48 Hours in Mumbai: A Complete Travel Itinerary with The Shalimar Hotel as Your Base
February 20, 2026
South Mumbai doesn't reveal itself quickly. You need to walk through it, sit in its chaos, taste its food, watch how light changes across the Gateway of India at different hours. Two days is tight, but if you're staying at The Shalimar Hotel, where you're not fighting your commute or adjusting to some distant location. Here, you can move through the neighborhood with actual purpose instead of just checking boxes.
This itinerary assumes you're staying with us. It's built around what you'll discover if you step outside our door and explore with intention, then return to a place that feels like yours.
Why Start At The Shalimar Hotel?
We're on August Kranti Marg, which means most of what matters in South Mumbai is walkable or a ten-minute ride away. The Gateway of India, about 20 minutes away. Marine Drive about 6 minutes away. The old colonial buildings. Mani Bhavan Museum which is about 10 minutes away. But the real reason to stay with us isn't proximity but it's that when you return exhausted or hungry or suddenly needing to charge your phone, you're not battling traffic across the city. You're home. .
Day 1: The Classic South Mumbai Experience
Morning (7:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
7:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Breakfast
Start here, at the hotel. The patisserie opens at 7 AM and the pastries are actually fresh. The butter croissants, dark chocolate pain au chocolat, fresh fruit and good coffee are served on time and according to its needs. You'll notice this immediately because most hotel breakfast buffets feel like they were assembled at 5 AM and left to sit.
Eat slowly. Read something. Watch the city wake up if our breakfast room has windows facing the street. You're not rushing. Today is long, and a proper breakfast changes how you move through the next hours.
9:15 AM – 11:30 AM: Gateway of India & The Surrounding Streets
Walk or take a short ride. Seven kilometers, maybe twenty-twenty five minutes depending on traffic.
The Gateway itself is magnificent, it was built in 1924, with Indo-Saracenic architecture and the harbor in the background. Arrive early and you'll actually see it without the crowds crushing you. Take photographs if you want. Chat with someone. This isn't a monument to observe from a distance; it's a place where the city gathers.
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel stands nearby is just pure colonial grandeur, South Mumbai’s iconic reminder of history. Walk around the building's exterior. Look at the stonework, the arches, the architectural ambition of a different era.
Spend time just noticing. The light. The architecture. The mix of tourists and locals and families. Don't feel pressured to consume experiences. Sometimes the experience is just sitting on a bench and watching what happens.
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Return & Rest
Head back. The midday heat is intense, especially if it's summer. Shower. Change into lighter clothes. Drink water. Rest for twenty minutes if you need to. This isn't wasting time; this is what makes the next six hours possible.
Afternoon (1:00 PM – 6:00 PM)
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Lunch
Eat at the hotel if you want because the food is honestly pretty good and you don't need to navigate anywhere.
The point isn't where you eat. It's that you're eating well and not exhausted from finding food.
3:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Colaba Causeway
Just 20 minutes away, this street is sensory overload. Vintage clothing shops. Bookstalls with random finds at old Mumbai include histories, art books, novels in languages you didn't expect. Antique dealers. Contemporary boutiques. Street performers. People. Chaos that somehow works.
Walk slowly. Stop in shops that catch your eye. Try clothes on. Flip through books. Talk to shopkeepers. They're often interesting. Some have been here for decades and remember different versions of this street.
As evening approaches, the light softens. The crowds shift. The street becomes less frenetic. This is actually a better time to visit than midday.
3:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Colaba Causeway
Back to the hotel. Shower. Change. You've covered real distance and absorbed a lot. A few minutes of quiet before evening makes everything better.
Evening (6:30 PM – 11:30 PM)
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM: Marine Drive at Sunset
Walk here or take a ride. It's worth being present for this.
Just 1.7km away from The Shalimar Hotel, Marine Drive curves along the coast for nearly three kilometers. The Arabian Sea to one side, the city's buildings to the other. Benches line the promenade. At sunset, everyone comes here, from joggers finishing their runs, couples, families, locals in small groups, photographers.
Arrive thirty minutes before sunset. Find a spot on a bench or stand near the water. Watch the sky change. Orange, pink, purple, then darkness. The lights of the buildings come on. This is what people mean when they talk about Mumbai's energy, it’s not the noise or the crowds, but this moment where the city breathes with you.
The breeze carries sea salt. You're present in something refreshing.
Eat at the hotel, where the kitchen is still running and service is attentive. The bar has actual energy at this hour. There are people, conversation and drinks that are made well. Or venture out if you've spotted somewhere that interested you earlier.
9:45 PM – 11:00 PM: Evening & Sleep
Some people want to walk the quiet residential streets of South Mumbai at night. The neighborhood feels different, calmer, and more intimate. Locals sitting outside their buildings.
Others are tired and want to return, rest, maybe use the spa if energy allows.
Both are perfect choices. Tomorrow requires sleep.
Day 2: Finding What Interests You
Morning (8:00 AM – 12:30 PM)
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM: Breakfast & Planning
Another leisurely breakfast. Use this time to actually think about Day 2. What are you curious about? Art? History? Just wandering? The museums mentioned below are real options, but only if they appeal to you.
Bring water, sunscreen, comfortable shoes, a light layer for air conditioning, your phone.
9:45 AM – 12:30 PM: Choose One Deep Experience
Don't try to do everything. Choose one thing and actually experience it.
If Museums Appeal:
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus which is about 17 minutes away from The Shalimar Hotel, is a functioning Victorian Gothic railway station that's also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The architecture is stunning, from stained glass, intricate stonework, soaring ceilings. Arrive early, navigate the security with patience, and spend time actually looking at the building rather than rushing through.
The National Gallery of Modern Art is in a colonial building with galleries that flow through heritage rooms. The contemporary Indian art varies, but the space itself rewards time spent walking through it.
The Mani Bhavan Library is smaller and more intimate and it is located 2.2Km away from The Shalimar Hotels. It is connected to Gandhi's independence movement. It's less crowded and offers great historical depth without feeling like a tourist experience.
The Malabar Hill Experience:
The elevated nature trail at Malabar Hill is definitely worth including, as it's a really special spot that gives you this unique combination of experiences. You're walking on a suspended wooden walkway through what's basically one of the last patches of Mumbai's original forest ecosystem, with over a hundred native tree species creating this beautiful canopy overhead.
It's great for spotting wildlife too, you'll see colorful birds like kingfishers and parakeets, and if you're lucky, garden lizards and snakes blending into the trees. What makes it even better is that from certain points along the trail, you get these stunning views looking out over Marine Drive and the Arabian Sea, so you've got this really cool contrast between being surrounded by nature and seeing the city sprawl and the water beyond.
Choose one. Spend two hours. Let yourself actually absorb it rather than checking it off.
Walking & Wandering Appeal:
The Kala Ghoda area (south of Colaba Causeway) is where Mumbai's artists and creative people congregate. It is about 18 minutes away from Colaba but is worth visiting. The Galleries, design studios, bookstores, cafés. Walk without an agenda. Stop in places that interest you. Talk to people if they seem open to it.
If You Just Want to Sit & Observe:
Find a café. Order coffee. Sit. Watch how people move through the neighborhood. Read something. This is valid. Sometimes presence is the point.
12:45 PM – 1:00 PM: Walk Back
Return to the hotel, freshen up, prepare for lunch.
Afternoon (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Lunch
Same as yesterday, eat well and don't overthink it.
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Your Afternoon, Your Way
By now, you've found rhythms. You know which streets you want to revisit. Whether you'd rather be alone or mingling. Follow those instincts.
Maybe you return to Colaba Causeway and actually go into the vintage bookshop properly. Maybe you sit at a café and write. Maybe you take photographs of colonial architecture in the afternoon light. Maybe you visit a temple. Maybe you rest at the hotel.
There's no wrong choice. You're not trying to consume South Mumbai. You're trying to understand it.
5:15 PM – 6:00 PM: Return & Rest
You've absorbed a lot. Rest properly. Shower. Hydrate. Prepare for your final evening.
Evening (6:30 PM – Late)
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM: Dinner
By now, you have preferences. Eat where you want. If the hotel appeals, the bar's energy is high.
8:00 PM – Late: Your Final Evening
This is yours. Return to Marine Drive one more time if that's what calls you. Explore nightlife if that interests you. Wander the residential streets at night and feel how different they are from daytime. Sit quietly at the hotel. Order a late coffee from the patisserie.
The city reveals itself differently depending on how you spend time with it. What you do tonight should feel like a genuine choice, not a recommendation you felt obligated to follow.
Practical Notes for Moving Through South Mumbai
Getting Around
Most places are 5-30 minutes from the hotel. Walking is wonderful for short distances and authentic experience, but the heat and distances sometimes make motorized transport wise.
Weather
Mumbai changes seasonally. Summer (April-June) is intensely hot and humid. So, start early, rest during midday and hydrate constantly. Monsoon (June-September) brings dramatic rains, here the weather is spectacular but plan for wet streets and occasional flooding. Winter (October-March) is perfect for exploration.
Pack Smart
Light summer clothing, good walking shoes, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a refillable water bottle, your phone charger, and light rain protection.
When Visiting Religious Sites
Cover your shoulders and knees. Remove your shoes before entering temples. Ask before photographing people. These aren't rules to resent; they're respectful participation in spaces that matter to the community.
What This Actually Becomes
After 48 hours moving through South Mumbai, walking the Gateway of India early before crowds arrive, sitting on a Marine Drive bench at sunset, wandering through vintage bookshops, returning each evening to a hotel that feels like yours, you'll understand why this neighborhood gets under people's skin.
You won't have done everything. You won't have seen all the museums or eaten at all the famous restaurants. But you'll have been present. You'll have walked through history without feeling like a tourist. You'll have tasted authentic food. You'll have watched the city transform through different lights. You'll have experienced the particular warmth of a place where people actually live alongside visitors.
And you'll have had somewhere to return to that felt genuine.
The Shalimar isn't separate from this experience. It's woven through it, the breakfast that starts your day properly, the comfort of returning when you're tired, the quiet of a room that feels like yours.
South Mumbai has a saying: "Mumbai, Meri Jaan" which translates to Mumbai, My Life. After 48 hours like this, this city that never sleeps, it becomes yours too.
← Back to Blog