Overview
- Features: Mumbai’s most popular promenade and beach area
- Opening Times: Dawn to dusk
- Best Time to Visit: Late October to early March
- Duration: 1 to 2 hours
- Travelled By: Train
- Cost: Free
- Address: Girgaum Chowpatty area, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Type: Beach
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Summary
Situated next to each other, Marine Drive and Girgaum Chowpatty couldn’t be more different. Marine Drive is worth a visit as it’s one of the more classy areas of Mumbai with its Art Deco buildings and twinkling streetlights. Girgaum Chowpatty, on the other hand, is a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city noise and mayhem. It’s the perfect spot in Mumbai to just relax on the beach and unwind.
Marine Drive & Girgaum Chowpatty Mumbai
Known as the “Queen’s Necklace” after the glittering string of streetlights lining the road, Marine Drive (renamed Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Road) sweeps along a seafacing promenade which runs from Nariman Point to Malabar Hill. Built on land reclaimed from the sea in the 1920s, it is also the main arterial link between the suburbs and the city’s prime commercial and administrative centres, Nariman Point and the Fort areas. Situated at its eastern periphery is the Oval Maidan, nursery of such modern-day cricket heroes as Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
The buildings of Marine Drive are characterised by a strong Art Deco flavour, popular in Mumbai during the 1930s and 1940s. With the advent of electric elevators, and with concrete replacing the earlier stone and brick, the apartment blocks on the seafront were built to a uniform height of five floors, making this the most fashionable residential area of the time.
The best way to enjoy Marine Drive during the day is from the upper floor of a red double-decker bus, which provides panoramic views of the sea and the city’s skyline. In the evening, it swarms with people taking their daily walks, couples meeting after work and families gathering around the vendors selling coconut water and bhelpuri.
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Girgaum Chowpatty is the city’s most popular promenade and the southern-most of Mumbai’s beaches. It’s one of Mumbai most popular promenades and sunset-watching spots. It remains a favourite evening spot for courting couples, families and political rallies and anyone out to enjoy what passes for fresh air.
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Earlier cluttered with food stalls and hawkers, the area has now been substantially cleaned up in a drive by the civic authorities. An inexpensive evening destination for the city’s residents, it remains lively till late at night. One can still find several bhelpuri, panipuri, ragda patties and pav bhaji vendors on the beach. Eating an evening bhelpuri at the throngs of stalls found here is an essential part of the Mumbai experience. Forget about taking a dip in the dirty, toxic water.
Girgaum Chowpatty is also the venue for Mumbai’s largest festival, Ganesh Chaturthi, when hundreds of people from all over Mumbai gather at Chowpatty Beach to immerse images of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, in the Arabian Sea. It is also one of the many places in the city where the Ramlila is performed on a stage every year. An effigy of Ravan that is erected on the sand is burnt by the end of the 10-day performance.
Situated next to each other, Marine Drive and Girgaum Chowpatty couldn’t be more different. Marine Drive is worth a visit as it’s one of the more classy areas of Mumbai with its Art Deco buildings and twinkling streetlights. Girgaum Chowpatty, on the other hand, is a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city noise and mayhem. It’s the perfect spot in Mumbai to just relax on the beach and unwind.
Getting to & from Marine Drive & Girgaum Chowpatty
The best way to get to the Girgaum Chowpatty area is to take a train to Charni Road railway station. From there it’s a short walk to Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach.
Is this a great beach for sunbaking?
Probably not the best one to choose, as it can be a very busy beach and crowded beach. Perhaps further South in Goa would be a better place where lots of other tourists go to enjoy the warmth.