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Office/ Meeting points/ Map

OFFICE/MEETING POINT FOR LONG TOUR - MEETING POINTS FOR SHORT TOUR - MEETING POINT FOR RURAL TOUR - MAP - TIPS FOR TRAVELLING BY TRAIN

Please find below details for getting to our office, meeting points for our tours with photos and map below. Any problems please contact us.

Please note that for the private long tour and the slum and sightseeing tour (which is also private) we will come to pick you up at your hotel/apartment with car and driver.

Office/ Meeting point for long tour

Leopold Cafe Office signboard

The office is a little difficult to find. See the map below for assistance.

If you are coming from Colaba Causeway (the main street) look for Leopold Cafe- quite a landmark in Colaba. One side of Leopold is Nowroji Fardonji Road, where we are located. We have a signboard (meeting point for long tour) next to "Laxmi Vilas Hotel"- the office is located on the opposite side of the road. There is a small shop called "SS Corner Stores" and above it you should see an old signboard with "Akber House" written on it. You need to go through this shop, up some stairs and then take a right. We are in the "Unique Business Service Centre".

If coming from Taj Mahal side of Colaba, best advice is to look at map- just ask for Nowroji Fardonji Road or Leopold Cafe if lost.

Street Entrance to office (Akber House) We are in here (Unique Business Service Centre

Meeting points for short tour

1) CHURCHGATE RAILWAY STATION
2) MAHIM JUNCTION RAILWAY STATION

See the map below for the location of the two different meeting points- Churchgate Railway Station and Mahim Junction Railway Station. Both these stations are on the Western Line. You can choose where to meet, and need to indicate this when making the booking. Churchgate Station meeting point is a 15 minutes walk from Colaba, and a 5 minutes walk from Marine Drive. Mahim Junction is located right next to Dharavi.

Churchgate Railway Station
There are four entrances to Churchgate Station, including two subways, as indicated by the map below. The photo (below left) shows the station as you approach from Colaba.

Churchgate Station Meeting point inside Churchgate Station

Once inside the station, we meet by the railway ticket offices on the ground floor - the exact spot is the pillar next to the neon signboards just before the platforms, as shown in the photo (above right).

Mahim Junction Railway Station
The below is enlarged to show how to get to the meeting point once you arrive into the station. We meet at the railway ticket office by the main entrance to the station, on the west side (just off platform 1). . The exact meeting point is the black pillar under the “N” of the Mahim Junction sign at the main entrance (see photo below left)

If coming from Churchgate, you will get off on platform 1, and if coming from the Northern Suburbs, you will get off on Platform 2 and have to cross one of the bridges to get to the meeting point. The photo below right shows the entrance to the ticket office from platform 1.

See below for tips for travelling by train.

If you decide to go to the Station by taxi, you need to tell the driver to go to "Mahim Junction West Side". The station is on the Western Railway Line.

Meeting point Mahim Junction Entrance to Mahim Junction ticket office from platform 1

Meeting point for rural tour

You need to meet at 8am at the boat ticket offices in front of the Gateway of India in Colaba. See map below for location.
 
Do you want to see and understand life in the Indian villages, getting involved yourself? You visit three different communities in the beautiful countryside and stay the night in one of them.

Want to do some voluntary work while in India? Please click on the icon for details of organisations offering such opportunities.

Mumbai has a lot of things to see besides Dharavi. We do more traditional sightseeing tours, which can be combined with the slum tour in one action packed day!

Do you want us to book a room for you in Mumbai, or in India? We will make reservations for hotels of ANY budget, and in most cases we ensure that what you pay will not be more than the listed price.

Do you want to travel independently around India on your own itinerary but without the hassle of booking trains, coaches, domestic flights and hotels? We can do as many or as few of these tasks as you wish, at very reasonable, transparent rates.

Do you need help for any purpose in Mumbai? Filming? Research? Shopping? Sourcing a manufacturer? We are not experts in all these fields but with the assistance of our Hindi speaking staff, we will help find what you want. Please contact us with your requirements, no matter how bizarre they may be!!

Do you have a specific query? It might be answered in the FAQs section. If not, then please feel free to contact us.

Please feel free to contact us by phone, email or by popping into our office during working hours.
 
   

Map



   

Tips for travelling by train

Which train to catch?: To get to Mahim Junction, you need to catch a "slow" train. This means that the train stops at all stations (listed below) on the way to its destination. You will normally see a "S" on the signboard to indicate this, as opposed to a "F" which designates a fast train. All slow trains on the Western Line go to Mahim Junction, so you do not need to worry about the destination of the train.
Frequency of trains: Every few minutes normally
Price: From Churchgate to Mahim Junction, Second Class = Rs 6 one way. First Class = Rs 52 one way. First Class has padded seats and is a little cleaner. If travelling during rush hour (see below), it is worth considering, but if not, Second Class is fine.
Time of journey: Churchgate to Mahim Junction takes 35 minutes approx. Andheri to Mahim Junction takes about 20 minutes.
Rush Hour: When travelling from North to South, from about 8.30am to about 12pm (sometimes a little later). When travelling from South to North, from about 5.30pm to 8.30pm. Rush Hour in Mumbai means a LOT of people are travelling- you will be squeezed in very tightly in the carriages, and getting on and off the train can be hazardous. You need to move near to the doors a few stations before disembarking unless your station is the last stop.
List of stations: Churchgate - Marine Lines - Charni Road - Grant Road - Mumbai Central - Mahalaxmi - Lower Parel - Elphinstone Road - Dadar - Matunga Road - MAHIM JUNCTION - Bandra - Khar Road - Santa Cruz - Vile Parle - Andheri. There are stations beyond Andheri but if a tourist it is unlikely that you will be located here.
 

1/26, akber house, nowroji fardonji rd, opp laxmi vilas hotel, colaba. mumbai. 400 039. india.
tel: 022 22833872. email: info@realitytoursandtravel.com
Copyright © 2007 Reality Tours and Travel Private Limited

many photos of dharavi, where indicated, have been provided courtesy of julien cassagne (http://juliencassagne.free.fr).
any use is forbidden without authorization of the author