Tempo Traveller on rent in Mumbai

Getting fifteen people across Mumbai at the same time is a small logistics project, and a Tempo Traveller in Mumbai is the usual answer. RutzIndia.com supplies Force Travellers in 12, 17, 20 and 26-seat versions with a chauffeur for city days, airport pickups, weekend trips up the ghats to Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar, and pilgrim runs to Shirdi, Nashik and the Ashtavinayak temples. The fare is fixed before you book and paid by card or UPI.

How much a Tempo Traveller costs in Mumbai

Mumbai's local and airport packages carry a 1.10 city multiplier, reflecting slow traffic and high parking costs. Outstation pricing is national, which produces a quirk worth knowing: a full outstation day to Lonavala is billed at 250 km x Rs 78 = Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve, slightly less than a full day of city driving.

GST at 5% is added to each fare. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Sea Link, Atal Setu and other toll roads are charged at actual cost, as is parking, which can be significant in South Mumbai, at the airports and at hill-station lots. Overnight trips add Rs 1,500 per night for the chauffeur's stay. The fares page explains each item.

One table for every van: kilometre rate, daily floor, allowance

When a Mumbai housing society or office committee plans a trip, the treasurer needs the full arithmetic up front. This table gives it per van size, and prices one of Maharashtra's great group trips, Ajanta and Ellora via Aurangabad, over three days and roughly 820 km.

The Ajanta-Ellora figure excludes two nights of allowance, Samruddhi or highway tolls, parking and GST at 5%. Ajanta is closed on Mondays and Ellora on Tuesdays, so plan the order of visits around that.

Mumbai's long days deserve their own package. A wedding that starts with a morning haldi in Juhu and ends with a reception in BKC, or a film shoot that runs from call time to pack-up, is best booked as 12 hours and 120 km: one and a half times the city day, plus 40 km at the van's rate. That is about Rs 35,310 Pay Now to Reserve in a Traveller (Rs 32,170 plus Rs 3,120 Pay Now to Reserve), about Rs 48,630 Pay Now to Reserve in an Urbania and about Rs 74,700 Pay Now to Reserve in a mini bus, before tax.

Which of the five Traveller sizes Mumbai groups choose

Every van we send in Mumbai is a high-roof Force Traveller with ceiling AC vents, reclining seats, a music system and a covered luggage rack. In a city of narrow society compounds and strict kerbside rules, the length of the van often matters more than the seat count.

9 recliners: senior citizens' clubs and CXOs

Retired groups from Dadar, Matunga and Shivaji Park and leadership teams from Lower Parel both value space more than seats. A 12-seat shell fitted with nine large recliners delivers it at the standard rate. If climbing in is hard for anyone, the 10-seat Force Urbania has a lower floor.

12 seats: Sahar arrivals and ghat roads

This is the van for international arrivals at Terminal 2 with suitcases for everyone, and for the ghat sections to Matheran's Dasturi car park, Mahabaleshwar and Malshej. It squeezes into most society compounds in Bandra and Khar. See the national 12-seater Tempo Traveller guide for layouts.

17 seats: office offsites and pilgrim groups

Seventeen is the usual size for a team day at a Karjat or Lonavala resort and for a mandal group going to Shirdi. The 17-seater climbs the expressway ghat comfortably; luggage stays light or goes on the roof.

20 seats: wedding guest loops

Twenty seats suit wedding shuttles between Juhu or Andheri hotels and halls across the western suburbs. The van is long enough to move a family block in one run, and short enough for most hotel driveways.

26 seats: schools, colleges and big mandals

Schools book 26-seaters for trips to Kanheri, Elephanta (the van waits at the Gateway) and science centres; mandals use them for Ganpati darshan rounds. Inside South Mumbai's lanes they are slow, and many society gates will not admit them. For larger groups the mini bus on rent, a bus or a Volvo coach handles numbers better.

Standard, maharaja or Urbania

For most Mumbai trips the standard Traveller, with bench-style reclining rows and a roof rack, is the value choice. A maharaja cabin, fewer and plusher chairs, costs no more per kilometre when one is free on your dates. The Urbania is the real upgrade for expressway days: a quieter, car-like van with a flat floor and a softer ride, Rs 102 a kilometre or Rs 29,700 Pay Now to Reserve for a Mumbai city day. For corporate guests or elders heading up the ghats, it is worth the difference.

More trips from Mumbai, with a per-van budget

These add to the trips in the first table. The last column adds 5% GST and the lowest and highest allowance for the nights away, so you can budget per van. Tolls, state entry levies, parking, hotels and tickets are extra.

Families of four or five can compare the same destinations by car on our Mumbai to Nashik taxi and Mumbai to Goa taxi pages, and groups ending their trip in Goa can switch to our Goa Tempo Traveller team for local days there.

Entry levies when you leave Maharashtra

A Maharashtra-registered tourist van pays no entry levy inside the state, so Lonavala, Shirdi, Nashik, Ajanta and the Konkan coast involve only tolls and parking. Crossing into Goa, Gujarat, the union territory of Daman or Karnataka is different: each charges tourist vehicles an entry fee at the check post. We pay it on the spot and pass the exact receipted amount to your invoice. The rules for commercial passenger vehicles are the states' own and published through the national transport portal, Parivahan.

Where in Mumbai we pick up

We collect from homes, housing societies, hotels, offices and stations across the metropolitan region:

• South Mumbai: Colaba, Cuffe Parade, Nariman Point, Fort, Churchgate, Marine Lines, Malabar Hill, Tardeo, Byculla
• Central: Worli, Lower Parel, Prabhadevi, Dadar, Shivaji Park, Matunga, Sion, Wadala
• Western suburbs: Bandra, Khar, Santacruz, Juhu, Vile Parle, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali, Borivali
• Eastern suburbs: Kurla, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Powai, Mulund
• Beyond: Thane, Vashi, Nerul, Belapur, Kharghar, Panvel, Ulwe

Many older buildings have compounds too tight for a long van. Tell us the building and wing; the chauffeur will wait on the road outside if the gate cannot take the vehicle.

Inside a Mumbai van

Each van is cleaned before its duty, and carries a first-aid kit, an extinguisher and belts for every seat. Most rows have USB points and the audio pairs by Bluetooth. In the monsoon the roof rack is covered and wet umbrellas go in bags, not on seats. No smoking or alcohol on board at any time, and food is best kept to dry snacks on ghat roads.

Monthly vans, shoots and corporate billing

Film and ad production houses, event companies and hospitals in Mumbai often need vans for weeks at a stretch. A monthly car rental with driver plan fixes the chauffeur and a monthly kilometre allowance with one GST invoice. Companies that book vans for offsites, delegations and client visits across the year can open a corporate car rental account for consolidated monthly billing and cost-centre tags.

Airport and station pickups across the city

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) handles most group arrivals. Terminal 2 at Sahar serves international and most domestic flights; Terminal 1 at Santacruz serves some domestic carriers. BKC, Bandra, Juhu, Andheri and Powai are well within the 40 km transfer; Colaba and Nariman Point are around 25 to 30 km but can take over an hour in evening traffic. Groups flying through Navi Mumbai International Airport at Ulwe should say so when booking; transfers from there to Navi Mumbai, Thane and the Atal Setu side are often shorter than to the western suburbs.

Every pickup includes flight tracking and a name board. We wait 60 minutes free after an international landing and 30 minutes after a domestic one; longer waits are billed at the hourly rate. Rail groups arrive at CSMT, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra Terminus and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla; LTT in particular has limited van parking, so the chauffeur fixes a precise meeting point. For two to four passengers, our Mumbai airport taxi is the cheaper choice.

Terminal 2 transfer fares by area

In Mumbai the distance from the airport is rarely the problem; the traffic is. Almost the whole city sits inside the 40 km covered by the Rs 11,790 Pay Now to Reserve transfer, and only the far edges add Rs 78 per extra kilometre. Times below are typical for a weekday afternoon.

Sea Link, Coastal Road and Atal Setu tolls, where the route uses them, are added at cost. The big infrastructure links, including Atal Setu and the BKC business district, are developed by the MMRDA, whose site posts updates on new corridors and closures.

A Karjat or Lonavala offsite, hour by hour

A classic Mumbai team offsite for 18 people from a Lower Parel office, using one 20-seat Traveller:

It is billed as one outstation day, 250 km at Rs 78, Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve before GST, plus expressway tolls and resort parking. A GST invoice goes to the company.

Wedding guest vans for a Mumbai celebration

For a wedding with about 90 out-of-town guests in two Juhu hotels and a reception in BKC, a plan that works:

The total is about Rs 1,97,460 Pay Now to Reserve before GST, tolls and parking. For the couple's car and family luxury cars, see wedding car rental in Mumbai.

Our Mumbai chauffeurs

Chauffeurs on our Mumbai vans hold commercial passenger licences, are police-verified and speak Marathi, Hindi and working English. They know which society gates take long vans, where the police allow stopping near the Gateway and Siddhivinayak, and how to read the expressway ghat on a holiday weekend. They do not drink on duty, keep to passenger-van speed limits and never carry more passengers than there are seats.

Weekend trips from Mumbai by van

Lonavala, Khandala and the Karjat resorts

Lonavala is about 85 km from Bandra via the expressway, typically two hours without weekend jams. A day with Tiger's Leap, Bhushi dam in the monsoon and the Karla or Bhaja caves is billed as one outstation day of 250 km, Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve, plus expressway tolls. Resorts around Karjat, popular for office offsites, are closer and billed the same way.

Matheran

Matheran is a car-free hill station. The van drives to the Dasturi car park about 85 km from Mumbai, and the group continues on foot, by horse or by hand-pulled rickshaw. The Neral toy train is the scenic alternative when it runs.

Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur

Shirdi is about 240 km, five to six hours via Nashik or the Samruddhi corridor. An overnight trip with darshan at the Sai Baba Samadhi Mandir and a side trip to Shani Shingnapur usually lands close to 500 km, billed at the two-day minimum of Rs 39,000 plus one night allowance. Smaller families can compare the Mumbai to Shirdi taxi in a sedan or Innova.

Nashik, Trimbakeshwar and the vineyards

Nashik is about 170 km. Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga, Panchavati's ghats and a vineyard lunch make a two-day plan. During the Simhastha Kumbh the town is under heavy traffic control; book very early.

Pune and Mahabaleshwar

Pune is about 150 km by the expressway. For a group drop-off, a one-way Traveller costs Rs 11,790 Pay Now to Reserve before tolls (minimum fare applies); for cars see the Mumbai to Pune taxi page, and for local sightseeing there, our Pune Tempo Traveller team. Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani, about 260 km away, suit a three-day trip with strawberry farms in winter and spring.

Ashtavinayak darshan

The eight Ganesh temples of the Ashtavinayak circuit lie spread across Pune, Raigad and Ahmednagar districts. Done properly from Mumbai, starting with Moreshwar at Morgaon and ending there again as tradition suggests, the loop is about 650 to 700 km and takes two long days or three comfortable ones. Billed at the daily minimum, three days is 750 km, Rs 58,500 Pay Now to Reserve in a Traveller, plus two night allowances. Families with elders should choose three days; the temple queues on Sankashti Chaturthi and during Ganeshotsav are long.

Alibaug and the Konkan beaches

Alibaug is about 100 km by road, and Atal Setu has made the drive from South and central Mumbai much shorter. A beach day with Kihim and Nagaon is billed as one outstation day at Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve. Groups going further down the Konkan coast to Kashid, Murud-Janjira or Diveagar should plan two days.

Book a Mumbai Traveller

An overnight Shirdi trip that suits elders

Shirdi is Mumbai's most booked pilgrim trip, and doing it overnight is far kinder to older passengers than a single twenty-hour day. Leave Mumbai around 6 am to clear Thane and the Kasara ghat before traffic builds; stop for breakfast near Igatpuri; reach Shirdi by early afternoon, check in and rest, then join the evening aarti at the Samadhi Mandir. The next morning is free for the kakad aarti or a second darshan and the drive to Shani Shingnapur, about 70 km away, before heading home to reach Mumbai by evening. Darshan passes and aarti bookings are made through the temple trust, separately from the van. The van fare stays at the two-day minimum, Rs 39,000 Pay Now to Reserve before GST, plus one night of allowance, tolls and parking.

Monsoon ghats: Malshej, Bhandardara and Tamhini

From July to September, Mumbai groups head for the waterfalls. Malshej Ghat, about 125 km north-east, is spectacular in the rains but fog-bound on many afternoons; the chauffeur slows right down and will not stop on blind curves where crowds gather. Bhandardara's Randha falls and Arthur Lake make an overnight trip. The Tamhini Ghat road towards Pune is lush but prone to small landslides after heavy rain. For all of these, go early, check the weather that morning, and accept that the chauffeur may cut a stretch short if police close it. Travelling in a group van does help: one vehicle is easier to keep together than a convoy of cars on a slippery ghat.

Navi Mumbai and Thane pickups

Groups living in Thane, Vashi, Kharghar or Panvel often find it easier to start from there than to cross the city. Many long trips, to Lonavala, Pune, the Konkan or Goa, are shorter from Navi Mumbai, and Atal Setu has cut the time from South Mumbai to that side of the harbour. If your flight uses Navi Mumbai International Airport, tell us when booking; transfers from there to Navi Mumbai and Panvel addresses are usually well within 40 km.

Driving a long van in Mumbai: what to expect

Mumbai's roads are busy, and a Traveller is long. A few realities shape every plan:

• Timing matters more than distance. The Western Express Highway and the Eastern Express Highway are slowest roughly 8:30 to 11:30 am southbound and 5:30 to 9 pm northbound. A South Mumbai sightseeing day starting from Andheri should leave by 7:30 am.
• Drop points, not doors. Around the Gateway of India, Crawford Market and Colaba Causeway the police restrict stopping; the chauffeur drops at permitted points and parks at pay-and-park lots.
• Temples and crowds. Siddhivinayak at Prabhadevi is busiest on Tuesdays; Mahalaxmi and Haji Ali on Fridays and weekends. Haji Ali's causeway is walkable only at low tide.
• Housing societies. Many residential complexes in the suburbs allow long vans only at the gate. Tell us the building name and wing in advance.

The Maharashtra government's tourism portal is a good reference for heritage sites and festival calendars.

Monsoon and Ganeshotsav

Mumbai's monsoon, roughly June to September, is spectacular in the ghats and punishing in the city: waterlogging at Andheri subway, Hindmata and King's Circle can halt traffic for hours after a heavy spell. Airport runs in July need generous buffers. The waterfalls around Lonavala and Malshej are at their best, but the chauffeur will avoid flooded roads and landslide-prone stretches on warnings.

Ganeshotsav in August or September is the busiest period of the year. Groups book Travellers to visit mandals such as Lalbaug, and on the immersion days much of central and South Mumbai is closed to vehicles near Girgaum Chowpatty and the processional routes. Drop points move far out, and the 4 hr / 40 km package often turns into a long wait; the desk will tell you honestly what is possible on each day. Navratri and Diwali bring the second peak, followed by the wedding season from November to February. The municipal corporation's MCGM website carries civic notices on festival arrangements.

Offsites, weddings and school groups

Corporate teams in BKC, Lower Parel, Powai and Andheri book Travellers for offsites in Lonavala, Karjat and Alibaug, and for client visits to the Thane-Belapur industrial belt. A GST invoice is issued in the company name. For weddings, Travellers shuttle guests between hotels in Juhu, Andheri and BKC and the banquet halls or lawns across the suburbs; the couple's car is covered on our wedding car rental in Mumbai page. School and college groups use the 26-seater for day trips to the Kanheri caves in Sanjay Gandhi National Park or to Elephanta, where the van waits at the Gateway while the group takes the ferry. Cruise passengers arriving at the Mumbai international cruise terminal at Ballard Estate often book a 4 hr / 40 km Traveller for a quick city loop; give us the all-aboard time and the chauffeur plans the route backwards from it, with Marine Drive, the Dhobi Ghat viewpoint and Crawford Market as the usual stops. Film-city visits to Goregaon and studio shoots in Madh and Aksa also run on the local package, with the van on standby between call times.

What the Mumbai fare covers, and what it does not

Your quoted fare pays for the van, the chauffeur, fuel for the package or the kilometres charged, and air-conditioning the whole way. It does not include GST at 5%, the Sea Link, Coastal Road, Atal Setu and expressway tolls, parking at hotels, halls and hill-station lots, state entry fees outside Maharashtra, entry tickets, or the night allowance on trips with a stay. Each of those appears as its own line on your invoice at exactly what was paid. Mumbai parking is not cheap, especially at five-star hotels and in South Mumbai, so budget for it on wedding and conference days.

Booking lead times in Mumbai

For an ordinary weekday, a day or two's notice is usually enough. For Ganeshotsav, Navratri, Diwali week, Christmas to New Year and December wedding weekends, book two to four weeks ahead. For Shirdi on Thursdays and long weekends, and for Lonavala during the first monsoon weekends, a week's notice is sensible; demand from housing societies and offices spikes on the same Saturdays. Last-minute requests are still worth making: vans sometimes free up when another group changes its dates, and the desk will tell you honestly what is possible.

Seat choices and alternatives

A 12-seater is right for ten people with airport bags. The 17 and 20-seat bodies suit day trips with light luggage, and the 26-seater is best for school and office groups. The Force Urbania is quieter and smoother on the expressway and worth the difference for senior travellers. For six or fewer, our Innova Crysta on rent in Mumbai or the Mumbai taxi service costs far less than a van.

Booking and cancellation

Enter the pickup, the trip and the headcount on the online booker and pay the fixed fare by card or UPI. The chauffeur's name and van number reach you the evening before; call us or WhatsApp the desk with any change. All Travellers are within four model years, air-conditioned and cleaned before every duty.

Cancelling is free if you do it with more than 72 hours to spare. Inside 72 hours, 10% of the fare is kept; inside 48 hours, 50%; inside 24 hours or when the group does not show, the whole fare. Read the cancellation policy for date changes.