus? How long does it take? I think I will have the weekends off while working in Dharavi so I could squeeze a weekend trip to those beautiful caves that you suggested.

Thanks! :)

yes you can use the weekends for Pune & even Ajanta/Ellora trips. Mumbai-Pune travel is very convenient. 4 hours one way is the normal travel time be it road or train. you dont really need to book in advance. 'Volvo' buses also run at more than 1 bus every 1/2 hr frequency if you count in the private operators too.
Mumbai-Aurangabad (for Ajanta/Ellora caves) is 400 kms. again, you could take a train or a bus.
why dont you use Go Air (or some other) to fly to Jaipur, drive to Agra, drive to Delhi & fly out to London from Delhi? (Jaipur-Agra 250 kms, Delhi-Agra 200)

at weekends, there are many destinations, historical as well as full of natural scenarios. if you gonna travel early in the morning you can save almost 40 min. in travelling. Volvo buses to Pune charges Rs. 180 ($4.5. all are easy accesibble places) you can ask anybody about the routes on Bus-stands. just tell me how many weekends you have got. i will suggest you few more weekend destinations.

It is unbelievable, but there is no airport in Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located. In my opinion, this borders on criminally insane behavior by the Indian civil aviation association, but there you go. It is possible to fly either to Jaipur or Delhi and then drive or take a train to Agra--from Delhi, the train is much faster. Be aware that hiring a car for this trip is going to eat up a chunk of your budget, and the drive from either city will eat up a considerable amount of time. If you only have two days, it might not be worthwhile. You could just stay in Jaipur, or better yet, fly to Udaipur which in my opinion is a much nicer place.

from agra you can catch a bus to jaipur and reach in 4 hrs or vice versa. they are comfortable deluxe coaches and has a stopover for meals and toilet visits.
mumbai is well connected to jaipur by train so easy to catch that one.

for more details and itinerary planning you can get in touch at jaipurtravel@yahoo.com

happy travels

Bear in mind that mid May is peak tourist season due to school vacations so everywhere will be packed. Secondly mid May is hot as hell especially in Jaipur, Rajasthan and the rest of North India which becomes furnace like. Its hot and excessively humid elsewhere !! Since you have 2 full days, presumably 15/16 May, you could do an overnight visit to Matheran - 2hrs drive from Mumbai. Its a densely forested evergreen plateau approx 600m AMSL. No cars are allowed so you have to walk or horse ride everywhere. It will be crowded with tourists but there are plenty of forest trails that you can walk along with no one else around other than the resident monkeys and if you are lucky a Giant Indian squirrel or two. Try matheran.org for more info but you will have to book your hotel in advance as its peak season. Alternately since you want to see temples and ancient architecture, take a flight to Chennai on the 14th evening and do a Temple tour check tamilnadutourism.org - if nothing else, you can see the Kapaleeswar temple in Chennai and ancient Mammalapuram sculptures. You can return on the 16th night or 17th morning as there are plenty of flights between Chennai and Mumbai. Be warned it will be warmer and more humid than Mumbai. Cant beat Tamil Nadu for its superlative temple architecture, most of the temples are very ancient. Far superior architecturally, to anything you will find near Mumbai. If you have a spare half day while in Mumbai, do visit the ancient [6AD] Buddhist caves [not much sculpture as they are rock cut but quite fascinating nonetheless] at Kanheri located within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park - entrance gate at Borivili East. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanheri_Caves
You can also walk along dense forest trails there en route - Silondha trail - ask anyone while there. Go early to beat the heat. Also visit the architecturally rich Elephanta caves and sculptures on Elephanta Island - 1 hr ferry ride from the Gateway of India [take a train to Churchgate or VT and cab thereafter]. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephanta_Island

Bear in mind that mid May is peak tourist season due to school vacations so everywhere will be packed. Secondly mid May is hot as hell especially in Jaipur, Rajasthan and the rest of North India which becomes furnace like. Its hot and excessively humid elsewhere !! Since you have 2 full days, presumably 15/16 May, you could do an overnight visit to Matheran - 2hrs drive from Mumbai. Its a densely forested evergreen plateau approx 600m AMSL. No cars are allowed so you have to walk or horse ride everywhere. It will be crowded with tourists but there are plenty of forest trails that you can walk along with no one else around other than the resident monkeys and if you are lucky a Giant Indian squirrel or two. Try matheran.org for more info but you will have to book your hotel in advance as its peak season. Alternately since you want to see temples and ancient architecture, take a flight to Chennai on the 14th evening and do a Temple tour check tamilnadutourism.org - if nothing else, you can see the Kapaleeswar temple in Chennai and ancient Mammalapuram sculptures. You can return on the 16th night or 17th morning as there are plenty of flights between Chennai and Mumbai. Book cheap flights now on makemytrip.com; cleartrip.com; ezeego1.co.in etc. Be warned it will be warmer and more humid than Mumbai. Cant beat Tamil Nadu for its superlative temple architecture, most of the temples are very ancient. Far superior architecturally, to anything you will find near Mumbai. If you have a spare half day while in Mumbai, do visit the ancient [6AD] Buddhist caves [not much sculpture as they are rock cut but quite fascinating nonetheless] at Kanheri located within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park - entrance gate at Borivili East. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanheri_Caves
You can also walk along dense forest trails there en route - Silondha trail - ask anyone while there. Go early to beat the heat. Also visit the architecturally rich Elephanta caves and sculptures on Elephanta Island - 1 hr ferry ride from the Gateway of India [take a train to Churchgate or VT and cab thereafter]. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephanta_Island

Hi Ronaldo,
I am an Architect by profession and practicing in aurangabad which is 325 km away from mumbai.I got interested in ur blog as ur an architect.Obviously u must be interested in architecture.As u said u have only two days u can visit Ellora & Ajanta caves.Also i am doing some projects on slum rehabilitation in our region ,it will be great if u could come here to aurangabad so that v can share our ideas on these subject and also v can go to Ellora and Ajanta caves.
u can mail me at aurokant@yahoo.co.in

Well if I were you, squeezing in Agra and Jaipur does not make any sense, even if you fly both ways, as travelling to the airport-with the traffic, check- in times for flights, check out times at destinations, hotel booking for the night well it is not just practical.

If you really want to make most of those two days and see something that is really world class and will make it to the world Heritage list it is Ajanta and Ellora Caves. If you could book your self a seat in the Air con chair car in the Aurangabad Janamashatabdi Express ,for appox. 4 pound and catch it at 14.00 hrs from Dadar (about 30INR ride from Dharawi), you will be in Aurangabad late evening. Try the Printravel hotel, for a clean and economical stay. You could set out one day for Ajanta and the other of Ellora, both these destinations are around 30 to 60 kms away from Aurangabad. I am assuming your flight will be late in the evening on the 17th, in which case you may take the same train back to Dadar,leaving Aurangabad at around 6 am on the 17th, and arrive at in Dadar at 12.30 pm. You may make a return reservation from Bombay to avoid any anxiety.

I think a visit to these destinations is not just touristy, but will make a lasting impression on anyone. Besides you you will have a great feeling of making your pound go really a long long way.

Ranjit

Travelmad - there actually is an airport in Agra. One way flights from Delhi run less than $40.

Really? Is this new, or is it a tiny airport? Who flies there--scheduled flights, or just private ones? I was just at a talk three months ago by the minister of aviation and he said there was no airport there--and I've never even heard of being able to fly to Agra via commercial carriers. Interesting.

Travelmad - As far as I know Kingfisher is flying there but I think it's only from Delhi (and may even be only certain days). I don't know which other airlines but I'm sure more will follow. It's great for anybody who has limited time. Happy Travels!