India Travel

Nightlife and entertainment in Mumbai

Related Properties from Gurgaon

Nightlife in Goa

Nightlife revolves around Tito's, on a sandy hillock above the beach. Women are allowed in for free; "unaccompanied" men have to pay Rs100-250, depending on the crowd. Be warned, however, that in recent years this has become something of a pick-up joint, frequented by groups of so-called "rowdies" from Delhi and Mumbai, with the lager-fuelled antics you'd find in a rough British nightclub. A marginally more sedate option, run by the same owners is Mambo's, further down the hill, where karaoke is the big attraction. At the far end of Baga beach, Drop Anchor is deservedly the most popular place

Nightlife and entertainment in Delhi

The nightlife scene in Delhi is in full swing, with the advent of pubs and private nightclubs. During the week, the clubs are empty - stick to central restaurants and the well-stocked bars at up market hotels if you want some atmosphere. Come the weekend, though, bars are full by 9pm and clubs take of at midnight. Most clubs are in five-star hotels and operate couples-only policies at the door; women usually get in free, and men pay Rs400. Another option is to take an auto to India Gate and Rajpath any night after 8pm for a nightly people's party

Nightlife in Goa

Catering for an uncomfortable mixture of boozy Indian men from out-of-state and young European charter tourists, Colva's nightlife is less than enticing these days, despite the presence at the south end of the beach of Goa's few surviving "discos". Splash boasts a big MTV satellite screen and music to match, with a late bar and dance floor that livens up around 10pm. Less sophisticated than Mambo's and Tito's in Baga, however, it can be unpleasant for women. In theory, single men ("stags") aren't allowed on the dance floor, but this doesn't stop them trying their luck. If you'd prefer to

Bars and cabarets in Mumbai

Mumbai has an unusually easy-going attitude to alcohol; popping into a bar for a beer is very much accepted (for men at least) even at lunchtime. Chowpatty Beach and Colaba Causeway, where you'll End Leopold's and the Cafe Mondegar, form the focus of the travellers1 social scene, but if you want to sample the pulse of the city's nightlife, venture up to Bandra and juhu. There is also a seamier side to the city's nightlife, concentrated around (illegal) late-night cabarets in the Grant Road area. In these dens of iniquity, women dance before men-only crowds in clothes that might in the

Kovalam’s Eating and nightlife in Kerala

Light house beach is lined with sandy laid-back cafes and restaurants including Gdrzia, Croaker's and Coral Reef, all specializing in seafood, although chicken, pasta and veg options are widely available. If you want seafood, pick from the fresh fish, lobster, tiger prawns, crab and mussels on display, which are then weighed, grilled over a charcoal fire, and served with salad and chips. Meals are pricey by Indian standards - typically around Rsl50 per head for fish, and double that for lobster or prawns - and the service is often painfully slow, but the ambience of the beachfront terraces is convivial

Moving on from Mumbai

Most visitors feel like getting out of Mumbai as soon as they can. Fortunately, Mumbai is equipped with "super-fast" services to arrange or confirm onward travel. All the major international and domestic airlines have offices in the city, the railway networks operate special tourist counters in the main reservation halls, and dozens of travel agents and road transport companies are eager to help you on your way by bus.

Arrival and information of Mumbai

Unless you arrive in Mumbai by train at Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus), be prepared for a long slog into the centre. The international and domestic airports are north of the city, way off the map, and ninety minutes or more by road from the main hotel areas, while from Mumbai Central train or bus station, you face a laborious trip across town. Finding a place to stay can be even more of a hassle; phone around before you set off into the traffic.

Downtown Mumbai

Aldous Huxley famously described Mumbai as "one of the most appalling cities of either hemisphere", with its "lavatory bricks and Gothic spires". The critic Robert Byron, although a wholehearted fan of New Delhi, was equally unenthusiastic, feeling moved to refer to downtown Mumbai in 1931 as "that architectural Sodom", claiming that "the nineteenth century devised nothing lower than the municipal buildings of British India. Their ugliness is positive, daemonic." Today, however, the massive erections of Empire and Indian free enterprise appear not so much ugly, as intriguing.

Sahelion-ki-Bari of Udaipur in Rajasthan

The "garden of the maids of honour". Sahelion-ki-Bari. roughly 2km north of Hathi Pole (daily 9am—7.30pm; Rs3), was laid out by Sangram Singh early in the eighteenth century for the diversion and entertainment of the ladies of the royal household. Surrounding a shady courtyard, the fountained garden must once have made a delightful retreat, but today the fountains only play at the request of visitors, and the focus of attention is the wide range of indigenous trees and flowers. During the monsoon die lotus pond behind the courtyard is ablaze with colour.

Eating in Mumbai

In keeping with its cosmopolitan credentials, Mumbai (and Colaba above all) is crammed with interesting eating places, whether you fancy splashing out on a buffet lunch-with-a-view from a flashy five-star revolving restaurant, or simply tucking into piping-hot roti kebab by gaslight in the street.

Leaving India in Mumbai

In spite of its prominence on trans-Asian flight routes, Mumbai is no longer the bargain basement for international air tickets it used to be. Discounted fares are very hard to come by — a legacy of Rajiv Gandhi's economic reforms of the 1980s. If you do need to book a ticket, stick to one of the tried and tested agents listed. All the major airlines operating out of Mumbai have offices downtown where you can buy scheduled tickets or confirm your flight; see p.781 for a list of addresses. The majority are grouped around Veer Nariman Road, opposite the Ambassador Hotel,

Lonavala in Southern Maharashtra

Just thirty years ago, the town of LONAVALA, 100km southeast of Mumbai and 62km northwest of Pune, was a quiet retreat in the Sahyadri hills. Since then, the place has mushroomed to cope with hordes of holiday-makers and second-home owners from the state capital, and is now only of interest as a base for the magnificent Buddhist caves of Karle. Bhaja and Bedsa, some of which date from the Satavahana period (second century BC). Frequent buses arrive at Lonavala's central bus stand, just off the Mumbai-Pune Road (NH-4), but the tram is infinitely preferable. Lonavala is on the main railway

Culture and entertainment in Calcutta

Calcutta's lively arts scene is well known for its music and Bengali theatre, though the latter is of limited access to most tourists as performances are in Bengali. A handful of galleries hold exhibitions of fine art, and the cultural centres of the various consulates also play an important role in the life of the city. Of the many nonreligious festivals each year, the Ganga Utsav. held over a few weeks around the end bf January at Diamond Harbour, involves music, dance and theatrical events. Rabindra Sadan is Calcutta's theatre and concert hall district, with numerous venues including Nandan next

Baga in Goa

BAGA. 10km west of Mapusa, is basically an extension of Calangute; not eve the locals agree where one ends and the other begins. Lying in the lee of rocky, wooded headland, the only difference between this far northern end the beach and its more congested centre is that the scenery here is marginal more varied and picturesque. A small river flows into the sea at the top of tl village, below a broad spur of soft white sand, from where a dirt track strife across an expanse of paddy fields towards Anjuna. Until the early 1990s, tew buildings stood at this

Nightlife in Goa

Drinks Indian-Continental dinner menu served upstairs in the evening. Takeaways from the street-facing counter. NV's, south Calangute. A ten-minute trek down the beach, but well worth it for no-nonsense piatefuls of grilled fish, calamari and crab, all fresh from the family boat and at rock-bottom prices. Plantain Leaf, near Vanessa Cinema, market area. The best udipi restaurant outside Panjim, serving the usual range of delicious dosas and other spicy snacks in a clean, cool, marble-lined canteen, with relentless background filmi music. Try their tasty idty-fry- south India's answer to chips - or the filling thalis (Rs35). Souza Lobo, on the beachfront.

Uptown and the outskirts in Mumbai

Greater Mumbai has crept inexorably northwards to engulf villages and swampland in a pall of chimneys, motorways and slums. These grim industrial areas hold few attractions, but possibilities for full- or half-day excursions include the quirky Victoria and Albert museum and botanical gardens in Byculla, and the beach at Juhu. All lie within reach of a suburban railway station, although you will, in most cases, have to take a rickshaw or taxi for the last few kilometres. Beyond them to the north lie the Buddhist caves chiselled out of the hillside at Kanheri, and the crumbling Portuguese fort at Bassein.

Flights to and from Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad to: Ahmedabad (4 weekly: 1hr40min): Bangalore (2-3 daily; 1hr); Calcutta (1-2 daily; 2-3hr); Chennai (3-4 daily; 1hr-1hr 45min); Cochin (2 weekly; 2hr 40min); Delhi (3 daily; 2hr-2hr10min|; Mumbai (6-7 daily; 1 hr 15min-3hr); Tirupati (1-2 daily; 55min-1hr 20min); Vishakapatnam (2 daily; 1 hr-1 hr 30min). Puttaparthy to: Mumbai (2 weekly: 1 hr 20min). Vishakapatnam to: Bhubaneswar (4 weekly; 55min); Calcutta (4 weekly; 2hr 20min); Chennai (4 weekly; 1hr 5min); Delhi (4 weekly; 3hr 35min); Hyderabad (2 daily; 1 hr-1 hr 30min); Mumbai (1 daily; 2hr45min).

Colaba The City of Mumbai

At the end of the seventeenth century, Colaba was little more than the last in a straggling line of rocky islands extending to the lighthouse that stood on Mumbai's southernmost point. Today, the original outlines of the promontory (whose name derives from the Koli who first lived here) have been submerged under a mass of dilapidated colonial tenements, hotels, bars, restaurants and handicraft shops. It you never venture beyond the district, you'll get a very distorted picture of Mumbai. In spice of being the main tourist enclave and a trendy hang-out for the city's rich young things, Colaba has retained

The City in Mumbai

Between the airports to the north and the southern tip of Mumbai lies a thirty-kilometre, seething mass of streets, suburbs and relentless traffic. Even during the relatively cool winter months, exploring it can be hard work, requiring plenty of pit stops at cold-drink stalls along the way. The best place to start is down at the far south end of the peninsula in Colaba, home to most of the hotels, restaurants and best-known sights, including the Gateway of India. Fifteen minutes' walk north takes you past the Prince of Wales Museum to the Fort area, home of all the banks

Traveling from Goa To Mumbai

If you're heading north to Mumbai, the quickest and easiest way is by plane. Between three and six planes leave Goa's Daboiim airport daily. One-way fares for the forty-minute flight range from $53 with Indian Airlines, or $83 with Sahara, to $93 ($72 for under 30s) with swisher Jet. In addition, Air India operate an Airbus service to Mumbai on Mondays and Thursdays. Few people seem to know about this flight, so you can nearly always get a seat on it; the one drawback is that you have to check in three hours before departure as Air India is an