Mumbai in a day: what to see

The Gateway of India is visited best in early hours: the triumphal arch built in 1924 to commemorate King George V's landing, facing the Arabian Sea, remains one of the city's most photographed symbols.

Right opposite stands the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the hotel in Indo-Saracen style from 1903 that has hosted heads of state and celebrities for over a century.

From here, a short walk leads to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, the museum in Indo-Saracen style that collects art, archaeology and natural history in one UNESCO heritage building.

For lunch, restaurants around Colaba offer dishes of Parsi and Maharashtrian cuisine, from vada pav to fish curries from the coast.

The Dhobi Ghat is the world's largest open-air laundry, where hundreds of washermen hand-wash the city's clothes in rows of cement tanks visible from an elevated bridge.

The railway station Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a Gothic Victorian masterpiece UNESCO heritage site, remains among the world's most crowded stations, and from here one moves well toward Bandra, with its colonial villas and fashionable shops.

As evening approaches, the Marine Drive waterfront, the road that follows the bay's curve to Chowpatty Beach, lights up with lampposts: known as the Queen's Necklace for its nighttime profile, it remains the most natural point for a walk before dinner.

The Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Palace, and the main museum explain Mumbai's colonial heritage on their own, while the afternoon choice between the Dhobi Ghat and the Victorian station with Bandra adds its daily or more contemporary side.

Bollywood studios, visitable only with organized tours booked well in advance, and the rock-carved caves of Elephanta Island remain chapters for a second trip. Seeing Marine Drive's lights drawing the bay's curve at dusk best encapsulates Mumbai more than anything else.