Linking Road

Linking Road is a road which extends from Bandra to Santa Cruz. It is famous for its shopping. Many people come from all over Mumbai and outside to shop on Linking Road. One can find everything from international brands to clever fakes to cheap Chinese goods here. There is a mix of departmental stores, brand outlets, streetside carts and regular shops that sell mainly clothes and accessories. One can also find many restaurants and cafes dotted along the miles long stretch of this road.

Though it's official name has been Vitthalbhai Patel Marg for a very long time, everyone in Mumbai still prefers to call it Linking Road.

The road starts from the 5-way cross-roads near the Hindustan Petroleum petrol pump, the roads being S.V. Road, Bandra station road, Perry Cross Road and Linking Road. Around this cross-road are located the HP petrol pump and Bank of Baroda.

If you continue north along Linking Road, you will pass restaurants like Sheetal Samudra and the Double-Bull jeans shop along with some small furniture-wallahs before coming on another cross-road. This cross-road has the Bharat Petroleum petrol pump. If you turn right at this intersection and go straight, crossing SV Road, you will reach Gaiety, Galaxy cinema. If you turn left, you'll come across an Enfield showroom and Bhargava's music shop (the latter has some of the best music instruments available in the suburbs, past these you reach Waterfield Road where you will have Zenzi and the Gas showroom to your right and Red Box restaurant to your left. Further down to the right, along Waterfield road, South, you will see Seijo restaurant, and beyond that, Perry Cross road.

Back on Linking Road, past this intersection, heading north, you come upon a larger intersection where RD National college is located. Beyond THIS intersection, the shopping zone really starts. The first 50 metres to your left is completely filled with little stalls selling ladies' shoes. Then, you have the stores: Scandal being the first to your right, then Metro, Adidas, etc among many others and clothes shops like Van Heusen.

This stretches some 200 metres, along the way you'll pass McDonald's and KFC until you reach the MTNL Khar office intersection. The first of 3 Adidas shoe shops is located here Also, there are the Fila, Proline & Raymond showrooms. Offices of Raheja Constructions are also located along this stretch This intersection marks the boundary between Bandra and Khar.

Beyond this, you have the Nike, Reebok showroom, Dockers showroom , Axis bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Louis Philippe, Citibank, Wills Lifestyle, Deutsche Bank, a large Bennetton showroom, GKB Opticals spectacles show-room, an OSIM showroom, Lewis, Spykar etc.

At the end of Linking Road, at Santa Cruz, you have a 4-way intersection. If you head straight, North, you come upon a residential area. To your right, the road connects you with SV Road. To your left, you will see the Air India park with its concrete mock-up of an Air-India plane, this will lead you down to Juhu past Vie Lounge, Sun n Sand hotel etc.

History

Linking road was one of the first arterial roads "linking" the far-flung suburbs of Bandra and Juhu during the 40s