36 Hours in Mumbai

See spindly chimneys rising amid luxury hotels and condos in the jagged skyline of Lower Parel, a rapidly gentrifying precinct in central Mumbai. The chimneys are relics of the area’s former textile mills, which began slowly being redeveloped into malls after a worker strike in the 1980s. Trace Mumbai’s working-class roots here with the writer Saranya Subramanian, who leads the Bombay Poetry Crawl (600 rupees, or about $7), a series of walking tours conducted through the lens of poetry and local history. During the tour, Ms. Subramanian reads poetry by workers and encourages participants to read, too. She leads the tour monthly and also hosts a range of other poetry walks in the city, including one on a local train. Check her Instagram page, @thebombaypoetrycrawl, for scheduling.

Take a car to the nearby G5A, a cultural center housed in a repurposed textile mill compound. Trees grow out of the stone walls of a neighboring former mill, and skyscrapers rise, seemingly by the minute, on the other side. Catch a show at G5A, which hosts edgy art performances, movie screenings and discussions in its small theater, or on its terrace, with the moon glowing through the Mumbai haze. Recent shows include a poetry reading by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Forrest Gander, along with the celebrated Indian poet Arvind Krishna Mehrotra; Norwegian and Bangalorean jazz bands; and a Kashmiri film. Tickets from 250 to 700 rupees.

Walk next door, still within the mill compound, to the high-ceilinged and warmly lit Masque, a restaurant that reinvents traditional Indian dishes across a nine-course tasting menu (5,200 rupees per person). It takes puran poli and amti, for instance, a sweet, lentil-filled flatbread and side of spicy coconut dal that is often eaten during Mumbai festivals, and remixes it as a bite-size chickpea tart with a hint of jaggery (Indian raw sugar), filled with green peas or crab and topped with coconut foam. Pav, a ubiquitous Mumbai bread bun with a crackly top and slightly sweet, dense interior, acquires a croissant-like, buttery texture here — dip it into a silky morel or lamb curry. Cap off the meal with a popsicle made with unlikely layers of Indian pickle, mulberry and white chocolate. Vegetarian menus available.

Walk through the soft-colored shadows cast by stained-glass windows in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, more commonly known as the Afghan Church, which reopened in March after a two-year renovation. The building, in the leafy Navy Nagar, a naval area at the southern tip of Mumbai, was completed in 1858 and commemorates the more than 4,500 Indian and British soldiers who died during the first Anglo-Afghan war, including in its disastrous retreat from Kabul. The church is also known for multifaith prayers, Indian classical music concerts and a midnight Mass at Christmas. Entry is free.

Dig into a breakfast of akuri, a spicy scrambled egg dish (345 rupees) that is traditional in India’s Parsi community, at Kala Ghoda Cafe, in the Kala Ghoda neighborhood. Then walk to the sprawling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, a museum with manicured lawns and a Gothic-style building topped with a bulbous dome. As part of “Ancient Sculptures,” showing through October, chiseled Greek gods and Egyptian deities from the British Museum and the J. Paul Getty Museum share space with Assyrian gods from CSMVS’s permanent collection. The museum’s permanent galleries are a trove of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sculptures and also feature artifacts from the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Tickets, 150 rupees for Indian nationals; 700 rupees for foreigners.

Stroll the Kala Ghoda neighborhood, starting with Artisans’, a gallery and shop in a graffiti-covered building that showcases traditional Indian crafts. In the area’s ever-expanding fashion district, browse crisp white shirts with handmade lace collars (from around 9,500 rupees) at Moonray, a women’s fashion label and shop (its co-founder also runs the Chanakya School of Craft, which teaches women embroidery and collaborates with Dior). Also check out Payal Khandwala, which has silk tops (14,000 rupees), sharply cut suits and trench coats in bold-colored Indian fabric, and Ogaan, with heavily embellished wedding dresses, pleated dresses and more. Then walk to Kitab Khana, an independent bookstore in a more-than-century-old building with Corinthian columns in the nearby Fort district. Browse the well-curated selection of Indian literature and the books on history and Gandhian thought that line the high shelves.

A dizzying range of delicacies can be found on Mumbai’s khao gallis, a Hindi term for “food streets.” The safest way to try them all (and avoid tummy trouble) might be at Swati Snacks, a six-decade-old restaurant in the Tardeo area. Have the vada pav (175 rupees), like garlicky potato sliders, and the signature panki (230 rupees), a wispy rice pancake flavored with mint or dill that arrives steaming in a banana-leaf parcel. Then visit the nearby Mani Bhavan, a three-story building where Mohandas K. Gandhi, known as the father of the nation, often stayed; it is now a museum. Spinning wheels and floor seating in his preserved, spartan bedroom provide a window to his belief that the route to Indian independence could come only through discipline and self-reliance. Entry, 20 rupees.

Take a car to Byculla, the chaotic old quarter of Mumbai. Get a coffee (Americano, 228 rupees) at the Craftery by Subko, a new Mumbai cafe and roastery chain bringing hipsters to this part of the city. Then drive through the busy, narrow streets to see some of Mumbai’s diverse and beautiful religious monuments. Visit the nearby Moghal Masjid, a jewel-like, Iranian-style Shiite mosque built in 1860, with intricate blue tiling adorning a curved entrance. Women cannot pray inside the mosque but can enter the compound, which has a pool for ablution. Take in the facade of Hasnabad Dargah, a pristine, ivory-colored mausoleum, known as Mumbai’s Taj Mahal for its resemblance to the original (entry only for Shia Ismaili Muslims). Not far from there is the Magen David Synagogue (entry, 300 rupees), recognizable by its sky blue clock tower, built in the 1860s to serve Mumbai’s once wealthy and influential, but now vanishing, Jewish community.

In the Dadar neighborhood, shop for handwoven saris (from 2,000 rupees) and scarves at Induri Saree Centre, a candy-box-size store. Then line up at Aaswad Upahar and Mithai Griha, a no-frills Dadar institution best visited in April and May with the arrival of fragrant and luscious Alphonso mangoes. Aaswad does a seasonal mango-themed thali (a platter of various small dishes; 470 rupees) that includes a saffron, mango and cardamom drink; a mango dal; and chilled mango pulp called aamras that is the taste of a Mumbai summer in a bowl. Then cross the street to the gleaming, new Kohinoor Square mall and take the elevator 48 floors to Bastian at the Top. With a tree-lined plunge pool and glowing figurines carved into giant pillars, it can feel more like a theme park than a restaurant (it often attracts Bollywood celebrities). It’s worth a cocktail (1,295 rupees) just to take in the sweeping views of the bay.

The laid-back suburb of Bandra has Portuguese bungalows, Bollywood studios and the full wattage of star homes along with fans hoping for a glimpse. The best bet for encountering Bollywood stars is on the Technicolor, larger-than-life murals in the area’s charming lanes. See a pistol-wielding Dharmendra, from the iconic 1975 movie “Sholay,” opposite the Subko cafe on Chapel Road. Next to it is a triptych of Bollywood’s dancing divas — a feathered Helen and a bejeweled Waheeda Rehman and Asha Parekh. (Ranjit Dahiya, the artist behind many of these murals, also teaches workshops.) Stroll on to Waroda Road (past a moody depiction of the celebrated actor ​​Irrfan Khan) to reach the brightly colored Veronica’s, an all-day cafe that has become something of a living room for Bandra’s young set, who come for creative bites like chicken-and-cheese-filled breakfast momos (395 rupees), potato waffles (350 rupees) and babka stuffed with chorizo (275 rupees).