Go now: Mumbai

With new flights from Manchester, there’s never been a better time to head for the crazy, indefinable but endlessly rewarding Indian megacity

Discover ancient rock temples and flamingos in India’s capital of style

For writers ranging from Salman Rushdie to Vikram Chandra and Kiran Nagarkar, Mumbai has always exerted a strong pull. In Midnight’s Children, Rushdie came up with a new word, ‘rutputty’, to describe the chaotic nature of his birthplace and favourite city. In cult Mumbai novel Shantaram, the Australian criminal at the heart of Gregory David Roberts’ hit describes “the different air... the smell of gods, demons, empires and civilisations in resurrection and decay.”

Part of the attraction may be that there are 21.3 million souls, and potential stories, squeezed into this humid megacity. It spans the gamut of humanity, from the poverty of Dharavi (where the film Slumdog Millionaire was shot and tours now roam) to the Bollywood stars, cricketers and politicians in the seaside haunt of Bandra.

The city reflects the human mishmash of religion, culture and wealth so easily encountered here by travellers. You might wander the beachfront Marine Drive – like a mini Miami dotted with art deco buildings – or explore the stone colonial buildings of creative quarter Kala Ghoda, which turns into a giant rambling art market during its eponymous festival every February. You might book a table at Parel’s buzzy Bombay Canteen, which specialises in recreating old Mumbai street food, or eat dosa pancakes or chaat in one of the city’s khau gallis, or snack alleys.

There are surprises everywhere here, not least in the lush Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a vast subtropical reserve inside the city limits that is home to wildlife and the Kanheri cave network, once a Buddhist settlement. Meanwhile, thousands of flamingos tinge the coastal wetlands a rosy pink in the winter months, with mangrove boat trips bringing them up close.

Few visitors even realise Mumbai was once an archipelago until land reclamation linked it all up. But there are still islands here, and if you take a boat to Elephanta (aka Gharapuri), you can explore its remarkable 5th-century rock-cut temples. A reminder why even the best writers have to create words to define a city with so many faces.

Royal rumblings The Gateway of India was built to mark a 1911 visit from King George V but became a post-raj symbol of independence