Choosing your moving date
Mumbai's monsoon, from about June to September, is the biggest thing to plan around. Heavy rain can flood low-lying roads, slow traffic for hours and soak anything that isn't sealed. If you must move then, ask for plastic over every mattress, sofa and piece of wooden furniture, and keep slack in the arrival date.
At the Rajkot end, Navratri and Uttarayan are the busy weeks, and summer from about April to June is very hot. November to February, outside the festivals, is usually the easiest window.
From a Rajkot home to a Mumbai flat
This is usually the biggest change in space on any move out of Rajkot. A society flat or bungalow in Rajkot may have twice the room of a Mumbai apartment at a similar rent, so measure the new rooms, doors and lift before packing day, and decide with the family what comes and what stays.
Heavy wooden furniture, swings and large steel cupboards are often the first things that won't fit. Paying to move furniture across 676 km that then has to be sold in Mumbai is worth avoiding.
On the road south
The drive runs east and south through Saurashtra towards Vadodara, then down NH 48 past Bharuch, Surat and Vapi into Maharashtra. NH 48 is one of the busiest freight corridors in India, so expect heavy traffic near the cities and slow stretches near Mumbai.
On longer routes a truck usually covers about 400 km a day after dispatch, so two days is a sensible expectation. Ask whether your goods travel alone or in a shared truck, and whether they'll be moved between vehicles at any point.
Mumbai's building rules
Write to your Mumbai society as early as you can. Most allow moving only at certain hours, need notice, ask for the lift to be booked and padded, and some ask for a refundable deposit or a no-objection letter from the owner. Trucks often can't park inside the compound, so ask where the vehicle can wait while the crew carries goods in.
Share all of this with the mover before loading day, so the truck reaches Mumbai inside the allowed window rather than waiting outside.
Leaving a dry state
Gujarat is a dry state, so the usual worry about alcohol runs the other way on this route. Movers generally won't carry alcohol, whichever direction you're moving, so leave it out of your boxes.
Carry jewellery, cash, documents and small valuables yourself rather than packing them, and keep a list of anything precious so you can check it first when unpacking.
Business families moving to Mumbai
Some Rajkot families move to Mumbai to open an office, join a trading business or be near clients. If you're moving business stock, samples or office equipment as well as household goods, list them separately with their own paperwork, and check whether the risk coverage includes business goods.
Commercial premises in Mumbai often have their own loading rules and hours, separate from your home building's.
Settling in
Register with your society for parking and visitors on the first day, and find out how water supply and power backup work. In the monsoon, keep fans running and open cartons of clothes and books early so they don't take on damp. Marathi is the state language, and Hindi, Gujarati and English are widely spoken, so Rajkot families usually find a community quickly. Our guide to moving in the monsoon covers protecting goods from rain and damp.