Igatpuri- Resorts on a Highway. Review on Igatpuri

After a long time, finally a 3 day weekend was coming that would give me time off from office. As usual, I began my new weekend getaway search from 2 weeks before. Scanned through many many travel blogs, sites, etc etc.

Finally, the less distance from Mumbai (about 130 kms) and some good reviews made me go for this place for a night stay. I started my journey with my permanent travel partner- my wife on Friday morning at about 8. The route- well please do not consult any maps, etc, etc… just take the eastern expressway, it connects you to Nashik highway and that’s all. Igatpuri is right on the Nashik highway, no turns required to be taken anywhere.

The road is good to begin with-first 40 kms and after that its disaster. Single (one by one) road with ghats and traffic jams. A short journey takes easily 4 hours !! My 1.5 city gave a pathetic mileage. However road widening work was on and should be complete by now.

So, more about the place now. Well to be precise, Igatpuri is few resorts made on the Nashik highway in the middle of nowhere. The place has absolutely nothing to offer. It is only the resorts present there. So go there only if you are looking for a ‘resort vacation’. All around all you can see is the highway and a small village if you go off the road in few lanes.

Important: Do not get excited by seeing the rail bridge picture of Igatpuri in magazines and sites as that place comes only on the way and is visible from a particular point only. If you are driving yourself, you will not be able to see it.

So since Igatpuri is all about few resorts, here is what you should know about the resorts before going there. The best resort is Manas Lifestyle Resort. Its around 4500 per day and heavily booked and has all the major facilities you would want. Right next to it is Manas Resort and costs about 5000 per day.

This one is supposed to be the original Manas but the new one is way better. The Manas is very small compared to Manas Lifestyle. In case you do not get booking/ place here, go down the road and you’ll see a narrow muddy lane on the left with a sign board saying Golden Resort. This one is decent value for money. Very basic rooms but neat and clean. You can easily get accommodation for 1500-2000 per day.

Food: Golden Resort  is 100-130 buffet per meal. And the food is simple and good ! Must have a meal here. I would suggest not going for any other resorts/ hotels as they are quite bad. Manas Resort food is extremely nice- 300 buffet. Manas Lifestyle is okay but there is much more variety. But I must say that it has amazing pastries in the pastry shop.

En route, you can visit Shangrila resort for snacks. From Igatpuri- Bhandardara Its 60 kms from here towards east side (if Mumbai is south and Nashik is north). As I had gone during hardcore summers, the place was dead with not much water in the damn and waterfall, that are the main attractions of this place. On the way, you pass tress with millions of bats hanging on them, very interesting..

Cheers !