6 Best Sights in Mumbai, India

Chowpatty Beach and the rest of long, elegantly curved Marine Drive are the essence of the mammoth, cheeky, beautiful seaside beast that is Mumbai. Chowpatty gives a taste of the bazaar and mela (festival) rolled into one. By day—weekday, that is—it's a quiet, uncluttered stretch of sand, but by night it transforms into a carnival of food and hawkers and touts and amusements of every kind, all lit up like Christmas Eve. In a rapidly changing city, it retains some of the simple pleasures in which Mumbaikars indulged before the economy skyrocketed—and it remains an equalizer of sorts, with parents of every class and caste bringing their families here for an evening of fun. For the casual traveler, it offers a window into the many colors—and smells and tastes and sounds—of Mumbai.

A hundred species of salesmen throng the beach in the evening, and especially on Sunday, selling everything from glow-in-the-dark yo-yos and animal-shaped balloons to rat poison. Men stand by with bathroom scales, offering complacent strollers a chance to check their heft. Hand-operated Ferris wheels and carousels are packed with children. A few stalls nearby distribute Mumbai's famously satisfying fast food—crunchy bhel puri (puffed-rice snacks), ragda pattice (potato cakes blanketed with spicy chickpea gravy), and pav bhaji (fried vegetable mash eaten with bread). From the beach, walk southeast down Marine Drive toward Nariman Point and you'll bump into flotillas of evening strollers, cooing couples wandering past the waves in a daze, and dogs and kids being walked by their respective minders. Just about the only thing the area lacks is water that's safe for swimming.

Topped with Moorish domes, Mumbai's finest Victorian building and principal museum houses 30,000 artifacts, divided among art, archaeology, and natural history. While the building is stunning, the artifacts, most of which are extremely interesting, are unfortunately shown in a slightly dusty environment, with less-than-ideal lighting. The picture gallery contains scores of Mughal and Rajput miniature paintings, works by European and contemporary Indian artists, and copies of magnificent cave-temple paintings from Ajanta.

The museum's new name is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, but no one uses that name, so if you must ask for directions, call it the Prince of Wales Museum.

Not a far stroll from Trishna and other famous restaurants, one of Mumbai's oldest contemporary-art galleries hosts changing exhibits of well-known Indian artists. Some of the work is lovely, and all of it is interesting for its cultural perspective. There's usually plenty of art outside as well—when it's not monsoon season the plaza in front of the building is full of artists selling their work.

The attractive and ornate Knesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue is across from Jehangir Art Gallery, at the southern edge of Fort. Built in 1884 for Bombay's community of Baghdadi Jews, it's sky blue, with lovely stained-glass windows and intricately constructed second-floor balconies. You can visit daily between 10 and 6:30, and are welcome for Sabbath prayers on Friday evening.

Stretching for 3 km (2 miles) along the Arabian Sea, Marine Drive's promenade offers one of the best walks in Mumbai. After you've had your fill of the busy city, head out for a wander—if you're in the mood, you can stroll all the way from Nariman Point up to Malabar Hill. On the way, peer at the stately art deco buildings that flank the street, stop by Dome, on top of the InterContinental Hotel in Churchgate, for a sunset drink, or grab a snack at Chowpatty Beach, which is famous for Mumbai street food. If you're here at night, scope out the famed Queen's Necklace, as the streetlights along C-shape Marine Drive are affectionately known.

A great place to see the works of legendary Indian artists M.F. Hussein and F.N. Souza, this imposing, classical-looking circular building has interiors that bring to mind a shrunk-down version of New York's Guggenheim Museum. Built in 1911 by Gateway of India architect George Wittet, it was once the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Public Hall, and the venue for the concerts of violinist Yehudi Menuhin and the rallies of Mahatma Gandhi—the hall still has the acoustics to match. Modern Indian art is displayed in an uncrowded, easy manner on four floors. It's not as spectacular as the Prince of Wales Museum across the street, but it's quiet, and worth a visit, especially if you're an art lover.