Khandala is a popular hill station located in Western Ghat of the state of Maharashtra, India. It is situated at the altitude of 625 m and is gifted with beautiful nature, fascinating lakes, cascades, lush green surroundings etc. Marathi is widely spoken language of the region. Its temperature remains pleasant throughout the year and hence it can be visited during any time of the year.
Places of interest: Khandala is popular tourist destination in the state. Its proximity to Mumbai and Pune make it a perfect holiday spot. It has many places of attraction to offer to its tourists.

Rajmachi Park :

Rajmachi Park Image credit: Chaitanyagymnast2009

 

Rajmachi Park is a beautiful garden situated near Khandala. The garden offers tourists many views of beautiful surroundings. Rajmachi Fort can also be seen from here. It also houses Children Park and a temple nearby.

Ryewood :

Ryewood park Image credit: indiatravels.com

 

Ryewood is another beautiful garden near Khandala. The garden is abundant with majestic long trees. There is a temple of Mahadeo located near. The garden gets its name from a British officer Mr. Rey who stayed here for long time. It is also believed to be come from the Marathi word Rai which means thick forest.

Duke’s Nose :

Duke's Nose Image credit: flickr

 

Duke’s Nose is another place of interest near Khandala. This cliff resembles the pointed nose of Duke Wellington after whom the place is named. It is also called as Nagphani as it looks like the hood of Nag.

Shivaji Park :

Shivaji Park is another beautiful place to visit. It was a play ground earlier then it was turned into the garden in 1956. It houses a statue of Shivaji Maharaja.
Lohgad Darshan is small beautiful park with many toys for children’s amusement. There is a statue of Vir Savarkar, a great freedom fighter.

Kune falls :

Kune falls image credit: flickr

 

Kune falls is fascinating experience of watching water falling down from the height of about 100feet. Tiger’s leap, Sakur Plateau, Monkey hill and Reversing Station are other places of attraction to be seen here.

How to reach : 

By road: 

Khandala is situated on Pune-Mumbai express way and therefore well connected to the other parts of the state. Many state run buses and other private vehicles like rental cars and luxury buses link it Pune, Mumbai and other cities and towns of the state. It is located at the distance of just 68km from Pune and 81 km from Mumbai.

By train:

If you are traveling by train, you can get down at Lonavala which is just 4 km away from Khandala. Lonavala is well linked by trains to Pune, Mumbai and other cities and towns of the state.

By air:

Closest airport to Khandala is Pune Airport. It is well connected by several domestic flights to major cities of India.

Other details :  

If you visit this beautiful hill station and plan to spend more than a day then there are many hotel and resorts in Khandala to accommodate you.

Malshej Ghat is a hill station in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is situated in Pune district of the state. Malshej Ghat is one of many hill stations of located in western Ghat of India. It is a popular tourist destination and one can experience all the season of the year in a single day here as its climate is quite flexible and keeps changing rapidly. However it offers the tourists a perfect spot to spend holidays. Malshej Ghat is adorned with many fascinating waterfalls, beautiful landscapes, lakes, majestic mountains and many tall trees. Malshej Ghat is a place to explore beautiful natural surroundings. It is the ideal place for honeymoon couple.

Harishchandragad :
Harishchandragad is a fort located near Malshej Ghat and is one of the major attractions of the tourists. The fort is elevated at the height of 1400m and offers many trekking trails to adventurous tourists.

Harishchandragad peak :Harishchandragad peak is another place of interest situated near the fort. Temple of Lord Vishnu is also located in the fort. The fort also houses many beautiful idols and carvings. There are Buddhist cave also in the fort premises. There are many waterfalls in this hill station. Waterfalls offer fascinating experience to tourists who enjoy drenching themselves under  the water falling from a good height.

Pimpalgaon Joga Dam :
Pimpalgaon Joga Dam is another place worth visiting neat Malshej Ghat. Malshej Ghat has many trekking tracks which gives thrilling experience to adventurous tourists.

Malshej Ghat is well connected by roads to other parts of the state. Many state run buses and other private vehicles are available from Mumbai and other cities and towns of the state. Kalyan railway station serves the nearest railway head to Malshej Ghat. The station is well linked to many other cities and towns of the state and the country. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport of Mumbai is closest airport to it. It is just 150 km away and well connected to other major cities of the state and the countries.
Marathi is widely spoken language here and Hindi is also spoken by few. There are many hotels and resorts to accommodate tourists. It is better to book your rooms in advance as most of the hotels remain full.

 Panchgani, the place of five hills as it literally means, is a popular hill station in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is situated in Satara district of the state. It was the summer resort of the British. They also planted there western plants like Poinsettia and silver oak. Now we can see these trees there in large number. Panchgani is located at the altitude of 1334 m and is popular tourist spot in India. The air in the region is believed to contain more oxygen compared to other  region.  Many people see it as rejuvenating place for both mind and body. September to May is the best time to visit Panchgani.

Places to see: 

There are many place of tourist attraction in and around Panchgani.

Rajpuri Caves :

Rajpuri Caves is one of them. Caves are of religious significance and have many ponds in its surrounding. It is believed by pilgrims that taking a dip in the ponds one gets cured of almost all diseases.  Temple of Lord Kartikeya is the prominent attraction near the caves. The temple is made of the sand of the caves.

 

Parsi Point :

Parsi Point is famous picnic spot in Panchgani. It is situated on the way to Mahabaleshwar. One can see from the picturesque views of nearby Krishna valley and Dhom Dam.

Sydney point :

Serbaug :

 Serbaug is another interesting place you can visit in Panchgani. It is a beautifully carved garden offering tourist to have a quality time with their families. It has children’s park and beautiful rose garden. One can also see many species of birds there.

You can also visit Tableland in Panchgani. It is the second longest mountain plateau in Asia. You can see the amazing views of Panchgani hill station itself and other places like Rajpuri Caves and Devil’s Kitchen.
Wai is small town near Panchgani and on the way to it there are seven majestic Ghats. Many temples are located on these Ghats. It has also many lakes and beautiful natural surroundings. Panchgani also offers many places for adventure activities like Paragliding

How to get there:
By Train:
Pune railway station is the nearest rail head to Panchgani. Railway station is about 100 km from it and is well connected to many cities and towns of the Maharashtra state.

By Air: 
Pune also serves as closest airbase to Panchgani and is well linked to other major cities of the country.

By Road:
Buses and private luxury buses are available from other cities and towns of the state. You can also hire a car or taxi to reach here.