Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is a large city on the west coast of India. Its location on the Arabian Sea made it an important trading post for spices and other goods back into the times of the Greek and Roman empires. The British took control of the city in the mid-17th century, and turned it into a major commerce city. Today, Mumbai is a thriving metropolis with many extremes; both the super wealthy and incredibly impoverished live here, often within a few blocks. Mumbai's attractions for tourists include shopping, numerous attractions, and an introduction to the city's favorite industry, Bollywood movies.
Visa and Passport
All U.S. citizens must acquire a visa prior to traveling to India. All of India's visa applications for the U.S. are handled by Travisa Outsourcing (indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com), which maintains offices in New York City, Chicago, Houston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Applications can be done on the same day with an in-person visit, or up to nine days if applying by mail. U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin may have additional processing times for visas of up to six weeks. To qualify for a visa, travelers must have a passport valid for at least six months after the visa application date, and two blank pages.
Travelers from the U.S. are in for a long haul for flights to Mumbai; from New York City direct flights are more than 15 hours long. As of early 2011, no direct flights operate between the West Coast and Mumbai, and flights are generally in the 20- to 40-hour range, including connections. A wide variety of airlines, including Indian and U.S. based carriers, offer nonstop flights from New York to Mumbai; additional flights may be available from other major East Coast hubs such as Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. All international flights land in Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (csia.in; airport code BOM), about four miles north of downtown.
Hotels, hostels and other accommodations in Mumbai can range from the luxurious to the rustic, and contain everything in between. One of the top hotels in the city is the oceanfront Taj Mahal Palace (tajhotels.com), which opened in 1903 and has played host to celebrities, royalty and heads of state. A huge range of hotels is available in the city and its suburbs; for further assistance in finding accommodations, contact the area's Maharashtra Tourism Corp. (maharashtratourism.gov.in).
Mumbai is a huge metropolis, with an equally large number of attractions, events and daily happenings to keep its residents and visitors entertained, including beaches and the city's most famous industry, Bollywood movies. Additionally, a few hundred years of colonial influence has left a distinctly British mark on the city, which has a variety of ornate Victorian buildings, including the Gateway of India, a large arch on the waterfront, near the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. Both of these structures are in the Colaba Fort neighborhood, also home to numerous markets and shops selling local crafts. The National Gallery of Modern Art Mumbai (ngmaindia.gov.in/ngma_mumbai.asp) houses collections of Indian and international contemporary art. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, also known as The Museum -- Mumbai (themuseummumbai.com), is home to a number of exhibits on the culture, art and natural history of Mumbai, as well as some collections of artifacts from other areas of India and Southeast Asia.