Hello you!

I spent the weekend mulling over what my next blog post should be about. I visited a few of my favourite haunts and decided to write about them. I’ve been in Mumbai for a year! One year! Time flies far too fast. Honestly, I haven’t explored Mumbai as much as I’d have liked mainly because of two reasons – 1. The weather, it’s either raining or too hot! 2. I spend a lot of weekends traveling, especially heading back home to Delhi. But there are a few places that have won my heart and I often end up going back to them over the weekend. So here is my list:

Places:

1. Bandra Fort – This is my FAVOURITE place in Mumbai!! The view, the calm, the location – I love it. One minus being the number of people always around. But if you find yourself a nice cosy spot, it’s easy to forget the crowd around.

The view from the fort of the sea link

PS: this fort has been the location for many a movie shots. The one I remember is – Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na – when Genelia sits here after her breakup with her fiance.

2. Marine Drive – Marine Drive used to be my favourite place till Bandra Fort uprooted it. Marine Drive is Mumbai in a nutshell – the people, the sea, the vibe! I love visiting the place to catch the sunset!

3. Bandra Bandstand – Yes yes all my favourite places are my by the sea! I’m obsessed! Bandra Bandstand is perfect for sunsets too. Additionally, Mannat in the background adds to the charm of the place for me.

Rainy days at Bandstand

4. Pier at Juhu Beach – So I’m not sure how many people know of this but if you walk the entire length of Juhu beach from Marriott, at the end is this pier where fisherman tie their boats. This pier extends into the sea and has absolutely divine views.

5. Fort area – Just walking around this area, getting lost amongst the beautiful buildings and less crowded streets is therapeutic.

Shopping:

I really want to do a shopping guide to Mumbai but I’m guessing that’s too much effort for me.

1. Hill Road – My favourite favourite place to do street shopping! From earrings to necklaces to tops to pants to shoes – this place has an amazing collection at amazing prices!

PS: there is this really cute shop Motas at the end of the market – do visit this shop for amazing home decor items.

2. Colaba – I love this market mainly because of its location. Walking around the streets around Fort, Mumbai University, Gateway, Colaba, Nariman Point is definitely my favourite thing to do in Mumbai. Colaba has an amazing collection always but I find it much more expensive than Hill Road and Linking Road.

PS: A lot of pickpocketing happens in this market. My friend’s wallet was stolen during a visit. Best to be careful with your belongings.

3. Oshiwara Market – so this is not your typical street shopping but I love the Oshiwara Furniture Market. If you are looking to buy furniture or antiques, you should visit this market. The furniture is priced decently but bargaining will help to get a good price.

4. Malls – whenever I need to do a mall run (read as: H&M run), I choose to go to R City Mall in Ghatkopar or Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla! These two malls have almost all the major brands.

Food:

I often find myself missing Delhi just because of the amazing variety of food available there.

1. Britannia, Fort – For people looking to have Irani/Parsi food – this cute joint is the place to go. It still has the same interiors from years ago and the staff is just the cutest!

2. Ashok Vada Pav, Kirti College, Dadar: OMG! Definitely the best Vada pav I’ve had in Mumbai!! The line outside the vada pav stall is testimony to how popular the food is!

3. Theobroma – only for their Mava Cake, Dense Loaf and chocolate mousse pastry.

4. The Boston Cupcakery – the only bakery in Mumbai where I’ve had decent cheesecake – their Caramel Yogurt Cheesecake is to die for!

5. K Rustom – for people who haven’t heard about it, this a really old ice cream parlour that serves homemade ice cream sandwiches that are to die for.

6. Bello Pop, Andheri West – this really small popsicle joint that serves a variety of popsicles that are so so good! A little overpriced but definitely worth a try.

Places to visit around Mumbai:

So I haven’t visited a lot of places, not as much as I’d have liked!

1. Kashid – This trip was definitely my favourite one mainly because it was quite an adventure! And camping at Kashid beach was a mind blowing experience. (Read more about it in my blog post on it.)

2. Pune – Pune is such a cute, quiet city. I loved my weekend trip to it. The weather was perfect and I loved walking around the city.

That’s all from me for this post. Hoping to discover other favourites after some more time of exploring. Do let me know in the comments below about whether you agree with my picks! And do leave your recommendations!