Cheap flights to Mumbai

When is the best time to visit?

Peak Season:

The weather from September to April makes this the best time to book flights to Mumbai. If you want to experience a big event, come for the Ganesh Chaturthi, a ten-day Hindu festival in August/September.

Book a flight to Mumbai and take part in Holi, another major festival of the Indian culture and is celebrated throughout the nation on the full moon day in the month of March. The atmosphere is electric as bright colours fill the air in Mumbai’s streets and villages. Traditionally individuals celebrated Holi by pouring coloured water over one another. The Holi festival in Mumbai will bring happiness, prosperity and peace to everyone involved, locals and travellers, as it is believed to be the friendliest and fun-filled festival throughout India. When partaking in Holi, it is advisable to wear disposable clothing as you will finish the celebrations as a multicoloured masterpiece.

Off Season:

You will find cheap flights to Mumbai during the monsoon season, high humidity and summer heat make June through September the low season.

Why visit?

Bombay became Mumbai in 1995, named in honour of Mumbadevi, the Hindu goddess, but many locals still call it by the name that Portuguese explorers bestowed on it in the 1600s – Bombay from “Bom” (good) and “Bahia” (bay). Whatever you call the city, you’ll never forget your visit.

Take a flight to Mumbai and see a city that never stops. The streets throng with humanity; about 20 million people call it home. It has a “New York”-type energy, and the gap between rich and poor is yawning wide. The mansions of the millionaires contrast sharply with the slums, where half of Mumbai’s population live.

There are a few landmarks that the first-time visitor should not miss. One is the Gateway of India, built by the British in 1911. From there, many visitors will take boat trips to Elephanta Island to visit the ancient cave temples.

From Kamala Nehru Park, at the top of Malabar Hill, there are sumptuous views of the city, Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive. At night, the lights twinkle and shine, resembling nothing so much as a diamond necklace, hence the unofficial name the Queen’s Necklace.

Mumbai climate

Mumbai has a tropical climate with periods of high humidity, though the coastal location keeps temperatures lower than many areas of the country. Average daytime temperatures only fluctuate a few degrees throughout the year, from about 25°C December to March to about 30°C in April to June, before dropping slightly again in summer. Travel during June to September is not recommended, however, because of the high rainfall at this time.

Getting around Mumbai

Taxis are cheap and plentiful and, given Mumbai’s traffic, you won’t need to rent a car to get around. Auto-rickshaws are allowed to operate beyond Bandra in the western suburbs and beyond Sion in the central suburbs. Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (known as BEST) operates an efficient and comprehensive bus service. Most Mumbaikars use the extensive Suburban Rail Network.

There are also intra-city ferry services such as one to the Gateway of India to the Elephanta Caves.

If you’re happy to splurge, private, chauffeur-driven cars are available.

Getting to the city from the airport

Once the flight arrives at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM), there are several ways downtown. Taxis – metered and prepaid – are available. There’s a railway reservation desk in Terminal 2 where you can organise a connection to Mumbai and beyond. City buses (for Mumbai) and a pre-paid coach service (other destinations in India) are also available.

What is good to know if travelling to Mumbai?

• Tours of Dharavi, the slum which featured in Slumdog Millionaire, have become popular with tourists since the movie came out in 2008. The tours are run by Reality Tours and Travel and the proceeds go to fund a community centre and kindergarten. Tipping is not allowed, nor is photographing the residents of Dharavi. 
• Dhobi ghat is an enormous, open-air laundry. From Dr E Moses Road, close to Mahalakshmi Station, you can watch as hundreds of men and women launder the clothes in stone troughs, hanging them up to dry. The freshly laundered clothes are delivered to their owners, the next load collected.
• The Haji Ali Mosque houses the tomb of the Muslim Sufi saint Haji Ali. The mosque lies on a causeway in the Arabian Sea and can only be reached at low tide. At high tide the causeway is submerged and it looks as if the mosque is floating. 
• The beaches in Mumbai are not for sunbathing, they’re for eating Bhelpuri (puffed rice and semolina with chutneys served with deep-fried wheat bread) and working it off with a game of beach cricket. 
• Chowpatty Beach in the evening when locals come out to stroll and the hawkers and entertainers buzz around is delightful. Juhu Beach is beautiful, and, as with Chowpatty, get there for the sunsets, the late-evening snackers and people watching. Versova Beach is known for its fishing community.
• Leopolds Cafe is the tourist fave, open since 1871, but to eat Mumbai-style head for one of the street stalls around the colleges. The food is tasty, fast and cheap and the Batata vada pao is the vintage snack. This spicy, fat, deep-fried potato dumpling in a generously buttered pao, slathered with chutney, will provide maximum energy for this “maximum city”.

What airport do you fly into for flights to Mumbai?

Travellers will need to book flights to Chhatrapati Shivaji Intl (BOM) if they wish to fly to Mumbai. The Mumbai airport is 15.4 km from the city centre.