The bustling Marine Drive (renamed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road) sweeps along a sea-facing promenade that runs from Nariman Point to Malabar Hill. Built on land reclaimed from the sea in the 1920s, it is also the main arterial link between the suburbs and the city’s prime commercial and administrative centres. People flock to the area for their daily walks, couples meet here after work and families gather around vendors selling coconut water and bhelpuri (a savoury puffed rice snack) in the evenings.
Soona Mahal: access only to Pizza by the Bay; open 7am–midnight; www.pizzabythebay.in
Cricket Stadiums Oval Maidan: Maharshi Karve Rd, 022 2204 4040; Wankhede Stadium: Vinoo Mankad Rd, 022 2279 5500
National Centre for the Performing Arts: Nariman Point; 022 3989 5050; www.ncpamumbai.com
Royal Opera House: Mama Padmanand Marg, Girgaum; 022 2369 0511
Sea-facing, concrete structures built to a uniform height of five floors dot this lovely promenade. Financed by the area’s wealthy residents, these Art Deco buildings sprung up in the 1930s and 1940s, and made this the most chic residential area of the time.
The late Parsi businessman Kawasji Sidhwa built this Art Deco palatial structure in 1937. In the years that followed, it was a plush B&B. Today it is home to many residents, as well as to a café, Pizza by the Bay.
The southernmost of Mumbai’s beaches has recently been revamped and remains lively till late at night. Devotees throng this venue for the immersion of Ganesha (elephant-god) idols into the Arabian Sea.
To the east is the Oval Maidan, nursery of the famous cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Wankhede Stadium, which witnessed India’s 2011 World Cup win, is also close by.
No stranger to the world of Bollywood, the area has been home to many film stars and singers in the past. It has also featured in films; Amitabh Bachchan once famously rode a motorcycle down Marine Drive in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.
The low, tile-roofed cottages have timber eaves and open verandas with cast-iron balconies that retain the flavour of a sleepy coastal village, despite its location in the heart of Mumbai.
Mumbai’s most active venue for theatre, music and dance, the NCPA regularly hosts the best of local and international talent. It is home to the Symphony Orchestra of India, the country’s first professional orchestra.
A posh residential area once dotted with bungalows, today its apartments are home to Mumbai’s elite. The Banganga water tank and the Tower of Silence are also located here.
Installed in phases from 1998 to 2004, these interlocked boulder-like tetra pods along the coast of Marine Drive act as wave breakers to stop the erosion of the coastline.
This opulent Baroque structure, completed in 1916, is the only surviving opera house in the country.
Colloquially, Marine Drive is known as the “Queen’s Necklace” after the glittering streetlights that line the road. Late-night ice-cream stalls along with peaceful sea views offered from the boulevard and the nearby beach, make for an inexpensive evening out for tourists and locals alike. The flickering night lights and the moving traffic can create a beautiful time-lapse.
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