Travel Guide: Mahabaleshwar- Jewel in Sahyadri's Crown!!

HELLO SYNONYMOUS AUNTY, YOU WONT BELIEVE BUT I WAS JUST GOING TO POST IT TO EVERYONE AND THEN SOMEONE CAME TO MEET ME AT THE OFFICE AND I COMPLETELY LOST IT!!!!!MEIN SACH BOL RAHA HU...NO NATAK....A VERY SPECIAL DIWALI GREETINGS TO YOU MAM....."MAY THE CHOICEST BLESSINGS OF HEAVEN BE SHOWERED ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY,HAVE A GREAT YEAR AHEAD"

WISHING ALL THE IMERS A "SUBH DEEPAWALI",MAY ALL OF YOU PROSPER AND EXPLORE NEW DESTINATIONS FOR REST OF US!!!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A SAFE TRAVEL FOR ALL YEAR ROUND.......

Thanks to OP.Great post,very helpful for my upcoming trip.Bookmarked! Thanks again :-)

Can someone suggest good hotels/resort/any other place of stay for a group of 7 people visiting Mahabaleshwar on a weekend in Mid-March?

Try MTDC if you want something reasonably priced and in a good location, though the rooms may be shabby. You can also book directly through MTDC or their agents.
http://www.nivalink.com/mtdcmahabaleshwar/tariff.html

Otherwise, see this:
http://www.hotelsinmahabaleshwar.com/

Hey all,
I need some advise.
I am planning to go to Mahabaleshwar with my parents next weekend.. I an planning to go by road in my own car.
I am a new driver and just got my license last month.. I haven't drive on Ghats yet and I've heard its a bit risky to drive on ghats.. I am planning to go via Mumbai - Pune Express highway. I want to know if the way towards Mahableshwar involves driving on ghats.. If yes, then are those ghats risky for a new driver ?

Hi!

Coming directly to your question of driving on Mumbai/Pune expressway and Ghats - drive is good. But are you confident about driving in ghats, last I went to Mahabaleshwar, once off the expressway, the roads are single lane and may be the last stretch of 30 odd Kms is ghat (though not as bad as the Mumbai/Goa highway), still one needs to be careful.

Even Satara ghat (after Pune on Mumbai/Pune Expressway) is quite a drive. Still, it is safe as you will not find oncoming traffic in Satara Ghat as the lanes have been separated. But chances are you will see heavy traffic vehicles here. Surely I don't want you to get scared, I am just giving you some little details which will keep you well prepared .

So, just assess how much you have driven after you have got your license and see if you have done short trips confidently . If you are a safe driver, take up the journey! Follow all lane rules, it must not be a problem. Happy travels

If while driving your car stalls in traffic or if you cannot get it moving after a hold on an incline and it tends to roll back or jerk to another halt then the ghat of panchgani or Khambatki is not for you at all. - Sorry you need practice.

If you still a learner who think driving is taking the vehicle from point A to B then would advice you to practice more and then do the driving trip.

For those who do not understand what I mean by the above comment then keep practicing on driving.

As rightly pointed, the ghat is 28kms. And your driving skills are put to test. I feel, some anxiety about ghat is essential coz that limits you somewhere.
As far as i've heard some grueling stories, all of which are collision accidents due to high speed or drug abuse. Its very rare about falling from a cliff etc. So drive carefully and is you have to judge it yourself.

Hi All,
Thanks for your replies.
I guess I'l take a bus next month I am planning for a short trip to Lonavla with friends. That time I'l practice on ghats, so if anything goes wrong I have a friend as a back up

Khandala Ghat is no more a Ghat to be frank, after the 6 lane express way. The Ghats of Konkan are the real ones.. Single lanes, no dividers, Beautiful views, & unfortunately too much of traffic now a days as holiday season is on!

Just back from Panchgani. (Last weekend). Drove myself in my Santro in 6 hrs (1 way) with only 1 stop. Stayed at Gulmohor bungalow on hire with 2 of my cousins and our families. Wonderful experience.. Though they charged a lot.. . Whats amazing is that place is still so cool in this scorching heat. Day temp may have been above 30, but nights/early mornings were chilly. Less than 15 may be. When my wife was packing sweaters while leaving Mumbai, I laughed at her, but they were handy when we were having nice late night walks..

Reviving this thread with a few photographs from my 'not-so recent trip' to Mahabaleshwar.

I visited this place on 20th May and stayed for 2 nights. As it was peak summer, mornings used to be hot while evenings (after 6.30 pm) it would get extremely cold.

We stayed at Honeywood Holiday homes - found this from the link to list of hotels Vic has posted. Small but nice place. Not all the rooms are good but we got the best one. Overall tariff has gone up steeply at Mahabaleshwar as also the rates of everything else. And May being peak season, we could not even bargain.

As it was a family trip mainly intended to give a much deserved break to my daughter we were not keen on visiting any tourist points except 'Arthur's seat'.

The other places which we visited were - Tapola lake and the Old Mahabaleshwar Temple. But the best find of this time's visit was 'Kishna devi temple'. I saw hardly any people visiting this temple which is located at a beautiful place. There are a few boards at the 'Old Mahabaleshwar temple' showing the direction to 'Krishan Devi temple' which is just 10 minutes walk. But to my surprise, I saw none of them visiting it. As I had done some search on the net to see if there was anything new to see at Mahabaleshwar, I had stumbled upon this 'ancient temple'.


Some photographs, now:

Honeywood Holiday homes - A view of the lawn as we enter!



Inside the room:



Strawberr plantations:



And this strawberry pyramid:



Narrow path towards "Tapola lake'!



A view from the ghats while going towards Tapola.



At the Tapola lake:





Driving towards Arthur's seat:



Not much to post about 'Old Mahabaleshwar temple', so only the route (gully).



But surely something I have to post of the 'Krishna Devi temple'!



A rear view of the temple.



View of the temple from the front.



Another view:


Inside the temple Garbhagriha (inner sanctum sanctorum):



A beautiful view in front of the temple - It is actually a valley and one can see the river flowing. As it was peak summer the water was not much but once it rains I am sure it would be a gorgeous sight!



Visit to Mahabaleshwar would be incomplete if we did not have 'Strawberry & cream'! So we did not want to leave our trip incomplete. Infact the trip was more than complete because we also had chocolate chip & cream, too !



One more view, please!



Ofcourse we did make our customary trip to 'Mapro factory outlet' to purchase some crush and honey. Also this time at Mahabaleshwar, I got to see some beautiful birds though not the 'giant malabar squirrel' which favors only snonymous!

vic86m, hope you do not mind me posting so many photographs. I did not want to start another thread hence thought this would be the best place to post some from my album.

Wonderful pics!

I'm taking conscious efforts to get those extra pounds off me (that includes running 6 KM on the Cauvery bridge - morning & evening) and those last few pics are certainly not helping me

Thanks Prasanna.

Hahahaha, keep running, you will reach Mahabaleshwar someday and would have lost those extra pounds certainly. And before your return jouney you can have a tall glass of the above dessert and get replenished to again run back home .

Reminds me of a Mr X joke, where a Mr X was advised by a doctor in Delhi to run 10 KM daily. After a month, Mr X called back the doctor, conveying his good health, but complaining he had reached Ludhiana by now

Vixen- Great pictures I fall in prasanna's category but I think I will binge into the strawberry cream stuff in a few weeks as th emonsoon windes sail me to mahabaleshwar.