Elephanta Caves

Ferries leave the Gateway of India for Elephanta Island, about an hour across the harbour, where a set of caves was carved from solid basalt between the 5th and 8th centuries. The masterpiece is the Trimurti, a three-headed, six-metre bust of Shiva as creator, protector and destroyer, calm and monumental in the half-dark.

Give it half a day: the crossing, a short walk or toy-train ride from the jetty, and a climb of stepped lanes lined with stalls and the island's resident monkeys. The caves and the ferry both close on Mondays, and in the monsoon sailings depend on the weather.

Island temples to Shiva