Mahabaleshwar in detail. Review on Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar is definitely one of the best hill stations around Pune. I visited it in first week of Oct, 2008. Here is some useful information

1. Travel from Pune to Mahabaleshwar :

Mahabaleshwar is approx 120 KM from Pune. There are lot of private buses ( prasanna tours etc) and govt buses from Swargate. It takes 3 hrs to reach Mahabaleshwar from Pune by Bus. If you go by car, road is very good - I took NH-4 from Chandani chauk and keep on going till you cross Khabataki ghat and then take right from Surur village to Wai, Pachgani and Mahabaleshwar. Road condition is excellent , ghat is not risky - but beware of speeding taxis coming from opposite side from Wai onwards.

Also remember to fill you petrol tank just after you leave Pune ( PMC area). Mahabaleshwar has two petrol pumps but when I was in there, they had no petrol even in Pachgani and Wai.

They collect pollution tax at Pachgani and Mahabaleshwar. They tend to overcharge you - I was not planning to spend any time in Pachgani still I had to pay 50 bucks there and in Mahabaleshwar they charged me 15 bucks extra so be careful.

1. Places to eat :

Natraj hotel after you leave Pune , Mapro garden for sandwitch, thik shakes etc ( I didnt like their pizza ), hotels in market area of Mahabaleshwar - though none is special.. several roadside shops in Mahabaleshwar that offer Strawberries, Corn pattice ..

1. Sight-seeing :

You can take a guide if you have a car. Guide has a printed card with three tour options , I took one with old mahabaleshwar temple and other points and paid 150 bucks ( negotiable) .. there are signboards too but guide is preferred as roads are deserted and you can quickly get to places with his help. There are parking fees at some places and beware of vehicles coming in opposite directions as roads are narrow.

You can also take shared taxis and I think they also have printed rate cards which is negotiable during off-season - I guess it was 350 bucks for the trip to old mahabaleshwar temple and 4-5 points.

On first day I covered Panchganga Mandir (Kshetra Mahabaleshwar & Shiva Temple), Marjorie Point, Savitri Point, Elphiston point, Aurther Seat , Laudwick pt ( I hope spellings are correct ;) and Venna lake.

On second day I covered points which fall on my way back to Pune - Kates point, needle hle pt, Lingmala falls, Parsi pt, Pachgani tableland etc..

All these points are well accessible by road.

1. Stay :

I stayed at MTDC though there is large variety of places available.. you can book MTDC rooms online ..u ll also see agents all over asking you for hotels.. I prefer to stay closer to main market areas so I can scroll till late in market areas.. MTDC is 2 km from market area.. Here I do not recommend family rooms (1100 rs/night) as they are on back side and rooms are old style.. it feels very lonely and haunted in these old villa rooms, instead go for standard rooms (800 rs/night) or special suits etc.. MTDC is ok ok sorts - not very great or not bad..food is not good so I recomend to eat in market area.. Mahabaleshwar has dense forest everywhere so late night you might feel very lonely in the woods, if you are used to lot of people around you..but I think it is a safe place, didnt hear about any robery or crimes much..

Also look at power loadshedding schedule in Mahabaleshwar so you can plan your activities accordingly.