Mumbai Walking Tour: The Fort District from the Gateway to CSMT

South Mumbai is where the city first dressed up to impress. In a few square kilometers at the tip of the peninsula, the British Raj and the Indian merchants who grew rich alongside it built arches, museums, Gothic towers and Art Deco cinemas, and then the city grew loud and crowded around all of it. This walk starts at the water, at the Gateway of India and the Taj, and heads north through the old Fort district a few hundred meters at a time, ending at the great railway station everyone still calls VT. It is about three and a half kilometers, flat the whole way, and one of the most rewarding self-guided walking tours in India if you go early, before the traffic wakes up.

Before you set off

At a steady stroll the walk takes under an hour, but give it a whole morning, three hours or so, because the museum alone can swallow an afternoon and you will want to stop for chai. Mumbai is hot and humid for most of the year, so start early, ideally around sunrise, and on a Sunday if you can, when the offices of the Fort are shut and the streets are at their calmest. The cooler, drier months run roughly from November to February. From June to September the monsoon brings heavy downpours, which are dramatic to watch but can flood streets quickly. The route is flat, but the pavements are uneven, cracked and often shared with vendors, parked scooters and the odd sleeping dog, so wear shoes with a good grip. Traffic drives on the left and does not slow down for walkers: cross at signals, or tuck in beside a local and cross when they do. Carry water and buy sealed bottles. The museum and the station have their own rules and opening days, so check before you go. A little patience is the most useful thing you can pack.

Gateway of India and the Taj

Stand on the wide stone promenade with the harbor in front of you and the great yellow basalt arch rising over the water. The Gateway of India was built to mark the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary in December 1911, the first visit to India by a reigning British monarch. When they stepped ashore, only a temporary structure stood here; the stone arch, designed by George Wittet, was not finished until 1924. Look closely at the carved stone latticework and you will see the Gujarati and Islamic patterns mixed into what is basically a Roman triumphal arch. The building has a neat irony to it. In February 1948, the last British troops in India marched through this same arch to their ships, so the monument meant to welcome the empire ended up waving it goodbye. On the plaza behind you, the Maratha king Shivaji rides a bronze horse, a hero whose name now graces half the landmarks on this walk. Now turn to the hotel. The Taj Mahal Palace opened in 1903, built by the industrialist Jamsetji Tata, and its red dome has been the city's emblem ever since. A popular story says he built it after being turned away from a Europeans-only hotel, though historians doubt it. In November 2008 the Taj was one of the targets of terrorist attacks on the city; it was restored and reopened, and the staff who protected guests are still honored here. When you are ready, walk inland, northwest, with the hotel on your left, and follow the road about five minutes to a busy roundabout.

Regal Circle

You are at Regal Circle, one of the great traffic islands of South Mumbai, and the place where two eras of the city's architecture meet. In the middle of the roundabout stands the Wellington Fountain, put up in 1865 in honor of the Duke of Wellington, who passed through Bombay as a young general long before Waterloo. Now look for the pale, clean-lined building with the name across its front. That is the Regal Cinema, opened in 1933 and one of the jewels of Mumbai's Art Deco boom, among the first cinemas in the country to be air-conditioned. In the 1930s, as the city filled in land from the sea, it built Art Deco on a scale few places matched, and Mumbai's collection is often said to be second only to Miami's. Turn slowly and you will see the older city too: the Gothic Police Headquarters, built in the Victorian era as a home for sailors, and the round domed hall of the National Gallery of Modern Art. Off to the south runs Colaba Causeway, the long market street of stalls, cafes and bargaining that you can save for another day. This roundabout is busy at every hour, so take your time crossing and use the signals. From here, walk north up Mahatma Gandhi Road, which leaves the circle heading away from the sea. In three or four minutes the gates of a large garden open on your left, with a white dome beyond.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Step through the gates and the noise drops away. Ahead, at the end of a path through palms and lawns, stands one of the finest buildings in Mumbai, the city's main museum, which most people still call by its old name, the Prince of Wales Museum. The future King George V laid its foundation stone in 1905 when he visited as Prince of Wales, and George Wittet, the same architect who designed the Gateway, gave it this fantastical shape. The style is called Indo-Saracenic, the British attempt to blend Victorian building with Mughal and Hindu forms, and the great white dome is often compared to the famous domed tomb of Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur. The building was finished around the time the First World War broke out and served as a military hospital before it opened as a museum. Inside is a deep collection of sculpture, miniature paintings, arms and armor, and objects from the Indus Valley, so if you plan to go in, give it at least an hour. Just to the north lies Kala Ghoda, the city's art district, named for a black horse, a statue of King Edward VII on horseback that was taken away in the 1960s. A new riderless black horse now stands in its place. Leave the garden, turn left on Mahatma Gandhi Road and walk north through Kala Ghoda. After about five minutes, turn left at the junction toward the open green of the Oval, where a tall stone clock tower rises on your left.