Marine Drive

Marine Drive runs about three kilometres in a curve along Back Bay, built on reclaimed land in the 1920s and 1930s, and the buildings facing it form one of the largest concentrations of art deco architecture in the world, inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 along with the Victorian Gothic buildings opposite. The curve of streetlights seen at night from the raised ground at either end is what gave it the popular name Queen's Necklace. The seawall is lined with tetrapods, concrete blocks that break the monsoon waves, and the parapet is where much of the city sits in the evening.

What you actually see

• The deco frontage - one of the world's largest concentrations of art deco.
• The night curve - the line of streetlights along the bay.
• The tetrapods - concrete wave breakers along the seawall.
• The evening crowd - the city sitting on the parapet after dark.

When to go

November to February; the monsoon sends waves over the wall onto the road, which is a spectacle in itself but soaks anyone walking. Evenings and sunset are when the promenade fills.

Honest expectations

The sea is polluted and swimming is not an option. Traffic alongside is constant and loud. Chowpatty beach at the northern end has litter problems.

Nearby

Girgaum Chowpatty lies north; Nariman Point is south.