Perched close to Rudyard Kipling’s Mumbai, Pune offers a friendly and warm cushion to any tourist in the Deccan plateau region. So much so, people who live in places around Pune like Kolhapur, Aurangabad and Nagpur like to come here for education and profession. With old Marathi beauty, a cosmopolitan student crowd, a mecca of music and a growing IT industry; weekend gateways around Pune are going to charm you. Some best one day team outing places around Pune are:
Sinhagad Fort
Image Source: Google Images
The fort is located on the Bhuleshwar Range in line with Rajgad, Purandar and Torna forts. It was actually called Kondhana after a sage named Kaundinya. It has many carvings and was captured by the ruler Muhammad Bin Tughlaq; and again captured by Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior to his advantage. The fort is a popular tourist spot with adults, youngsters, students, athletes (for exercise) and trekkers. If you take a bus from the Swargate bus station, which could drop you to the base of the hills and take steps through the pagdandi. You could also book your own vehicle and take the road if you do not wish to climb. The moment you reach the top, you see lots of vendors selling peda, badam, lassi and kulfi. Do not go for kulfi as eating too many could affect your throat. When you go to the fort, you’ll see that there are many restaurants that serve amazing dahi; try them. The climb will take you 2-3 hours depending on your pace. Don’t forget to take your UNO cards, tiffin and bed-sheets to arrange leisure activities for your team.
Kamshet
Image Source: Adventure Nation
Kamshet is located at a distance of 45 kilometers from Pune city. It has a very beautiful setting with mud houses built in the traditional style and fields with plantations. This tourist spot is a paragliding spot in Maharashtra. The paragliding season is from October to end of May at Tower Hill. You could do a trek here too. You could take your team close to the artificial lake for a picnic. Not many people know it but a theatre company, called ‘The Company Theatre’, is located at Kamshet founded by Atul Kumar. Piya Behrupia is one of their popular productions. It’s a beautiful spot and unexplored to an extent; one to do leisure activities at.
Karla Caves
Image Source: Flickr
Karla Caves are Buddhist rock shrines which are geometrically built to showcase beauty. It comes in Lonavla but you certainly could explore it separately. The shrines were built around second century BC to 5th century BC. The caves are monasteries which date back to second century BC. The site holds huge pillars which is quite an attraction. Karla is like a small village with shops, jewelry and food. You could take your team to the caves and then explore the shops and restaurants; it is quite a tourist place.
Lonavla
Image Source: Google images
You could take a train for Lonavla from Pune station or drive through the Expressway. Before you enter Lonavla you see lush green hills close to the ghats. Some tourist spots where you could spend a day are Rajmaychi point, Valvan Dam, Lonavla Lake, Dukes’s nose and Tiger’s Leap.
Duke’s Nose
Image Source: Google images
Rajmaychi point gives you a sight of Shivaji’s fort Rajmachi. Valvan dam is a popular evening spot from the city. Lonavla lake is beautiful with greenery. Duke’s nose looks like an elephant which is also famous among trekkers and is located at 12 km from Lonavla. Tiger’s Leap is a cliff point which could have a drop point of 650 m. You could cover all the locations or some of them and settle at one of them to carry out your leisure activities. It is a very popular weekend gateway around Pune and hotels shoot their prices up, make a prior reservation if you need to extend your outing.
Lavasa
Image Source: Google images
Lavasa is one and a half hour drive from Pune. The township is built on the model Italian town Portofino. It’s popular among IT professionals who work in regions like Hinjewadi, Hadapsar and Yerwada in Pune. It has a Dasve Dam, villas, country club, water sports and convention centre, town hall and a business park. You could find a chain of commercial eateries close to the water bodies serving Indian and continental food. It’s a good idea to go to the country club as a team. Lavasa is actually closer than all the other places around Pune. It’s apt for a quick outing.
Bhigwan
Image Source: Google images
Bhigwan is a small town located on the Pune-Solapur highway, at a distance of 100 kilometres from Pune city. You could find Diskul village on the way. This tourist spot is a haven for bird lovers. You need to carry along your DSLR’s and filming equipment to add to your outing here. This tourist spot is also popular among people staying in Mumbai. Some bird sightings you could see here are: shovelers, jungle myna, greater cocoul, white browned fantail flycatcher, black Drongo, common Hoppoe, Green Bee Eater, Ashy Prinia, Common Chiffchaf, house Sparrow, yellow wagtail, little winged plover, paddy field pipit, wood sandpiper, pink greater flamingo and river tern. Take a boat ride here! Bhagwan is also known as “Bharatpur of Maharashtra”. The best time to go here is end Jan or early Feb which is now. Go as early as 6:45 am if possible and look for Diskal and Kumbhargaon!
Bhagwan is a convenient bird sighting location around Pune.
Do enjoy your outing!
