India GOMuseums in Mumbai
Mumbai's three biggest art addresses stand within a short walk of each other in Kala Ghoda: CSMVS for two thousand years of Indian art, the National Gallery of Modern Art for the twentieth century, and Jehangir Art Gallery, free and new every week. Beyond them the city keeps smaller, more personal museums: its own story in a gilded Victorian hall in Byculla, Gandhi's rooms on a quiet street, cricket at Wankhede, and a museum where children build things. Here is how to choose and how to combine them.
How to choose: by what you want to see
Ticket prices and hours for each museum are on its own page; the notes below are about what each one is for.
Indian art across the centuries: CSMVS
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, still often called the Prince of Wales Museum, is Mumbai's great museum: a domed Indo-Saracenic building of 1922 among palms near the Gateway, with galleries from Indus Valley seals and Gupta sculpture to Mughal miniatures and a room of European painting. The foreigner ticket includes an audio guide, which is the easy way into the collection. Allow two or three hours.
Modern Indian art: NGMA and Jehangir
The National Gallery of Modern Art fills a 1911 public hall by George Wittet, rebuilt inside by Romi Khosla as a spiral that carries you past the art floor by floor. Its collection of about 1,450 works is strongest on the Bombay Progressive Artists, Raza and Souza among them. It is closed on Mondays. Next to CSMVS, Jehangir Art Gallery (1952) has four halls, up to three hundred shows a year and no entry fee; artists often sit beside their work and will talk if you start.
The city's own story: Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum
Mumbai's oldest museum opened in 1872 as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay. The main hall, teal columns picked out in gold over Minton-tiled floors, may be the prettiest room in the city. The collection is small and personal: maps, models, decorative arts and clay figures of the trades and communities of 19th-century Bombay, telling how seven islands became a metropolis. It stands in the Rani Baug compound in Byculla, so the museum and the zoo go together; it is closed on Wednesdays.
Gandhi: Mani Bhavan
Mani Bhavan on Laburnum Road in Gamdevi was Gandhi's Mumbai base from 1917 to 1934, and the Non-Cooperation, Satyagraha, Swadeshi and Khadi campaigns were launched from it. His room on the top floor is kept as it was, spinning wheel included; a photo gallery follows his life a floor below. Entry is about ₹20 and it is open daily from 9:30 to 18:00. It is rarely crowded, which suits the captions.
Cricket: MCA museum at Wankhede
The MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum opened at Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate for the ground's fiftieth anniversary and runs from early Ranji Trophy players to the 2011 World Cup final, won on this pitch. Visits are guided, Tuesday to Sunday: about 75 minutes for the museum or about 150 with stands and player areas. On match days only the museum is open. Tickets are sold through the District app.
With children: Museum of Solutions
The Museum of Solutions in Lower Parel is a children's museum built like a workshop: 100,000 square feet with four labs where children from two to seventeen build robots, work on marine-pollution problems and grow things, plus a library and a three-storey climbing sculpture. Almost nothing is behind glass. Book online and plan half a day.
How to combine them
A Kala Ghoda museum day. Start at CSMVS when it opens, cross to Jehangir Art Gallery next door for whatever is on the walls this week, then walk to NGMA at Regal Circle (not on a Monday). Lunch fits in between at one of the Fort cafes, and the Gateway of India and Colaba are a short walk away. During the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (30 January – 7 February 2027) the whole precinct turns into a venue.
Byculla morning. Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and Rani Baug share a compound; go in the morning, and not on a Wednesday.
Gamdevi. Mani Bhavan pairs naturally with an afternoon on Marine Drive or Chowpatty, both nearby.
Families. The Museum of Solutions is a destination in itself; with older children the cricket museum at Wankhede is the other easy win.
In the monsoon, from June to September, when Mumbai gets most of its year's rain, museums are the plan that does not depend on the sky.
Before you go
- Closing days: NGMA on Mondays, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum on Wednesdays; CSMVS and Mani Bhavan are open daily.
- Two prices: at CSMVS and NGMA foreign visitors pay a higher rate than Indian citizens.
- Book ahead: the Museum of Solutions and the Wankhede cricket museum sell tickets online, and cricket visits are guided in small groups.
- Free: Jehangir Art Gallery has no entry fee, and the weekend gallery tours at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum come with the museum ticket.
- Elephanta and CST: for history in stone rather than in glass cases, see Elephanta Caves and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
FAQ
What is the best museum in Mumbai?
CSMVS, the former Prince of Wales Museum near the Gateway of India, with Indian art from the Indus Valley to the Mughals. Allow two or three hours; the foreigner ticket includes an audio guide.
Where is the Museum of Solutions in Mumbai?
In Lower Parel, central Mumbai. It is a hands-on children's museum for ages two to seventeen; book online and plan half a day.
Which museums in Mumbai are free?
Jehangir Art Gallery in Kala Ghoda has no entry fee. Mani Bhavan charges about ₹20 (about ₹10 for students).
Which day are Mumbai museums closed?
NGMA closes on Mondays and Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum on Wednesdays. CSMVS and Mani Bhavan are open every day; the Wankhede cricket museum runs Tuesday to Sunday.
Which is the oldest museum in Mumbai?
Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Byculla, opened in 1872 as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay.
Sources (3)
Facts checked: 15 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.
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