Sightseeing in and around Pune/Poona

michep2

I will be in Pune at the beginning of March for 3 weeks and looking for some ideas of what to do. I'll be working most of the time, but looking for weekend trips from there. During the last visit in October, went to Mumbai, Dehli and Agra. Any ideas? Is it worth it to go to Goa or Kerala for only 2-3 days?

Indiafan

Lonavala is a nice, small town about 1-1,5 hours from Pune to Mumbai or You may take an overnight bus to Goa and back.

edwardseco

Its a good base city for Ajanta, etc..

LuAnnandJawahar

Matheran is close by and delightful.

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Bengal Tiger

you can go to aurangabad from pune by overnight bus.
you should arrive early in the morning. 6.30ish. dont choose "raj" travels - very incompetent.
aurangabad is used as a base for 2 "conducted trips" - one to ajanta and back and the other to ellora, devgiri fort etc and back.
one of these start at 7.30 - 8 (depending on the operator) in the morning and the other at 9ish. i suggest you choose the 9 o'clock trip for the day you arrive in aurangabad, for that way you will have some time to find yourself a hotel and freshen up. opt for the other of the 2 "condected trips" the next day and push off, the same night, after they bring you back to aurangabad, for pune. aurangabad has nothning to see. the first evening you could go to some of the betterbars/reataurants there though.

for both conducted tours choose ITDC as they have very good and professional service and trained guides (who travel with the bus). fares are 150 and 200 if i remember right. i know cos i did the same trip, only i came to aurangabad from nagpur.
i didnt even stay in a hotel the 2nd day - got ready and checked out in the morning. i carried my small suitcase with me to ajanta, and kept it "chained" under the last bench of the bus. came back at about 6, had a nice early dinner and took the return bus at about 7.30

oh yeah, do go to osho rajneesh's haunt in pune!! :;

rangss

Lonavla is a quick getaway...would be wunderful if it raisn whilst you are there.

Try Osho's ashram at goregaon. It has a fantastic Japanese garden.

Agha Khan Palace...Mahatma Gandhi was under house arrest here for some years. Wife Kasturba passed away here. Can be seen in the Attenborough movie where Candice Bergen visits the Mahatma.

If you are a rail-fan...PUNE is a great diesel (ALCO) hang-out. Can also check out vintage WCM locos that run on DC power.

Visit Joshi's Museum of Model Railways: http://www.minirailways.com

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edwardseco

One important thing, while in Pune check out the Raja Kelkar Museum (may have a new name now). It was by far the best developed museum in India. He is long since dead but fondly remembered..

Bengal Tiger

at the expense of sounding parochial, i have to beg to differ, from what you just claimed.

the kelkar museum may be really good, and also very close to pune (or IN pune), but its unlikely that its "by far the best developed museum in india". check out for yourself and decide http://www.indianmuseum-calcutta.org/history.html

and for those of you who prefer a bit of "madness in the methods", here's another link:
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~achatt1/Calcutta/marbel.html

they arnt very close to pune though

rangss

I must agree with BT. I have been to a big museum in Pune..must be the raja Kelkar thing...not well kept, Iam afraid.

And Bengal Tiger...nothing beats the Salar Jung museum.

Bengal Tiger

well to each his own....yardstick, i mean.

i am not much into "arab"-esque stuff much, something the jung specialises in. also precious stones, carvings, paintings and jewels alone dont a complete museum make. good on the "riches" front maybe, but what about "natural history" and other areas? of all the many museums in the museum city (ie. NY), its the one on "natural history", (A.M.N.H.), thats most famous, the world over. see?

so again i have to differ....

bijapuri

the fort at Sinhgad (one of many spellings)is 24km away and very atmospheric.
Rec.

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rangss

I guess we all are slightly off the track. Michep2 wanna know of weekend trips "outside" Pune. Plus kerala and Goa for 2-3 days.

Goa for tow to three days with Pune as base is quite all right. But Kearal is another story. You can do a backwater trip + a wildlife trip in 2-3 days, but not from Pune. The distance is too high unless you are all right about taking flights to and from Mumbai.

rangss

Either I have a bad keyboard or my chair is not ergonomic. BAD TYPOS all along.

michep2

Thanks to everyone for some great ideas...maybe ejanta/allora caves for one weekend and goa on the way home and extend it for a couple of days. I'll check out the other ideas as well.

Tried to get into the Osho commune last time, but they would only let 'members' in...then my driver couldn't find the garden. We did find a small park with children playing and saw what some of the suburbs of Pune look like so, it was a good getting lost experience. Everything I did in India last time was quite the experience and looking forward to my next adventure.