Raigad

Place: Raigad fort
Route from Pune: Pune > Velu > Khed shivapur > Bhor > Varandha > Mahad > ladavli > Pachad > Raigad
Alternate route: Pune > Pirangut > Paud > Tamhini > Mangaon > Mahad > ladavli > Pachad > Raigad
Distance from Pune: 150 Kms (Approx) Alternate route : 180 Kms (Approx.)
Places to eat: Various places enroute
Places to stay: MTDC resort on the fort. Hotel Visava near Mahad..
Best time to Visit: Anytime except summer. Monsoon is best.

Experience: We took the route via Bhor. Personally, I like this route very much. We had planned a one day trip and after spending most of the time enjoying the views of Varandha ghat, we realized that we would not get much time at Raigad. It is my favourite among all the forts in Maharshtra therefore i insisted for a short visit & it was worth it......

Niradevghar Dam

Waterfall in the ghats (just before Waghzai)

Waghzai Temple in Varandha ghat

Chattrapati Shivaji

Raigad Fort - Market place of old times

Raigad Fort - Shivaji Maharaj's Samadhi

Bhimashankar

Place: Bhimashankar
Route from Pune: Pune > Chakan> Rajgurunagar > Manchar > Bhimashankar
Distance from Pune: 160 Kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Various places on the highway.
Places to stay: -
Best time to Visit: Anytime except summer.
Experience: Despite being one among the 12 jyotirlingas, the place is not well maintained. Disappointing......

Kolhapur

Place: Kolhapur
Route from Pune: Pune > Shirwal > Satara > Karad > Kolhapur
Distance from Pune: 240 Kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Various places on the highway and in kolhapur.
Places to stay: Many. Hotel Shalini Palace in Kolhapur is good heritage hotel.
Best time to Visit: Anytime

Experience: Kolhapur is an ancient city and has an important place in history. It is famous for the Mahalaxmi temple built in seventh century AD. Millions of people visit this place every year from all over India for Mahalaxmi darshan. Besides the Mahalaxmi temple, Kolhapur offers other site seeing options like the Rankala lake and New Palace. People also visit the nearby holy places like Jyotiba, Narsobachi wadi and Ramteerth.

Panhala (fort), Amboli (Hill station) and Ganpatipule (Beach) are very close to Kolhapur. Accommodation and food is not so expensive in Kolhapur.
Worth a visit….

Panshet & Varasgaon

Place: Panshet & Varasgaon
Route from Pune: Pune > Khadakvasla > Donje > Khanapur > Panshet > Varasgaon
Distance from Pune: 45 Kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Hotel at Panshet
Places to stay: -
Best time to Visit: Anytime
Experience: Panshet and Varasgaon are two dams very close to each other. Panshet is famous for its boating club and trekking/cycling competitions in the nearby region. There is one restaurant near to the dam that provides good food at reasonable rates along with a splendid view of the lake.

Boating at Panshet

Panshet

Varasgaon

Parshwa Pragyalay

Place: Parshwa Pragyalay
Route from Pune: Pune > Dehu road > Parshva Pragyalay
Distance from Pune: 27 kms (Approx).
Places to eat: various places on old Pune – Mumbai Highway
Places to stay: -
Best time to Visit: Anytime
Experience: Parshwa Pragyalay is a Jain temple situated on a Hill slope near Talegaon on the old Pune-Mumbai highway. It offers a fantastic view of Talegaon and surrounding area. The temple is still under construction but the pillers that are already in place have beautiful sculptures carved on them. The idols in the temple are also very beautiful. The environment is very peaceful.

Prati Shirdi

Place: Prati shirdi
Route from Pune: Pune > Dehu road > Shirgaon > Prati shirdi
Distance from Pune: 25 Kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Various places on old Pune – Mumbai Highway
Places to stay: -
Best time to Visit: Anytime
Experience: The temple is exact replica of Shirdi. It also has the replica of Dwarkamai along with the ever burning flame. Nice place to visit.

Rohida (Vichitragad)

Place: Rohida Fort
Route from Pune: Pune > Katraj > kapurhol > Bhor > Bajarwadi > Rohida.
Distance from Pune: 65 kms (Approx).
Places to eat: Plenty of places between Pune- Bhor.
Places to stay: Hotels at Bhor
Best time to Visit: Monsoon.
Experience: Rohida (Vichitragad) is at a distance of 5 kms from Bhor. We started early in the morning and reached Rohida base at around 9:00 am. Had a break in between for a misal pav at khed shivapur. Also spent some time at Bhatghar dam. It is the longest dam that I have seen in my life.

At the very first glance of Rohida, we knew that the trek is going to be difficult. There is not even a single tree on the entire Hill. The sun was killing us by the time we reached near the fort. Vaishali was very tired and so we had to quit before we could reach the fort. Sushil continued. He then told us that the view from the top is very good though there is not much to see on the fort except one temple which is also in a bad shape.

Rohida