Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a city and a municipal council in Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a hill station located in the Western Ghats range. With one of the few evergreen forests of India, it served as the summer capital of Bombay province during the British Raj.Mahabaleshwar is the largest hill station in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra state. It is situated at an altitude of 1372 m above seal level in Satara district, about 115 km southwest of Pune.Understand

Due to its high altitude, the town has a cool climate and offers many pleasant walks. There are several lookout points which offer spectacular views of the surrounding hills and valleys. There is an old Shiva temple in the forest, which is the source of five rivers, including the Krishna river which is the second longest river of peninsular India.Its very good place to visit.
Mahabaleshwar is visited by many thousands of tourists every year. It is well connected by bus with the important towns of the region. There are numerous hotels for every budget. The peak season is March-May; it rains very heavily from June to September.

Get in

Way to Arthur's Seat, Hunter Point, Echo Point & Tiger Falls

The Shiva Temple in old Mahabaleshwar is near the source of 5 rivers, and the water keeps flowing throughout the year.

You can take a tourist bus (Volvo) from Mumbai, departing from Dadar East, Sion or Vashi. The ride will take you 6 hours and will cost around Rs 500. An ordinary AC bus will cost Rs 200. The Volvo bus from Pune is currently operated by two private companies (Neeta and Konduskar), and they charge approx Rs 250 each way. The Govt. Express bus from swargate starting 5.45AM and every hour with a moderate price of 120/- per individual.

Mahabaleshwar is also accessible by road from Mumbai, about 247 km. It takes about 4 to 5 hours by car if taking a route via Panvel through Mahad and Poladpur.

After the opening up of the Mumbai -Pune expressway and the highway onwards from Pune to Satara, this is the much better and preferred option to drive down from Mumbai.The distance via this route about 40 kms more but you reach much faster. You have to get off this highway at a place called Sirur and then travel via Wai and Panchgani to Mahabaleshwar.The road is less winding than the other one via Poladpur but more easy as far as driving is concerned.

You can also reach Satara by train from Mumbai/Banglore. Mahabaleshwar is 47 km from Satara and takes little more than one hour from there.

Try to arrive here in the morning because most of the hotels have a check-in time of 9AM. If you arrive later you may have to wait until another room becomes vacant.

A must see is a water well in the heart of market in the compound of the Library which is almost 150 years old. It still provides water to locals and is some 100 feet deep.

You can get latest timetable for buses for Mahabaleshwar