Experience the best of Mumbai in 2025 by visiting its most vibrant and culturally rich districts. Photo / Getty Images
Experience the best of Mumbai in 2025 by visiting its most vibrant and culturally rich districts. Photo / Getty Images
A modern city to rival the best metropolises in Asia, all eyes are on Mumbai for 2025 and beyond. Here are five of the city’s best neighbourhoods, writes Sarah Meikle.
Mumbai is a world of constant contrast. Once a series of islands now reclaimed, and home to more than 20 million people, Mumbai melds India’s past and future. Dominating skyscrapers are hugged by slums and high-end shopping malls. Massive infrastructure projects have seen colossal bridges slash travel times across the city, and a new network of underground tunnels has meant that the trip from the airport to the city has been cut by 40 minutes during peak times.
You probbly have an image in your head of what you think Mumbai is like, and that’s understandable … thanks to the movies you’ll have seen; Dharavi in Slumdog Millionaire, Asia’s largest slum, or the buildings echoing the time of the British Raj as a backdrop to Hotel Mumbai, but these are glimpses of the past. Mumbai is taking on Asia’s other great cities and offers an experience of fabulous culture, food, fashion, art, design and architecture that you’ve come to expect in Hong Kong, Tokyo or Singapore. Mumbai is a city going places and nothing is going to stop it – it is dazzling, intense and absolutely captivating.
Let’s check out some of Mumbai’s coolest neighbourhoods.
Home to a number of Bollywood stars and Indian cricket players, Juhu is an affluent beachside neighbourhood with a strip of five-star hotels lining the coast. The area comes alive on a Sunday afternoon with rows of busy snack stalls creating a buzzy atmosphere. Just a couple of streets back from the beach you’ll find boutique shopping, great dining and for culture buffs, the chance to see a live performance at the Prithvi Theatre or visit the extensive ISKCON Temple complex. Juhu is the perfect spot to sip a cocktail and watch a stunning Mumbai sunset. Try bars and restaurants like Estella, Dashanzi or Cecconi’s in the fabulous Soho House.
Juhu Beach is home to many Bollywood stars and Indian cricket players. Photo / Getty Images
Bandra West
Close to Juhu Beach, Bandra West has become very fashionable in recent years with new restaurants and boutiques opening regularly. Known as the “Queen of the Suburbs”, Bandra West was originally a Portuguese settlement that maintained its influence despite the British taking possession of the “Bombay” islands further to the south. That influence is still clear today through the neighbourhood’s liberal attitudes making it a hot spot for celebrities and freethinkers. Ancestral Portuguese-style houses are dotted among more modern buildings, all home to great restaurants and bars, coffee spots, yoga studios and organic food stores. There’s a lot of great eating to be had, with Bandra Born and Izumi Bandra, definitely worth a visit.
Mumbai was originally a series of seven islands, later reclaimed to form the city. Photo / Getty Images
Fort
At the heart of the most southern point of Mumbai is the neighbourhood of Fort, which derived its name from Fort George established here in 1769 by the British East India Company. Largely destroyed by fire in 1803, this part of Mumbai is home to some magnificent architectural relics of that time, including the stunning neoclassical Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall, and the Victorian Gothic-style Bombay High Court and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station. No visit to Fort should miss a stop in the Kala Ghoda Arts Precinct, a network of narrow laneways housing some of the city’s finest cultural establishments, including art galleries, boutiques and museums. A favourite stop to escape a warm day is the Kala Ghoda Café.
The Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall. Photo / Getty Images
Lower Parel
This neighbourhood was once the centre of Mumbai’s cotton milling industry with derelict factories still in existence today. The Great Depression and competition from Japan in the post-World War II era, saw the end to many of these businesses which sat empty until around 30 years ago when Mumbai’s sprawl saw the need to redevelop these buildings into apartments and retail. Today this neighbourhood has been significantly modernised and is home to many five-star hotels, fabulous dining (many in those retrofitted mill buildings), craft breweries and huge, modern shopping malls. Don’t miss dining at the fabulous Bombay Canteen or stopping in to see the world’s largest outdoor laundry at the nearby Dhobi Ghat.
Lower Parel’s Dhobi Ghat is the world’s largest outdoor laundry. Photo / Getty Images
Malabar Hill
Once a thick jungle on a peninsula close to the south of Mumbai, Malabar Hill is now an exclusive residential suburb, home to many government officials. The suburb commands great views of “the Queen’s Necklace”, Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive, from Kamala Nehru Park, and became a very popular neighbourhood after the fire that destroyed the Fort district in 1803. Many people visit the neighbourhood to take in the view or see the well-manicured Hanging Gardens (a respite from the city bustle), but the real highlight is to visit one of the many Jain temples in the area. The Babu Amichand Panalal Adishwarji Jain Temple welcomes visitors. If you are keen on a bite to eat, the nearby Soam and its new sister restaurant, Aamchee, are great.
The Hanging Gardens in Malabar Hill is a serene escape with city views. Photo / Getty Images
Checklist
MUMBAI, INDIA
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Mumbai with one stopover with Cathay Pacific, as well as Singapore Airlines and Air NZ on a Star Alliance Codeshare basis.
