India: Mumbai, Goa and Hampi

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Mumbai

   Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport to Colaba, then the Gateway of India

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Mumbai
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM), where a driver meets you for the drive south to your hotel in Colaba or the Fort district, an hour or more depending on traffic. We stay in the old south of the city for all three nights, so the Gateway of India, the Elephanta ferries and the Victorian and Art Deco streets are a walk away rather than a commute. Rest after the flight. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the days ahead: how the flight and the train are timed, what to wear for temples and churches, and how hot the middle of the day gets. Then we walk together to the Gateway of India, built to mark the 1911 royal visit and finished in 1924, as the harbour lights come on, and along Colaba to a welcome dinner of coastal Maharashtrian and Parsi dishes. If your flight lands late, we meet you at breakfast instead.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk to the Gateway of India
   • Welcome dinner in Colaba

   Temps libre : Free until the early-evening briefing

   

2. Jour 2 : Dharavi and the dabbawalas

   Colaba to Dharavi, then Churchgate and Marine Drive

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Mumbai
   Détail du jour 2

   After breakfast we drive north to Dharavi, a dense neighbourhood of homes and small industries in the middle of Mumbai, where recycling, leather, pottery and garment workshops sell across India. Our walk is led by residents, through an organisation that puts its income back into community projects, so you meet the place on its own terms rather than as a spectacle; photos are not taken inside homes or workshops. By late morning we are back in the south at Churchgate station to watch the dabbawalas, who collect home-cooked lunches in tiffin boxes and carry them across the city by train, bicycle and handcart, sorting them on the platform by a code painted on each lid. Lunch is a sit-down thali nearby. The afternoon is free: rest, browse the galleries of Kala Ghoda, or visit Mani Bhavan, Gandhi's Mumbai base for many years. Before sunset we meet again for a walk along Marine Drive, the curved seafront the city calls the Queen's Necklace once its lights come on.

   Compris

   • Dharavi walk led by residents, with a community organisation
   • The dabbawalas at Churchgate station with your guide
   • Sit-down thali lunch
   • Sunset walk on Marine Drive

   Activités en option

   • Mani Bhavan, the Gandhi museum on Laburnum Road

   Option plus active : Ride a Mumbai suburban train to Dharavi with your guide in place of the vehicle, outside the rush hours.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : About two hours on foot in Dharavi on narrow lanes; wear closed shoes.

3. Jour 3 : Elephanta Caves and the Fort district

   Gateway of India by ferry to Elephanta Island, then the Fort district on foot

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Mumbai
   Détail du jour 3

   We are at the Gateway of India for the first ferry of the day, around 9 am, and cross the harbour in about an hour, so we reach Elephanta Island before the day groups. A short toy train runs from the jetty to the foot of the steps, then about 120 steps lead up to the caves. The main cave, cut from the rock around the 6th century and listed by UNESCO in 1987, is dedicated to Shiva; its central sculpture, the three-headed Sadashiva, is about 6 m tall. Your guide reads the panels with you: Shiva's marriage to Parvati, the descent of the Ganges, Ravana shaking Mount Kailash. We are back on the mainland for a late sit-down lunch, then walk the Fort district in the softer afternoon light: the Oval Maidan, with Victorian Gothic buildings on one side and Art Deco apartments on the other, listed by UNESCO in 2018, the Rajabai Clock Tower, Flora Fountain, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the railway station completed in 1888. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Return ferry from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Island
   • Elephanta Caves with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in south Mumbai
   • Fort district walk: the Oval Maidan, the Rajabai Clock Tower, Flora Fountain and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus

   Option plus facile : Skip the Fort walk and spend the afternoon at the hotel, or at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum near Kala Ghoda.

   Option plus active : After the caves, climb the extra path to Cannon Hill and the smaller eastern caves with your guide, then walk the full Fort loop on foot to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, about 6 km in all.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : The Elephanta Caves close on Mondays, so this day never falls on one. Life jackets are worn on the ferry. Ferry and Fort walk timings are confirmed by ops when dates are set.

   

4. Jour 4 : Fly to Goa and the south coast

   Mumbai to Goa (Dabolim) by air, then the south Goa coast

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : South Goa
   Détail du jour 4

   A slow morning, then the drive to the airport for the flight to Goa, about an hour and a quarter in the air. Flying here instead of taking the train saves eight or more hours and gives you an afternoon by the sea; the Konkan Railway day train along the coast can be arranged on request for anyone who wants the ride. We land at Dabolim (GOI), the airport closest to the south, and drive about 30 minutes to our beach hotel on the Salcete coast, between Benaulim and Varca, for three nights. This stretch is quieter than the party beaches of the north: long, flat sand, fishing boats pulled up above the tide line, and beach shacks grilling kingfish and simmering prawn curry. Lunch together, then the rest of the day is yours. Walk the sand at sunset, when the boats come in and local families come down to the water. Goa was Portuguese until 1961, and you see it in the whitewashed churches along the village lanes.

   Compris

   • Flight from Mumbai (BOM) to Goa (GOI) with your guide
   • Transfer to the south Goa coast
   • Lunch together on arrival

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free on the beach

5. Jour 5 : Old Goa and Fontainhas

   South Goa to Old Goa and Panaji (Panjim), and back

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : South Goa
   Détail du jour 5

   We leave after an early breakfast to reach Old Goa, about an hour and a quarter north, as the churches open and before the tour buses. Old Goa was the capital of Portuguese India until epidemics emptied it and the capital moved downriver to Panaji in the 19th century; what remains is a group of churches and convents listed by UNESCO in 1986. Your guide takes you into the Basilica of Bom Jesus, where the remains of St Francis Xavier lie in a silver casket, across to the vast Se Cathedral, and into the Church of St Francis of Assisi beside it. From there it is a short drive to Panaji for a walk through Fontainhas, the old Latin quarter of ochre, blue and yellow houses with tiled roofs and painted azulejo name plates, ending at the white staircases of the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Lunch is Goan: xacuti, cafreal or fish curry rice. We are back at the beach by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free.

   Compris

   • Old Goa with your guide: the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the Se Cathedral and the Church of St Francis of Assisi
   • Fontainhas walk in Panaji, ending at the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
   • Goan lunch in Panaji

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free

   Activité : Shoulders and knees covered inside the churches.

6. Jour 6 : A spice farm and a beach afternoon

   South Goa to a spice farm near Ponda and the Shri Mangueshi Temple, and back

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : South Goa
   Détail du jour 6

   A later start, then about an hour inland to a spice farm in the wooded hills around Ponda, where many of Goa's Hindu temples were rebuilt during the Portuguese period. A farm guide walks you under areca palms hung with pepper vines, past cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla and cinnamon, and hands you each one to crush and smell. Lunch at the farm is a Goan buffet cooked with what grows there. On the way back we stop at the Shri Mangueshi Temple, with its white lamp tower and quiet courtyard tank (shoulders and knees covered, shoes off). By mid-afternoon you are back on the beach with the rest of the day free: swim, walk south along the sand towards Cavelossim, or book an Ayurvedic massage. In the evening the shacks set tables on the sand, and your guide will suggest where to eat. This is the slow day of the trip, placed on purpose before the one long travel day.

   Compris

   • Spice farm walk with a farm guide near Ponda
   • Goan lunch at the farm
   • Shri Mangueshi Temple

   Activités en option

   • Ayurvedic massage at or near the hotel
   • Braganza House, a Portuguese-era family mansion in Chandor, by donation

   Option plus facile : Skip the farm and spend the whole day at the beach; your lunch is then on us at the hotel.

   Option plus active : Skip the return drive and walk or hire a bicycle south along the sand from Benaulim towards Cavelossim, about 8 km of flat beach, with the vehicle collecting you at the far end.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free on the beach

7. Jour 7 : Through the Western Ghats to Hampi

   Madgaon by train over the Western Ghats to Hosapete, then Hampi

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hampi
   Détail du jour 7

   This is the long travel day, and we make it on rails rather than the road: Goa to Hampi is about 300 km and seven or more hours by car, well over our four-hour driving cap, and there is no practical flight. We leave the hotel at about 6.30 am with breakfast packed, the one early start outside a sunrise, because the only day train leaves Madgaon (Margao) around 7 am. This is the Amaravati Express, which which climbs through the Western Ghats on the Braganza Ghat line. Soon after Kulem the train passes Dudhsagar Falls, which drops down the forested hillside beside the track, still full in November and December after the monsoon. Beyond Londa the forest gives way to the flat black-soil farmland of northern Karnataka, through Hubballi and Gadag to Hosapete, arriving in the early afternoon after about seven hours on board in reserved air-conditioned sleeper class, where the berths fold down as seats by day. Lunch on board is not included; your guide points you to what is good from the pantry and the platform vendors. From Hosapete it is about half an hour to our hotel near Hampi for three nights, and dinner together.

   Compris

   • Reserved air-conditioned seats on the day train from Madgaon to Hosapete, with your guide
   • Dudhsagar Falls from the train
   • Transfer from Hosapete station to the hotel
   • Dinner together near Hampi

   Activité : Departure from Madgaon is around 7 am. The Amaravati Express (18048) runs four days a week, so departure dates are built around it; we confirm the train, its days and timings at booking. The 35 km by road is the two station transfers: hotel to Madgaon about 15 km, Hosapete station to the hotel about 15 to 20 km. If the train is cancelled, we drive with a sit-down lunch in Hubballi, about 7 hours on the road with stops.

8. Jour 8 : Hampi at dawn and a coracle on the river

   Hemakuta Hill at sunrise, the Virupaksha Temple, Hampi Bazaar and the Tungabhadra River

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hampi
   Détail du jour 8

   We are up before dawn for sunrise over the boulders, the reason to sleep three nights here. Most of the group climbs the low granite slope of Hemakuta Hill, among small early temples, to watch the light rise behind the Virupaksha Temple tower; the more active scramble up Matanga Hill with the guide for the widest view over the ruins and the Tungabhadra River. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire until its defeat in 1565, and the Group of Monuments at Hampi was listed by UNESCO in 1986. After breakfast we walk into the Virupaksha Temple, still in daily worship, then along Hampi Bazaar's long colonnaded street and down to the giant monolithic Ganesha statues, the Krishna Temple, and the Ugra Narasimha, carved from a single boulder, with the Badavilinga standing in water in the shrine beside it. Lunch, then a free afternoon to rest through the heat. Late in the day we board a coracle, a round boat of woven bamboo, for a slow paddle among the river rocks as the light turns gold.

   Compris

   • Sunrise from Hemakuta Hill with your guide
   • The Virupaksha Temple and Hampi Bazaar
   • Kadalekalu and Sasivekalu Ganesha, the Krishna Temple, the Ugra Narasimha and the Badavilinga
   • Lunch together
   • Late-afternoon coracle ride on the Tungabhadra River

   Option plus facile : Watch sunrise from the foot of Hemakuta Hill, a few minutes' walk on gentle rock, or sleep in and join at breakfast.

   Option plus active : Climb Matanga Hill before dawn with your guide, a steep scramble over granite blocks and rough steps for the highest view over the ruins.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free to rest through the heat

   Activité : Temples are entered barefoot; carry socks for hot stone at midday.

   

9. Jour 9 : The Vittala Temple and the Royal Centre

   The Vittala Temple at opening, then the Royal Centre and a last Hampi sunset

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hampi
   Détail du jour 9

   Out early again so we are at the Vittala Temple as the gates open, when the courtyard is quiet and the low light falls across the stone chariot, a shrine to Garuda carved to look like a temple car. Your guide walks you through the mandapas, whose slender pillars once rang when struck and are now roped off to protect them. We return by the electric carts or on foot, then spend the late morning in the Royal Centre: the Hazara Rama Temple, its walls carved with processions of horses, elephants and dancers; the Lotus Mahal, with its arches in the Zenana Enclosure; the long domed Elephant Stables; the Mahanavami Dibba platform and the stepped tank beside it; and the Queen's Bath. After lunch the afternoon is free. For a last sunset, the easy choice is the Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple on its boulder hill a short drive away; the active choice is the climb of about 575 steps to the hilltop temple on Anjanadri Hill across the river, held to be the birthplace of Hanuman. A farewell dinner closes the trip.

   Compris

   • The Vittala Temple at opening, with the stone chariot
   • The Royal Centre: the Hazara Rama Temple, the Lotus Mahal and Zenana Enclosure, the Elephant Stables, the Mahanavami Dibba, the stepped tank and the Queen's Bath
   • Lunch together
   • Sunset at the Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple or on Anjanadri Hill
   • Farewell dinner

   Option plus facile : Sunset at the Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple, reached by a short, gentle walk from the road.

   Option plus active : Sunset from Anjanadri Hill, about 575 whitewashed steps to the temple at the top.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : About three hours on foot across the Vittala and Royal Centre sites, on paths and uneven stone.

   

10. Jour 10 : Hampi to Hubballi and home

    Hampi to Hosapete, Koppal and Gadag, then Hubballi Airport

    • Environ 3.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 10

    After breakfast we drive west across the Deccan plateau to Hubballi Airport (HBX), about 165 km and three and a half hours with a tea stop. The road passes the Tungabhadra Dam's reservoir near Hosapete, then runs over flat farmland of cotton, maize and sunflowers through Koppal and Gadag, so the last morning is an easy one. We reach the airport around midday. Hubballi has domestic flights to Bengaluru, Mumbai and other hubs for connections home; book one leaving after about 2 pm, and we confirm current routes when you book. If you are heading on to Kerala, including our own Kerala backwaters trip, connect through Bengaluru for Kochi. If you would rather leave another way, there are trains from Hosapete to Bengaluru, and the small Jindal Vijaynagar Airport (VDY), about 40 km from Hampi, has a few flights; ask us and we arrange the transfer. Your guide travels with you to Hubballi and sees you to the terminal before saying goodbye.

    Compris

    • Drive from Hampi to Hubballi Airport (HBX) with your guide
    • Drop-off at Hubballi Airport

    Activité : Book a flight from Hubballi leaving after about 2 pm.

Faune et météo : November to February is the dry season along this route: warm, sunny days around 30°C in Mumbai and Goa, slightly cooler mornings and evenings in Hampi, and calm water for the Elephanta ferry and the coracle. Dudhsagar Falls is fullest early in the season, just after the monsoon. From March the Deccan plateau around Hampi gets very hot, and from June to September the monsoon closes most of Goa's beach life.

• Mumbai3 nuits
• South Goa3 nuits
• Hampi3 nuits