Dharavi Slum Tour: Experience Mumbai's Heart through its Business Activities
5.0
42 Ratings
Mumbai
Experience the vibrant business activities of Mumbai's Dharavi slum through our educational walking tours. Discover the heart of the city and gain a nuanced understanding of life in the slums.
Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Dharavi - Visit one of Asia’s biggest slums on this educational tour. You will learn about the many industries that operate there as well as the lives of the people who live there.
  • Dhobi Ghat - The world’s largest outdoor laundry! See the dhobiwallahs, or washermen, scrubbing sheets from Mumbai’s largest hospitals and hotels at this busy outdoor laundry area.
  • Jain Temple - Mumbai - This temple is considered one of the most beautiful, intricately-decorated temples in the city. Jainism, an Indian religion, prizes peacefulness and non-violence above all.
  • Kamala Nehru Park - Visit one of Mumbai’s greenest and most peaceful areas on top of Malabar Hill. You won’t believe the eye-popping view out over Marine Drive and the Arabian sea!
  • Banganga - Surrounded by Hindu temples, this famous 12th century tank is believed to contain water with special healing powers. Rumour has it that its spring comes from the holy Ganges river
  • Haji Ali Mosque - Surrounded on all sides by water, this mosque is located at the end of a long causeway protruding into the sea. It is the tomb of Saint Haji Ali, a wealthy Muslim who renounced the world and proceeded to Mecca. It is said that he died in Mecca and the casket miraculously drifted to the spot where the mosque was later built in his honour.
  • Crawford Market - One of the city’s largest wholesale fruit, vegetable, meat market— and the first building in India to get electricity!
  • Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus - See one of the busiest railway stations in the country at rush hour! CST is Mumbai’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site and it was featured in the final song from the award-winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire.
  • Gateway of India - Built in 1911, the British Troops marched under the Gateway of India in 1948 to signal the end of the British Raj
  • Chor Bazaar - The “Thieves Market” is one of the largest and busiest flea markets in the whole country and sells almost anything. Taste some local sweets, take home delicious home-made pickles and chutneys, or shop for a colourful vintage Bollywood film poster!
  • Marine Drive - No trip to Mumbai is complete without a stroll down Marine Drive, otherwise known as the Queen’s Necklace.
  • Sassoon Dock - Visit this bustling port and watch as local fishermen bring in their catch.
What's Included
  • Complimentary hotel/residence pickup and drop-off
  • Professional English-speaking guide and driver
  • Refreshments: water and cold drinks included
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Food
Additional Information

Often described as ‘Asia’s biggest shanty town’, we choose to view Dharavi as the pulsing center of Mumbai.

Through our informative guided walks, travellers get to observe the diverse range of economic activities such as recycling, pottery, embroidery, baking, soap production, leather processing, poppadom manufacturing, among others.

In addition, we take you through the living quarters in Dharavi. This place has seen immigrants from all over India, turning it into a small-scale reflection of the country. Our over 2-hour introductive tour of Dharavi is aimed at providing a more complex perception of life and employment in Mumbai’s underprivileged areas.

In the later part of the day, we will introduce you to Mumbai’s other, more conventional tourist attractions.

This tour is customized according to your preferences; you have the freedom to explore as much or as little as you like. Your guide for the day, who possesses extensive knowledge of the city’s more traditional attractions, will offer recommendations, but the decision of what to see and do ultimately lies with you.

Location
Dharavi
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(42 Ratings)
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Dave_b
Feb 22, 2024
A day that you will remember - Was a bit apprehensive doing a private tour in such a big city. I shouldn't have worried Sabina was there to greet us at the port with a driver in a lovely clean a/c car. What a day we had, she was so knowledgeable about all aspects of the city tour and she packed all the sights in. The most memberal part of the tour had to be the visit to the slums.This could have been a bit scary( it is a slum so it's not gonna be a flower fi!led walk in a park) but in fact we found it quite humbling, the hours these people work and the conditions in which they live has to be seen to be believed. What we found heart wrenching where the children who had nothing but an amazing spirit for life, all they wanted was to know was where we came from and to say Hi all done whilst giving us the biggest smiles ever! (Not an Nintendo switch in sight just good old fashion street games and football...think kids in UK could do with a school trip there to make them appreciate how lucky they are!!) The amazing thing is that a lot of the trip fees go to a charity to help teach English and what's nice is we were shown the classroom. So to Sabina thank you for a truly unforgettable day......ps please show your mum this review so she can be extra proud of you and all the best to your son who sound like a lovely boy.
Review provided by Viator
Karen_k
Feb 14, 2024
Sabina was a wonderful... - Sabina was a wonderful guide - very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and entertaining. We were able to visit places we never would have discovered on our own, and we had a great introduction to Mumbai. Don't miss this tour!
Review provided by Viator
Jamiho01
Nov 6, 2023
Wonderful tour, wonderful guide, wonderful day... - I wanted to spend a day seeing the famous sites of Mumbai, including the slum tour. We were greeted by our very friendly guide Chetan who made it an incredibly enjoyable day. If we were interested in seeing something, he made sure that we passed it somehow. He was very sensitive to the people living in the slums and we felt comfortable there, without feeling like we were interfering. If we wanted to stop somewhere for a drink or bite to eat, that was also catered for. It was good having somebody who was aware of the better places to eat. I would not hesitate at all to recommend Reality Tours and will certainly be using their services on my my return to beautiful India.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tukang_terbang
Oct 5, 2023
Great company with great value - This company provide more than just tour services. Janna as our guide for 3 days was SUPERB!! My kids love him and his knowledge is outstanding. It’s our first time to India and Mumbai but he make sure we get all tourist and historical site covered and along the way we enjoy every bit of our stay in Mumbai. He was very punctual and all agenda was done perfectly. What impresses me is their company value to give back to community and its a good example for us whats important in life.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Simonesk1
Jan 29, 2023
Look no further, this is it! - It was my first, solo trip to Mumbai and I booked the Dhavari tour + city tour for the day, and it was the best decision! The tour took 6.5 hours in total and we covered SO MANY places! My tour guide, Janna, was so passionate about giving me all the info and even catered the tour to fit what I wanted. I had never been on a train before in India and so we rode the train twice, and it was delightful! Being a girl, I was sceptical and nervous but this tour opened up my eyes to so many new things and ways of thinking too. I will definitely be booking more tours with Reality tours in the future when I visit!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Allia2000
Jan 14, 2023
Fantastic experience - I find it fantastic that the profits are reinvented into the community. Our tour guide was so friendly!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Helenhs258mj
Dec 9, 2022
Do see real Dharavi with Reality Tours - We had an excellent guide. Would highly recommend Raj. We did parts of the other Mumbai one would normally not see. We were very impressed by all the locals. Raj has a good knowledge. With hime we could see real Mumbai, talk to many people and see how Dharavi is organized with recycling, leather goods, pottery, English classes, good street food, biggest openair laundry. Besides this tour we also did a cycling tour + street art and Bollywood. We were well taken care off.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fabricem769
Dec 2, 2022
Combine tourism with good deed - Very well organized tour. Our guide was super kind, gave a lot of interesting explanations and was ultra respectful of all the organisation’s guidelines. Reality travels & tours is connected to NGO acting for education in the slums in India. They use all the profits gained from the tours to finance their organization and offer English classes to the inhabitants of the slums.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Giannadriver
Oct 18, 2022
Informative, immersive and fun. *Highly* recommend!! - A colleague and I were in India for work and decided to arrive a couple days early to acclimate before a busy week of meetings. We booked multiple tours with Reality (Dharavi, street food, village tour, and Mumbai city tour), and all were excellent!! What sets Reality apart from other tour operators is the passion and conviction they have for investing in the community and making tourism not exploitative, but educational and fun! I truly enjoyed my days with Reality and our lovely guide, Raj. We also met with Krishna and another leader at Reality. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
769eleanab
Oct 3, 2022
Amazing tour and tour guide - Amazing tour round the dharavi slum! You have to do this if you are visiting Mumbai. Our tour guide was excellent, very knowledgeable and shared some amazing stories. The tour company were outstanding and very accommodating.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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