Mumbai – The Financial Capital of India

Mumbai, earlier known as Bombay, is the largestBy bus - If you plan your tour by road, Mumbai is
city in India and the capital of Maharashtra state.well connected with all the major tourist spots
Mumbai was originally a conglomeration of sevenacross India. Most of the long distance buses
islands on the Konkan coastline which over timeleave from the State Transport Terminal situated
were joined to form the island city of Bombay.opposite Mumbai's Central Railway Station.
The island was in turn joined with the neighboringHowever, we won't suggest you to take on this
island of Salsette to form Greater Bombay.journey if you have a language problem, since
Mumbai was given by Portuguese as dowry tothere is hardly any information in English. Not
Charles II of England when he married Catherine.knowing Hindi or Marathi can make your travel
The group of seven islands was leased to thearduous and not to mention the road fatigue.
East India Company who offered freedom ofPlaces to visit:
business and religion to persons who came andChowpatty Beach, it’s crowded but fun.
settled here. Initially a few Parsis and GujaratiMarine Drive at daytime and night (you'll most
came but soon a sizeable population began tolikely see this while travelling around in the city, so
thrive here. This was way back in the 17ththere's no special trip needed), Chowpatty is at
century. Today also Mumbai is a city of migrants.Marine Drive's northern end, Oberoi is at the
People from all over the country have come andsouthern end, it's basically a semi-circular road
settled here. This gives the society of Mumbai aright by the sea, and it looks great at night and
multi-lingual and multi-cultural color.heck any time of the day. It is crowded during
The city has an estimated metropolitan populationrush hours.
of 17 million (2005), making it one of the largestGateway of India, near the Taj Mahal hotel,
cities in the world. It is also home to India's largestElephanta Islands, you can take a boat from
slum population. Mumbai looms large as theGateway of India to the islands, spend part of the
commercial capital of as it is one of the India'sday there looking at the caves, etc. Breach Candy
predominant port cities. Mumbai's nature as thefor good quality shopping needs, such as clothes,
most eclectic and cosmopolitan Indian city isgifts, etc. Amarsons is one of the stores that my
symbolized in the presence of Bollywood withinfamily has been going to for over 25 years. You
the city, the centre of the globally-influential Hindican also hit the markets such as Crawford
film and TV industries.Market, Buleshwar for good and cheap goods;
Mumbai Bombay is a very well connected city, bejust know it's in the older part of the city, so
it by air, road or rail.there are narrow streets and crowding.
By air - Mumbai has more flights connecting itBeing one of the most popular cities of India,
than even the national capital New Delhi. All majorBombay is usually thronged by number of tourists
airlines fly to and from Mumbai to most of thefrom all over the world. Since the city is quite
important cities of the world. The internationalfamous on the Indian tourist map, Bombay host
terminal of Mumbai is known as Sahar and thean array of hotels ranging from Deluxe to Budget.
domestic terminal is known as Santa Cruz.They are further categorized into 5 star, 4 Star
By rail - Central Railways runs services to theand 3 star. Deciding on where to stay in Mumbai
east and north, the Western Railways also runsjust got that bit easier! for a selection of the best
trains to North India from Churchgate and Centralhostels and budget accommodation in Mumbai.
stations.