Dharavi Small-Group Mumbai - Walking Tour with Guide and Optional Add-ons

Unique Experience in Dharavi (Mumbai)

The quality of this experience really depends on the experience of the guides. We were lucky to have Mukesh (driver) and Abhishek (local guide) who are neighbors, grew up and still reside in Dharavi. So, they really showed us the areas, both the industrial and the residential sides in details. It was a great learning experience and very happy to see how they are and to live independently in such challenging conditions. We felt safe to follow the guide through the various dark and narrow walkways that we would not recommend anyone to attempt on their own. There is a leather shop (Dharavi) that did tannery and produced some nice local products that would make a great souvenir and a good way to support their spirit. It is a unique experience and I personally highly recommended it. However, please note that some people (not I personally) had considered that the 2-hour duration was too long.

Dharavi through the eyes of a local

Abhishek was a great, welcoming guide to Dharavi! Seeing the neighborhood through the eyes of a local was a valuable experience for me.

Day Tour Mumbai

Dev our guide was excellent on our day tour of Dharavi Slum and main sights of Mumbai. Very friendly and informative. Would highly recommend this company

Wonderful tour

We had a brilliant experience exploring Dharavi with a very friendly guide (Dinesh), answering any questions and showing us different industries.

Dharavi slum tour

The tour was definitely worth it, is a must see place. Our tour guide Shailesh was excellent, explained us in very good english the details about the slum , walked us through and showed us the places of both life and business within the slum. Organisation was perfect, everything on time. I can highly recommend.

A Sunday well spent

I took a tour with Mystical Mumbai and Shailesh was our guide for the day. It was a really insightful and fun 2.5 hours walking tour of Dharavi and Kumbharwada. Shailesh was really articulate and on point with his information and it was so delightful known this well-known yet less explored part of maazhi Mumbai I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves exploring and knowing places in-depth

Life in Dharavi

It was an eye-opening and fascinating experience to walk through the streets of Dharavi and to learn about the people, neighborhoods and the thriving industries/businesses within Dharavi. This self contained community is full of life and is a must see. Nikesh was my guide and he was knowledgeable since he also lives in Dharavi which made the experience much more authentic.

Dharavi slum

Fascinating. Learned that a slum should not be thought of as only a bad thing. I saw where people work, shop, and live. Knowledgeable and friendly guide.

Unbelievable!

A truly unique and culturally educational experience. Coordinating this tour through my hostel, I received the contact info of the owner the night before. On the morning of the tour, as I still had some questions, I reached out to the owner to address them. His response time was very satisfactory, informative and kind. The meeting point of the tour was an excellent choice. A minute at most from the train station,I met my wonderful guide at a delicious coffee shop. After meeting (raj) and enjoying a coffee we headed out for the tour. Raj shared so many interesting facts, he had patience to answer all my questions. He's an amazingly compassionate individual committed to making the lives of people in Mumbai better, while educating foreigners. This tour was recommended by a friend. I would highly recommend it, and advise you to request Raj as your tour guide.

Great experience

Bunny gave me a fantastic tour. Very informative and a great insight into local life. I am a solo female Traveller and felt completely safe and comfortable at all times. Would highly recommend 👌

Suraiya Nasser & Shujaat Noormohamed

Our guide Rakesh was very knowledgeable and spoke very good English. A very courteous young man with a very good sense of humor. Highly recommend the tour.

Best tour!!

Raj is a great guide, very friendly and always checked up on us. The tour is well worth it and eye opening. Would definitely recommend!

Slum Tour

Detailed, informative and respectful your. Felt safe the entire time, I would recommend it to friends!

A dharavi slum knowledgefull tour

A really interesting tour! The guide grew and still lives there. He's really knowledgefull about it and easy to interact with. I He's a people person who likes to understand other cultures as well. Highly recommend this tour

Excellent tour. Saw everything was hoping to see.

Rajesh provided a very god tour. He was knowledgeable and was able to answer evey question. I learned a lot. The slum is nothing like I had thought it was going to be. Take this tour and find out for yourself (0% commission salesman).

Dharavi slum tour

What a nice experience to walk around Dharavi ! It was a really good way to understand more about how this kind of community lives. We learned a lot about how things work here . People who live here are smiling and they are really active ! Our guide, Ragesh was excellent and super nice ! Thank you 😁

Great Experience

Such a great experience to discover the real face of Dharavi, the way people live, how they work, that every kids go to school, that there is hospital and how active people are. The smiles of people will stay in our mind and we are really thankful for all the precious informations that our very nice guide Ragesh told us. He took time to explain us everything. Thank you to Shailesh for letting us visit his beautiful house and his warm welcome to all of us.

Amazing Dhavari experience with great Guide

I did the Dhavari walking tour today & had an amazing experience. Our guide was very knowledgable and also grew up / lives in Dhavari. We got great insights into the commercial areas & the community life. I can highly recommend it

Beyond my expectations!

What a interesting tour! It all started with the pick up at our hotel, we walkt true the streets of Mumbai to the trainstation, we took the train as local people do and before we were in the slumps we already learnd so much about habits and living in India. Our guide (Raj) spoke perfect English and wanted to learn us everything to know. We were not allowed to take any pictures in the slumps because of the privacy of the people living and working there, I was glad I heard that because you have to respect all people. It's not a zoo!! The tour is a perfect way to see how everything works and how families living in the most areas in Mumbai. I would highly recommend to go on a tour with Raj because if you walk there by yourself you can look but you have no idea what you are looking at. Raj knows everything and brings you to places you would never come by yourself. Enjoy to all!

Our visit to the Dharvi slums in Mumbai

My husband and I took a tour of the Dharvi slums with 'Mystical Mumbai' through 'Vacations To Go.' Our tour guide Rakesh was amazing. He was at the cruise port to meet us a half an hour early and as we were already there we were soon on our way to the slums. The drive there was something else as the day before we had done a City Tour of Mumbai - all the tourist attractions and beautiful landmarks. Our ride to the slums was the opposite. Rakesh, who has lived in the slums his whole life, is a very pleasant, bright, young ambitious person who works very hard. He was an excellent tour guide - very personable and and he gladly answered all our questions. Rakesh first took us through the commercial part of the slums. We then went through the residential area, the market area and more. Although it was sad to see their living and working conditions it was amazing to see how resourceful and productive the residents are - very hard working people and they seemed happy. It is really something to see, as my explanation of the Dharvi slums, which is a city in itself (it has a temple, schools with happy, beautiful children, stores, a hospital...), wouldn't do it justice. If you ever get the chance, I would recommend this tour and you you might be fortunate to get Rakesh as your tour guide. He did an excellent job! This tour was a real eye opener and it is something we will never forget!

Great experience

We had a great guide with so much information about the Dharavi Slum! He told us that our experience will differ from the things we had in mind before the tour. We felt save in Dharavi and met great people! Thank you ☺️

Informative and Eye-Opening Tour

I’m really glad we decided to do a tour of Dharavi. The media perceptions of “slums” are misleading. It was great to debunk our assumptions and pre-conceives notions by exploring an organized, hardworking community. Rajesh was our tour guy, and he was really kind, well-paced, and informative. Great tour overall!

An eye opening afternoon

We had a very informational walk through the Dhavari area. Our guide was most knowledgable, friendly and informative. We were able to meet the of Mystical Mumbai briefly at the end of the tour as he lives in the Dhavari community. I would highly recommend this group for any tour in Mumbai!

Great value

The Dharavi slum tour was really interresting! We where 7 in the group who tok the train out there with our very friendly guide Anthony. He is from dharavi himself and speaks english well with a heavy indian accent. We felt safe with him as he was always careful to ask if he was moving too fast and to help us cross the street. The people of dharavi are used to having tourists stopping by now, and having a local guide gives you an insighful experience, with local perspectivs and a better understanding of how life is in the slum. I would absolutely recoment this tour as it is well organized and genuine. There were a couple of times it was hard to understand what Anthony said, but he was patient and explained múltiple times if we missed something.

Slum tour

I had the tour with Dave, he was very kind and gave a lot of information, very careful about everything and a really good guy. I recommend the tour definitely, is worth the price. Thank you guys

Excellent tour

Our tour guide Raunak was so knowledgable and his English was amazing. It ended up just being my friend and I on the tour so we got to spend lots of time walking around and asking lots of questions to the residents. Would highly recommend!

Dharavi Slum tour

Very informative. An intimate visit to the slum- businesses and residences. Anthony is very knowledgeable. His English is good.

Dharavi Slum tour

We did the Dharavi Slum tour today with our guide AJ who was amazing! He spoke good English was knowledgable and friendly. I would d highly recommend this tour with AJ as the guide as I am a satisfied customer Eva Robertson

Thank you

AJ was the perfect guide, we learnt so much and we now have a better understanding . I was very reluctant to visit a “slum” , it felt wrong for many reasons. But for one thing this word doesn’t exist in Hindi. All Our preconceptions vanished, and we had a true insight into this fascinating community . I can honestly say that I felt safer there than on the streets in London or Paris. The people were very welcoming . Don’t miss the Dharavi handbag shop. Thank you AJ 😊🧡

Great tour

Two friends from Australia. Tour with Mystical Mumbai with tour guide Raj (excellent guide, recommend highly). Took us to both a commercial area and residential area of the slum. Fantastic tour to see how everything operated.

Awesome tour

We were a party of 8 (family of life 5) with extended family cruising around India. We usually like to book our own private shore tours as the ones offered by the cruise line are usually overpriced and over crowded. We booked onto the Dhavari Slum tour and found the whole tour to be fascinating and surprising the level of industry and the number of people living in this Mumbai slum. Our teens also really enjoyed this tour and were thoroughly engaged by the environment and our tour leader. Thoroughly recommended.

Dharavi Slum Mumbai-walking tour experience with guide

Definitely a highlight of our 2 days in Mumbai. Sagar was our guide, a young Mumbai college student who has lived in Dharavi his entire life. He was beyond excellent at describing life and work in the industrious city among the city. People were working at one of the largest recycling facilities in the world, manufacturing beautiful pottery and leather goods. People were content and no one person was asking for a handout unlike the city. There is a real sense of community inside Dharavi. Sagar is very proud of his heritage and invited us into his home to meet his mother and sister. His English was excellent, and we wish him much good fortune in his future as an accountant.

Incredible Tour Will Dispel What You Think About Mumbai Slums

I used Mystical Mumbai to do a market and slum tour five years ago. I came back with family and did it again. The market tour was a great way to see the sights and sounds and smells of Mumbai. But the Slum tour was an eye opener. This tour is not at all what you expect. I highly recommend it.Both the owner was born, raised, and still lives in Dhavari. He invited us into his home and office when we paid him. The guide was born and raised and lives in a different slum. They share their home with brutal honesty and pride. You don’t feel like you are exploiting people when you visit. The place is crowded – one million people in an area half the size of Central Park in NYC (420 acres). Dhavari was founded in 1850. We call it a slum, but they call it home and community. To us, slum connotes crime, filth, poverty. They point out that the total yearly GDP of the area is $640 million. The per capita yearly income is higher than many other places in India. Some people are very poor. Others are prosperous. And the prosperous ones choose to stay there because it is their home. In the tour, you see both the commercial and the residential sides of the slum. You learn how people live and go to school. You learn the challenges but also the opportunities.

Dharavi guided tour

We were given a guided tour by Rakesh who was so amazing! Really knowledgable about the area and seemed to be friends with a lot of the locals. We got to see more than the other bigger tours going in and out of shops and businesses to learn about the different trades. Would highly recommend!

Awesome Slum Tour!

Ajay was our guide and he was very friendly and knowledgeable. It's an eye opening experience, and I have rethought my conception of a slum as a result. If you want to see the real India and real Mumbai, then this is a must do. By using Mystical Mumbai you also support locals in the Dharavi slum.

Dharavi slum tour with AJ

Amazing tour, fantastic sites, small group size, AJ was a great tour guide, funny and informative. Felt safe throughout. Would reccomend

Nice tour!

We had a very nice tour trough the slums and could get a small touch of it what does it mean to life there.

Amber

Absolutely amazing !!!!! Much better than I expected and guide Anthony was amazing - great English and very patient - was worth every dollar and highly recommend 🤗

Super nice guide!

Well organized tour with a lot of interesting information about Dharavi. Our guide was super nice and knowledgeable and we had a cool cultural exchange, since he was also interested in knowing about our customs. Good value for money!

Highlight of Mumbai visit

I agree with most of the other reviews, this was a highlight of our cruise stopover in Mumbai. We saw a different side to the city and our guide helped us to understand how Dharavi works. The visit to a house was unexpected and the icing on the cake. Having guides who are mostly local students helps provide a seemingly more authentic experience.

Amazing experience!

Our Tour guide was very friendly and cautious and answered all the questions we had. He really changed our view on Slums, and this was definitely our highlight during our Mumbai stay!

Enlightening

This tour was the best thing I did in Mumbai, and probably on my entire trip to India. Before my trip, I did a lot of research, and I had mixed feelings on slum tours. However, I met a woman at my hostel working for an NGO, and she recommended the tour, so I went. I learned SO much! It was a small group, and there are so many people living and working in Dharavi, so I didn't feel like I was imposing. I did not get the impression that the tour was exploiting vulnerable people. Instead, I felt like they were educating us on how Dharavi lives and functions. There are over a million people living and working in Dharavi, and in general, 60% of Mumbai residents live in slums, so this is a great opportunity to learn more about the city and its residents. Our tour guide, AJ, was very friendly and knowledgeable, and he answered all our questions. I highly recommend this tour!

Very well organized tour

Great tour conducted in an insightful and respectful way by local experts. Extremely helpful and very genuine guides. The tour was my highlight for Mumbai.

Great tour

It was a well-conducted and insightful tour. We learnt a lot about what it means to live in the slums. The tour guide, Shailesh, was knowledgeable and professional. We would recommend this tour to anybody who wishes to gain a greater insight into the ‚heart of Mumbai‘. Thank you for this experience.

Safe

I have never so safe in my life. Single lady travel alone and it was very safe. You are not supposed to take photos and wear a mask if you are concerned of pollution

Mr

Slum tour is good, although expensive. If you want to see slum then this is tour to do. You will see poor people, dirtynes, misery and if lucky like I was also rats.

Outstanding!

The tour is indeed an extraordinary experience, absolutely a “must see”. The guys are doing fantastic job. They introduce you to all aspects of living in Dharavi. You learn about its own economy, living, culture, problems and day-to-day life. Rakesh and Shailesh, thank you very much again for the trip and hospitality!

Amazing tour of Mumbai’s biggiest slum

We booked through our hostel , really easy to arrange met at a cafe near the slum. Great Tourguide called ajay very knowledgeable and professional ! Better than we thought amazing, only 750 rupee defiantly worth it, thanks very much. Weren’t allowed to take pictures

Dharavi slum tour with local guide rakesh

First class tour, seeing how life and work goes on in the ‘Slums’ of Mumbai and how it all integrates together - would highly recommend !!

Extraordinary and Wonderful tour of Dharavi - Do It!

Had wonderful tour with Vikrant and his mate Bunny who grew up and lives in Dharavi. Extraordinary morning - 2 hour walking tour. Insightful, humbling and heartwarming. The sense of community and social inclusion is wonderful. This tour was one of the best trips I have done in India and I have done quite a fair few. Can’t recommend highly enough. Vikrant was a gent. Understanding considerate and kind. Picked me up and delivered me back to my hotel, making sure that I had the very best experience. Do this tour! You won’t regret it! Thanks Vikrant.