What did you think of Mumbai?
 

We've spent a couple months in India in the past, so we're old India hands. But, this will be our first time in Mumbai. We fly into Mumbai as the first stop in our six week trip to the south of India, and I am wondering how long to allocate to Mumbai since it likely will be our only time there.

We are typically not huge fans of large cities, and we don't always feel compelled to just visit the typical tourist sights. What we've seen of Delhi we did in four different 6 hour chunks on days we were going through Delhi. That was fine.

We like to walk and enjoy the general atmosphere of places, and from what I've been reading it sounds as though South Mumbai is quite walkable. And, we like seaside or water areas. Even though we typically find walking through unique food markets fascinating, we are not shoppers, and we don't intend to go out at night to party.

So, what did you think of Mumbai? How long do you recommend spending there for people like us? Thanks much for the insights.

Wondering also about Mumbai. How many days should we devote to touring there?

Julies - where will you be going on this trip to india? When are you going? I hope you will do another report. We are in the preliminary stages of planning a second trip - this time to the southern region in November.

I think Delhi has more sights than Mumbai, and is generally a more historical city. I would devote 4 days to Mumbai and that too mostly to try out the awesome food joints. You could do it in 3 but it would be a bit rushed.

We're going start of Feb. I think I may have settled on 3 full days there and 4 nights (our flight gets in at night) but hadn't really given the food a thought until you brought it up. I just read about an evening street food tour that I think we might take, and I do keep reading though that the food in Mumbai is great.

So, maybe another day since I also think I may want to do the reality tour of Dharavi slum. Both my husband and I read "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" which is set in this slum. If you haven't read it, do get it. It is a sobering book to read.

I personally find the sit down places in Mumbai to be better than the street food. Britannia and Gaylords are good to begin the city's food journey.

I also read that book which is highly recommended.

Is it really safe to eat the street food in India? The only thing we ate on our last trip to the Rajasthan area was a lassi sold on the streets. Most of the food was not appealing as it was deep fried in filthy looking oil.