Sometimes, vacations end up looking more like a tossed salad than a perfect dessert…. especially when a spouse is on a long assignment in a different city and you decide to visit with your kids…and you are on your own during the day! That was our situation when we visited Mumbai, India. Here is what we were able to accomplish during our short visit.
*Super important note: We had a reliable driver and car at our disposal that made the following possible.
We reached on a Saturday evening so that we could spend Sunday together as a family. Kids need to have fun and so, early Sunday morning, we headed to Essel World Water Kingdom close by. The kids had a blast playing in the water park. The park itself is clean and well maintained. We spent the whole day there and pretty much crashed after getting back.
The next morning, the kids and I headed to Kanheri Caves. These caves are located in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Unfortunately, the Lion Safari in the SGNP is closed on Mondays. But, we did have a wonderful time exploring the Kanheri Caves. The monkeys that hang around there are pretty aggressive… watch out.
On Tuesday, we headed out to explore The Gateway of India and Elephanta Caves. It happened to be a very hot day and the kids did get a little tired (You need to climb some stairs to reach the caves). After spending some time, we headed back to The Gateway and checked out the Taj Palace Hotel. We then headed towards Marine Drive where we chilled by the tetrapod rocks. To complete our exploration, we drove on the Worli Sea link and then past Shah Rukh Khan’s house before calling it a day!
On our last day, we spent the morning at Juhu beach, driving past houses of many famous actors and checking out Shivaji Terminus Railway Station before heading home.
Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites marked off the list!
Final thoughts
Mumbai is an amazing city. You will not be able to find and experience energy like it anywhere else in India. We realise we just scratched the surface during our few days there. The kids were quite young at the time of our visit, so we avoided crowded places like temples and the bazaars and slum settlements like Dharavi. We will perhaps go back again some day to explore the rest of Mumbai.
Both Elephanta Caves and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park are closed on Mondays which can make planning tough. If you are planning a long weekend break to Mumbai and want to see these sites, schedule accordingly.
Wandering Tales Travel Dreams 