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

Sinhgad (Kondhana)

Place: Sinhgad fort
Route from Pune: Pune > Khadakvasla > Donje > Sinhgad
Distance from Pune: 30 kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Lot of hotels on the fort that offer Maharashtrian food (especially Pitla Bhakri).
Places to stay: Lot of options available in and around Donje village.
Best time to Visit: Anytime
Experience: Always pleasant and rejuvenating.

Tikona Fort

Place: Tikona Fort
Route from Pune: Pune > Chandni chowk > Paud > Hotle > Tikona
Distance from Pune: 35 Kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Hotels between Pune - Paud. No Food or water on the fort.
Places to stay: Nil
Best time to Visit: Anytime except summer.
Experience: One can go to Tikona either from the Khandoba temple at the base or from Tikona maval. The later route is preffered by many because it takes you very close to the fort and is suitable for vehicles as well. We took the route from the temple. The path is long but very scenic. Finding the way to the fort is a little difficult. We took some help from locals.

Tikona

Tikona is in ruins but has some good spots at the top. It offers a splendid view of the Tung fort. Some parts of the fort are very steep, so extreme care is required. Few Sadhu's live in a temple on the fort. There is a Gurudwara near the fort which can also be visited.

View of Tung from Tikona

Baneshwar

Place: Baneshwar
Route from Pune: Pune > Katraj > khed shivapur > Nasrapur > Baneshwar.

Alternate route: Pune > khadakwasla> Donje phata > khalapur >Baneshwar.
Distance from Pune: 35 Kms (Approx), Khadakvasla route: 60 kms (Approx)
Places to eat: Small hotels at Baneshwar. Lot of places enroute if you take forst route (Pune - Satara highway)
Places to stay: Nil
Best time to Visit: Monsoon.
Experience: First route (Pune – Satara Highway) is the easiest way to reach Baneshwar but the alternate route is much more scenic. The lush green rice fields and the water flowing through them make the place very beautiful. After around 45 kms from Pune comes a point where you can take a right to Rajgad & Torna or a left to Baneshwar.

The place has an old shiva temple. The place is also well known for the garden and waterfall in the temple vicinity. Though not a very clean place, people come to this place mainly due to its proximity to Pune. The stones near the waterfall are slippery and one should be extremely careful.

Pavana Dam

Place: Pavana Dam
Route from Pune: Pune > Pirangut > Paud > Kolvan > Hotle > Pavana dam. Alternate route : Pune > Nigdi > Kamshet > Bedsa >Pavana nagar > Pavana Dam
Distance from Pune: 45 kms (Approx). 65 kms (Approx) by kamshet route.
Places to eat: No place to eat between Paud – Kamshet.
Places to stay: Girivan at Hotle village.
Best time to Visit: Monsoon.

Experience: Pavana dam is is not too famous among tourists. Nice place to just sit for some time and enjoy the view along with the breeze. The route to pavana via Paud is very beautiful, especially in monsoon. Tikona fort is close to the road, while Tung can be seen on the other side of the Pavana backwaters. Backwaters of Pavana provide a wonderful view. There are no places after paud where one can have some food so carrying food and water is necessary.

Pavana Dam

Tikona Fort

Bedsa caves

Place: Bedsa caves
Route from Pune: Pune > Nigdi > Kamshet > Bedsa. Alternate route: Pune > Pirangut > Paud > Kolvan > Hotle > Pavana nagar >Bedsa
Distance from Pune: 50 kms (Approx). 65 kms (Approx) via Paud route.
Places to eat: Lot of hotels on the way till kamshet. Rajdhani at the HP petrol pump just before kamshet is an excellent place to eat.
Places to stay: MTDC resort, karla.
Best time to Visit: Monsoon.

Experience: After a relaxing day at karla MTDC resort, we started towards pune via the pavana dam route. Enroute we had a visit to Bedsa caves which are situated at a distance of 8 kms from Kamshet. These caves are much similar to the karla and bhaja caves but are much smaller in size. After spending an hour at this place we left for Pavana dam. It is a very nice place to visit in monsoon.

Bedsa Caves

Sinhgad

Place: Sinhgad fort

Route from Pune: Pune > Khadakvasla > Donje > Sinhgad

Distance from Pune: 30 kms (Approx)

Places to eat: Lot of hotels on the fort that offer Maharashtrian food (especially Pitla Bhakri).

Places to stay: Lot of options available in and around Donje village.

Best time to Visit: Anytime.
Experience: Sinhgad has always been one of my favourite excursion spot. I visited the place in the year 2000 for the first time and I have been there at least 30 – 40 times after that. The place is most beautiful in monsoon. The road has never been very great. But Sinhgad has always been a place where you can go at any time of the day, roam around, eat, enjoy and get back rejuvenated (all in 4 - 6 Hours).

Neelkantheshwar

Place: Neelkantheshwar

Route from Pune: Pune > Khadakvasla > Donje > Panshet > Kuran > Neelkantheshwar

Distance from Pune: 55 kms (Approx)

Places to eat: A small hotel at the top (looked unhygienic). Lot of options available till panshet.

Places to stay: Lot of devotees from nearby villages stay in the temple premises. (not recommended)

Best time to Visit: Anytime except April/May.
Experience: I was planning to visit this place since last one month. Finally, we decided to go on 22 march since we were getting three days long weekend. We were not able to start early as planned. Left the house at 9:30 am, took the road via warje/Khadakvasla/Donje phata and reached Panshet.

There are no roadsigns that will direct you correctly to Neelkantheshwar. After loosing the way two times and taking help from local villagers we finally got on to the correct path. Here is how we reach the neelkantheshwar foothill -- Once you reach panshet , Take the route going to varasgaon dam (there is a board mentioning neelkantheshwar). After about 1 km there is a fork like section with board that points to a village called Kuran. Take that road. After about 1 km of bumpy ride there comes one more point where you have to choose between roads with absolutely no signs around. Take the road to the right. After few kilometers you will come to a point where the tar road ends and two muddy roads are seen going upwards in the hills. Take the left one and after 2-3 kms reach neelkantheshwar foothills. After a steep walk of 2 kms you come to the temple.

At this point you will wonder if the temple will be worth all the trouble. The answer is ‘yes’. As you get near to the temple the road becomes wide, flat, with lot of trees and flowers around. You begin to see lot of statues of Sadhus sitting on the walls of the temple. As soon as you start climbing the stares a huge hanuman statue is seen lying to your left.

The place is really beautiful. It is the result of hardwork done by one man – Sarjemama - a forest ranger, social worker and a Lord shiva devotee. There are hundreds of mythological characters sculpted by him in the temple area. Lot of mythological events are also sculpted. We get a splendid view of Panshet and varasgaon Dams & the surrounding areas from the temple.

After spending few hours we decided to move back. It was getting cloudy and by the time we started back, it was raining. The climate changed completely. It was amazing. We had some snacks at khadkvasla before returning home.

Chateau Indage Vineyard

Place: Chateau Indage Vineyard
Route from Pune: Pune > Chakan > Rajgurunagar > Narayangaon > Chateau Indage
Distance from Pune: 85 kms (Approx).
Places to eat: Chateau Indage restaurant
Places to stay: Chateau Indage resort ( will be functional soon)

Best time to Visit: Anytime.
Experience: After a long search finally I found the contact number to book a tour to this vineyard. The winery was started by Mr. Shyamrao Chowgule in 1979 and has already established itself with exports to more than 65 countries.

The Vineyard is located on the Pune- Nashik belt, famous for the grape production. More than 25 varieties of grapes are grown here for wine production. The Chateau Indage restaurant provides excellent food and wine besides a wonderful ambience. A Resort and spa will soon open up for those who like to wine, dine and relax themselves in bath tubs filled with champagne.

Mr Ganesh from Chateau Indage took us around to show some interesting wine making procedures.

02132-245977 is the contact number for those who are interested in booking a vineyard tour.

Cheers.

Ganpatipule

Place: Ganpatipule
Route from Pune: Pune > Shirwal > Satara > Karad > Ratnagiri > Ganpatipule
Distance from Pune: 350 kms (Approx).
Places to eat: Hotel Durvankur, MTDC resort, Bhau joshi Khanawal
Places to stay: MTDC resort, Hotel Durvankur, local accomodation.

Best time to Visit: Anytime.

Experience: It was after a long time that we were going to get a break for five days. We decided to spend 3 days at Ganpatipule. We started from Pune at 9 pm and reached Ganpatipule at 6 am in the morning. MTDC beach resort is located just beside the beach with cottages and huts that offer a wonderful view of the sea.

MTDC resort

Ganpatipule is famous for the ganesh temple. One can also visit Ratnagiri city and Jaigad fort nearby. Sightseeing buses are available. The place doesnot offer variety of food but whatever is available tastes really good.

Ganpati Temple

The sea is said to be dangerous here so people are warned against going deep into the water. Clean beach, clear water and lot of coconut trees. Excellent place to relax and rejuvinate.
Another good place to visit at Ganpatipule is the Prachin Konkan. It is a replica of a traditional konkani village. With lot of interesting information on Konkani life, Trees , Wildlife, Forts etc.

Prachin Konkan

Purandar

Place: Purandar fort
Route from Pune: Pune > Katraj > Khed-shivapur > Kapurhol > Ketkavle > Purandar
Distance from Pune: 50 kms (Approx)
Places to eat: One Hotel on the Fort(not much variety available). Lot of hotels on the highway.
Places to stay: Nil.
Best time to Visit: Sept- Feb.

Experience: The plan was very unexpected. We started a little late and it took us more than three hours to reach the fort because of the traffic at Ketkavle and the road condition from the foothill which is terrible. Your vehicle will surely demand servicing after a visit to Purandar.

Though the fort has a significant place in history, it is not very famous among tourists. It is spread across a big area and takes a whole day to explore. It has a lot of shelters built for army personnel which stand deserted now. It must have been buzzing with activity in the past.

We spent some time chatting and eating at the only hotel on the fort. Bhakri-Pitla, Pohe and Tea is all that you can get besides packets of Parle-G. View is very nice from any part of the fort.

We started back without exploring the fort. I wanted some time in hand keeping in mind the high probability of my bike tyre getting punctured. We touched the highway safely and had a grand dinner at Hotel New Vilas near Khed-shivapur.

Harihareshwar and Diveagar

Place: Harihareshwar and Diveagar

Route from Pune: Pune > Paud > Mulshi > Mangaon > Mhasla > Harihareshwar > srivardhan > Diveagar. Alternate route (pune to Diveagar):Pune > Paud > Mulshi > Mangaon > Mhasla > Borli > Diveagar (175 kms).

Distance from Pune: Harihareshwar 180 kms (Approx). Harihareshwar to Diveagar 65 kms(Approx).

Places to eat: Harihareshwar: Rohan beach resort. Lot of local people serve excellent food.

Diveagar: Not many options available. Patil khanawal is good.
Places to stay: Harihareshwar: Rohan beach resort. MTDC resort, local accomodation

Diveagar: Exotica beach resort, Ganaraj resort, local accomodation (Homestays)

Best time to Visit: Anytime.

Experience:Finally...we were going to the Konkan coast and that too on a a two wheeler. We started early morning on saturday for Harihareshwar. The road is real bad after Mhasla but some repair work was going on so one can hope that it would get better in few months time. We reached Harihareshwar after a six hour journey from Pune at 12 o'clock noon. More than the beach, Harihareshwar is famous for its temples and rituals. It is also called Dakshin kashi. The place is not a very famous tourist spot but a good place to have a relaxing day or two. Lot of options for a comfortable stay are available. The best part is the food. The locals here serve excellent food at reasonable rates. Early morning walk on the beach is what i would recommend to everyone. It is just magical.

 

After a heavy breakfast we left for Diveagar via Shrivardhan. The road again is in a very bad shape. But the view around was too good. Glimpses of pure white sand beach every now and then made the journey beautiful. Harihareshwar is a typical sleepy Konkani village, though blessed with a very beautiful beach studded with coconut and supari trees. The place shot to limelight when a golden idol of Lord Ganesh was found buried in a house somewhere in the 90's. Lot of tourists (from Pune & Mumbai) come here but they have to depend on homestays for accomodation as well as food since only one or two big hotels/restaurants are available. The food is available on order so if you don't order it on time, it is most likely that you will not get it. Service is nowhere close to that in Harihareshwar. Few resorts like Ganraj resort and Exotica beach resort might provide a better stay and service.

The best part is the beach. Clear water, white sand, absolutely clean, safe and very very beautiful.

The return journey via Borli was very comfortable as the roads were in good condition.