aks_nyc

I am traveling to Mumbai for 2 weeks on business in the middle of September. I will have a weekend to spend exploring and was hoping for some suggestions around or outside of Mumbia. This will be my first trip to India and would appreciate any assistance.

Cicerone

The Elora and Ajanta caves would be first on most tourists lists for short trips from Mumbai, and are quite spectacular, esp if you have an interest in Buddhist art. You can from Mumbai in about an hour to Aurangabad, and start out from there. I would also say that the Ahmadabad area might be worth consideration, a short visit there to see Gandhi’s ashram and then you can go into the countryside of Gujarat to visit villages which are known for their rather astonishing textile work (I have seen and purchased examples in Mumbai).

If you do not already have it, you might consider getting Alistair Sawday's book called Special Places to Stay India. This has literally hundreds of very interesting places to stay, many in the range of less than US$60 a night and several in the range of less than US$30 a night. They also have a website at http://sawdays.co.uk/, click on the book for India. The vast majority of these hotels are not in the luxury range and some are in the very low budget range, but all look interesting.

Another idea is to go up to Murang, which is a hill station area and would be a bit cooler than Mumbai (or Aurangabad) in September. One place to consider staying is the Verandah in the Forest It’s an old colonial-style hill station retreat (the hotel has a bit more charm than actual facilities, but the ghost of the British Raj certainly is interesting), there is walking/trekking, some birding, etc. Pretty convenient to and from Mumbai by car. See http://www.neemranahotels.com

You could go down to Goa or Kerala and the nice beaches and interesting areas tjere, I would be a little concerned aboit still lingering rain in September tjere, see weatjerbase.com for info. But if you did not care about laying out on a beach and just wanted to see nice countryside in a beach setting and some different culture (Portugeuese influence in Goa, architecture and food; great food in Kerala and a small Jewish community suriving in Kochi), it would certainly be interesting. 2 days may be a bit short, I would probably opt for Goa in that case, a bit more compact.

If you truly only have a Friday afternoon to a Sunday afternoon, IMO, it is not really feasible to try to get to Agra (i.e. the Taj Majal), as you cannot fly there directly and a Friday afternoon would necessitude a stopover in Delhi Friday night and that is just a lot of running around, but if you are interested, then look into flight schedules (Kingfisher Airlines) to see if this works. If you think you will be going to India again in the future, and will be in north India (e.g. Delhi) then you could of course save the Taj for a another trip.

I would suggest you get some guidebooks (old ones from a library are fine) and get an idea of what is in the area of Mumbai. India is a huge country geographically and culturally, and you don’t want to try to go too far afield in only a weekend.

I am not a huge fan of Mumbai for the tourist. but as you will be there anyway. there are some tourist bits and a good museum, some good shopping, etc. Enough for sure to keep on occupied for a 2-day weekend if you wanted to stay in town. Or go up to Juhu and look for Bollywood stars…..

someotherguy

The logistics of getting to Elora and Ajanta for just a weekend are a bit daunting--plus it'd be a shame to go to Aurangabad and not have time to see the other sites in the neighborhood (which I enjoyed a smuch, or more, than the main attractions), such as the fort at Daulatabad, Aurangzeb's tomb, the watermill at Panchakki, the Bibi-ka-Maqbara (Baby Taj).

I'd second Cicerone's suggestion of a hill station. I've enjoyed Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar, but I didn't start from Mumbai and I believe there are some others that are easier to get to from Mumbai.

aks_nyc

Cicerone & Someotherguy I appreciate your suggestions. My thoughts are to explore outside of Mumbai. The Buddhist art and caves sound great. I am not really into the Bollywood stars.. have hard enough time recognizing the Hollywood stars. I have some research to do and some quick decisions to make. Thanks again.

saregama

There are lovely breaks closer to Bombay - Elephanta is a daytrip by ferry from the Gateway (caves, closer than Ajanta-Ellora). Hill stations - Lonavla/Khandala are 2-3 hours by the express highway, and you can get a car and driver from Bombay. Beaches - Alibag is a quick ferry ride away, Madh is not far by car, Murud-Janjira slightly further but with a bit more interesting stuff.