Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum Mumbai (Bombay)

This gorgeous museum, built in Renaissance revival style in 1872 as the Victoria & Albert Museum, contains 3500-plus objects centring on Mumbai’s history – photography, maps, textiles, books, manuscripts, bidriware (Bidar's metalwork), lacquerware, weaponry and exquisite pottery. The landmark building was renovated in 2008, with its Minton-tile floors, gilded ceiling mouldings, ornate columns, chandeliers and staircases all gloriously restored. Contemporary music, dance and drama feature in the Plaza area, where there’s a cafe and shop. A planned, architecturally stunning 11,000-sq-metre wing was currently caught up in a bureaucratic quagmire. The museum, which also hosts a bevy of temporary exhibitions, is located in the lush gardens of Jijamata Udyan; skip the zoo.