A Mumbai day from Colaba to a Bandra sunset

An Irani café in the Fort neighbourhood, since 1904. Bun maska (buttered bread) and cutting chai is the Mumbai breakfast. The walls are pressed tin, the tables marble; the staff have been there for decades.

The basalt arch built for King George V's 1911 visit, and the point where the last British troops left India in 1948. Boats to Elephanta Island depart from the jetty directly behind — ninety-minute round trip on a cool morning.

A UNESCO-listed 6th-century rock-cut cave complex, an hour by boat from the Gateway. The 20-foot Trimurti Sadashiva at the main entrance is the masterpiece. The monkey population is aggressive about plastic bags.

A Parsi restaurant open since 1923. Berry pulao — basmati with Iranian zereshk berries, lamb or chicken — is the house specialty. Red-chequered tablecloths; the current owners are the third generation. Cash preferred, lunch only.

A Gothic and Indo-Saracenic architecture loop — Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the High Court, the Asiatic Society, Bombay University. Walk Veer Nariman Road to the oval Maidan. An hour at a slow pace.

The three-kilometre curved promenade along Back Bay, called the Queen's Necklace at night for the string of lights along the sweep. Walk from Nariman Point to Chowpatty; the bhelpuri stalls at the Chowpatty end are worth a stop.

Cross the Worli Sea Link (taxi, thirty minutes from Marine Drive). Bandstand has an old fort and a sea wall for the sunset. Dinner at Out of the Blue — European with a sea view, generous portions, live music on weekends.