Places to visit in Mumbai, and the order to see them

A yellow basalt arch on the harbour front, built for the visit of King George V and finished in 1924. The last British troops left India through it in 1948. The old Taj Mahal Palace hotel stands across the road, and the Elephanta ferries leave from the jetties beside it.

Rock-cut cave temples to Shiva on an island in the harbour, carved in about the 6th century. The great hall of Cave 1 holds the three-headed Sadashiva, about 6 m tall, and panels of Shiva's stories. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ferry from the Gateway of India takes about an hour each way.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai's main museum, opened in 1922 as the Prince of Wales Museum, in a domed building in the Indo-Saracenic style. It has sculpture from Elephanta and the Gupta period, Indian miniature paintings, Chinese and Japanese art, arms and armour, and a natural history gallery.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, opened in 1888 as Victoria Terminus: a railway station in Victorian Gothic with Indian touches, a big central dome, stone gargoyles, carved animals and stained glass. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and still one of the busiest stations in India.

Mumbai's old covered market, opened in 1869 and now named Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai. Fruit, dry fruit, spices and household goods under a Norman Gothic clock tower, with stone friezes over the gate by John Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling's father.

The house on Laburnum Road where Gandhi stayed on his Mumbai visits from 1917 to 1934, now a small museum. You see his room with his spinning wheel and mattress, letters, photographs and a set of small dioramas of his life.

Two parks on top of Malabar Hill. The Hanging Gardens (Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens) sit on a reservoir and have hedges cut into animal shapes. Kamala Nehru Park across the road has the Old Woman's Shoe and a view down over Marine Drive and Chowpatty.

An old stone water tank with steps on all sides, at the tip of Malabar Hill, ringed by small temples and old houses. The Walkeshwar temple beside it was rebuilt in 1715. Legend says Rama shot an arrow into the ground here to bring up fresh water.

The tomb of the saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, built in 1431 on an islet in the sea off Worli. A white mosque and dome reached by a causeway about 500 m long, which goes under water at high tide.

Mumbai's best-known temple to Mahalaxmi, goddess of wealth, on the sea by Bhulabhai Desai Road. It dates from about 1785. Inside are images of Mahalaxmi, Mahakali and Mahasaraswati in gold and pearl jewellery.

An open-air laundry by Mahalaxmi station, in use since 1890. Hundreds of washers beat clothes on rows of concrete pens, and the city's hotel and hospital sheets hang in long lines to dry.

Mumbai's most visited Ganesh temple, in Prabhadevi, first built in 1801 and rebuilt in 1990s marble with a gilded dome. The small black stone Ganesh has his trunk turned to the right.

A small Portuguese watchtower fort of 1640, Castella de Aguada, on the rocks at Land's End in Bandra. From its garden you see the Bandra–Worli Sea Link across the bay. Bandstand promenade runs north from here past the film stars' sea-facing houses.

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, on a hill above the sea in Bandra. The church of 1904 holds a 16th-century statue of Mary brought from Portugal. People of every faith come to pray here, and the Bandra Fair in September draws huge crowds.

Mumbai's long city beach, about 6 km of sand facing west. In the evening families come for the sunset, pav bhaji, bhel puri and kulfi at the stalls by Juhu Tara Road.

The Hare Krishna temple of Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari in Juhu, opened in 1978, in white marble with carved halls. The evening aarti has music and chanting, and Govinda's restaurant serves vegetarian food.

Mumbai's oldest museum, opened in 1872, in a restored Victorian hall of red and gold with clay models of old Mumbai life, maps and silver. It stands at the gate of Rani Baug (Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan), the old botanical garden and zoo, which has Humboldt penguins.

The 3.6 km curve of road and sea wall from Nariman Point to Girgaon Chowpatty, built in the 1920s and lined with Art Deco buildings. At night its street lights make the Queen's Necklace.

The beach at the north end of Marine Drive, below Malabar Hill. Bhel puri and kulfi stalls in the evening, and the biggest Ganesh idols are carried into the sea here at the end of the Ganeshotsav festival.

The street market along Colaba's main road: clothes, bags, jewellery, books and souvenirs on the pavement stalls, with old cafes like Leopold and Cafe Mondegar.

More than 100 Buddhist caves cut into a basalt hill inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park, from about the 1st century BC to the 10th century. Cave 3 is a big prayer hall with a stupa and tall Buddha figures at the entrance.

A golden meditation pagoda at Gorai, finished in 2009 and modelled on the Shwedagon in Yangon. The dome inside holds about 8,000 people with no pillars. Free, with short guided meditations.

A big hands-on science centre in Worli, with hands-on halls on light, sound and energy, and an outdoor science park with old engines.