Day trip to Mahabaleshwar

             Since I joined a new company, I was too busy in the work. I was unable to find a complete weekend for my next travel destination. Somehow I manage 1 day and decided to visit Mahabaleshwar. You can visit Mahabaleshwar in a day or over a weekend. As this was our 3rd visit to Mahabaleshwar, we (Me and my wife Renuka) decided to visit a few places rather than covering the entire region.  If you want in detail information then click on my last year’s travel blog “Mahabaleshwar Weekend Trip: Land of strawberry “

Sunset at Table Land, Panchgani

About Mahabaleshwar:
             Mahabaleshwar was the summer capital of the Governor of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency during the colonial era. It is easily accessible from Pune (120km) and from Mumbai (285km). It is one of the most popular weekend destinations.
             Tourist gets attracted towards Mahabaleshwar because of breathtaking valley view, nature, adventurous sports etc. This place is also known for its Strawberries production.  Another popular hill station, Panchgani, is just 20km before Mahabaleshwar. Mostly, the tourists visit both places together. It is also famous Honeymoon destination within Maharashtra.
             Pune to Mahabaleshwar is a 2 to 3 hours’ drive. Best way to reach Mahabaleshwar is Pune – National highway 4 – After 75 km journey on NH4 Take right at Surul – Wai – Panchgani – Mahabaleshwar. There are many signboards which guide you to Mahabaleshwar and at all tourist points.

Day 1 (26th May 2013): Pune -> NH-4 -> few points/spots in Mahabaleshwar -> Pachgani – Pune:
            Our journey began a bit late in morning at 7.30. Without taking any pit stop, we reached at Mapro Garden by 9.30 AM. NH-4 highway is now extending up to 6 lanes highway so work is in progress. Apart from few patches, rest of Highway is in excellent condition.
            We had our breakfast at Mapro garden which is my favourite location. It is very popular halt for tourist for breakfast/brunch and some Mapro product shopping. It is located just 6 km ahead of Panchgani. The ambience of Mapro garden is very beautiful and you get yummy food.Classic grilled sandwich/Mini grilled sandwich, pizza and Fresh Strawberry Cream with Ice cream are my favourite dish among tourists.

Mapro Garden

Mapro menu Card!

Fresh Strawberry Cream

             While proceeding to old Mahabaleshwar, we went to Panchaganga temple. There are plenty signboards which will guide you perfectly. As per the Hindu mythology,  five holy rivers Krishna, Venna, Koyana, Savitri& Gayatri show their token appearance here (Panchaganga temple) in five springs flowing closely. I liked this temple during my last visit so we again came here. Without wasting too much time, we headed towards Mahabaleshwar. During our last visit, we missed Lodwick Point. We went to the point and from here you can view Pratapdad fort and green valley with Ghat road. Pathway to Lodwick point goes through the tiny but dense forest. He was the first European visitor to the Mahabaleshwar hills. Twenty-five feet high column erected in memory of the late general Lodwick is the chief attraction of this point.Due time frame, we were not able to visit Pratapdad fort. We will visit this historical for in post monsoon season.

Way towards Lodwick Point

Lodwick Point

Hatti-matha point

              By Lunch time, we came back to main the market for Lunch. We had lunch inrestaurant from main market. We did some shopping after lunch and then tasty Strawberry with cream as dessert in Bagicha ice cream parlor. Strawberry Cream is very famous dish from Bagicha and my favorite after Mapro Garden’s Fresh Strawberry Cream with Ice cream. After some time we went on Venna Lake and had a walk around lake. Boating here is too costly so we skip that and enjoyed some fun fair games at stalls. As we wanted to spend our evening time at table land, we proceed to Pachgani for Table land.

Venna Lake

Table Land at Pachgani

             It is 2nd longest mountain plateau in Asia. Horse riding is the main attraction herebut due to an accident (1 girl was killed as horse carriage falls off from table land) in May 2012, horse carts and riding was banned. Now it was partly lifted back by government in November 2012. You can enjoy horse ride on land at around INR 160/- per person. We were least interested in riding so we had nice walk on table land. We spend sunset time together on tableland and then left Pachgani. After sun set weather turned cold and cloudy.

Sunset from Table Land

We reached home safely by via same NH-4 route by 8.30 pm

Following are the points for 1 day trip to Mahabaleshwar:
1. Leave in early morning.
2. Mapro Garden
3. Old Mahabaleshwar temple
4. Arthor Seat point
5. Lunch at Market and some shopping
6. Venna Lake
6. Sunset at Table land OR Sunset at Bombay point, Mahabaleshwar
7. Return Journey to Home

• Car petrol for trip: INR 1200/- (approx. 16 Liters)
• Toll at NH-4: INR 110/-(Return toll)
• Mapro’s mini grilled sandwich: INR 79/-
• Mapro’s Fresh Strawberry Cream with Ice cream: INR 199/-
• Mapro’s Fresh Strawberry Cream: INR 169/-
• Pachgani pollution tax: INR 50/- (For Car)
• Pachgani Entry tax: INR 20/- per person (valid for 7 days)
• Mahabaleshwar pollution tax: INR 30/- (For Car)
• Mahabaleshwar Entry tax: INR 20/- per person (valid for 7 days)
• Lunch: INR 150/- (Only Pavbhaji for 2)
• Fun faire games: approx. INR 20/- per game.
• Coffee: INR 20/- at tableland
• Boiled masala Corn: INR 30/-

I will try to upload more and more travel blogs. Thanks for reading this Travel Blog.

PriteshKulkarni

Pune