Pune is the second largest district / city in Maharashtra (India) after Mumbai. Pune has the mixture of Nature, culture and technology. It has great history and Great freedom fighters like Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and many others are from this place. It houses many forts, great valleys within Western ghats. The temperature throughout the year is moderate. There is tremendous growth in IT field and lot of developmental activities have taken place, for ex. Sahara City near Lonavala is an exciting place which have modern kind of approach to life style. Developmental activities have taken leaps and bounds due to the opportunities provided for IT industries. Several areas at the outskirts of city to develop industries and provide employment to people.
Several dams have been constructed to conserve rain and river water to take care of drinking and other needs. There are places for adventure sports like paragliding, trekking, hot air balloon etc…
Food
Vada Paav, Paav Bhaji and other traditional Marathi food is available everywhere. Any tourist can easily spend 6-7 days in Pune to visit important places.
How to reach Pune
Excellent transport facility is available from all parts of India to Pune. Air, Road and Rail connectivity is very good.
Pune to Mumbai 150 KM, 3 hours to 4 hours by road and train.
All types of hotel are available at Pune to suit the requirement.
Places to visit in and around Pune:
Within city limit:
Belbaug Mandir (Vishnu mandir, constructed by Nana Phadnavis)
Bhaurangari Ganapati (first celebration of Ganesha)
Fani Ali Talim (old Gym)
Ghorpade ghat (Oldest Ghat of Pune, on the Mutha River)
Kasba Ganapati mandir (main attraction during Ganesha festival, raised by Jijaai, Shivaji mother)
Lal Mahal (built by Shivaji’s father for his wife Jijabai during 1630)
Mujumdar wada (constructed by Abasaheb Mujumdar, near Katraj lake, 18th century architecture)
Nana wada (constructed by Nana Phadnavis during 1780)
Shanivar wada, Shivaji Bridge (also called Lloyd bridge, constructed between 1919 – 1923)
Tamdi Jogeswari (constructed by Trimbak Bendre, oldest temple)
Tulsi baug Ram mandir (constructed by Naro Appaji Khire during 1761)
IISCON temple: Located in Pune city, Sri Radha Krishna temple
Lakshmi Market: Commercial place
Rajivgandhi Zoological park:
Animals, birds, snake park (very famous) –
Entry fee
INR 25, foreign nationals INR 200, Still camera INR 50, Video camera INR 200 –
Requires 3 to 4 Hours to visit. Inside battery operated vehicle is available.
Visiting hours
to
from 1st April to 15th June (sale of ticket upto 6pm)
to
from 16th June to 31st March (sale of ticket upto 5pm)
Jain temple, Krishna Mandir: Nearer to Rajivgandhi Zoological Research centre
Shanivar wada:
Mansion built by Peshwa Bajirao-1, National Monument. Dancing hall, Old mirror hall, fountain with many fountain heads can be seen inside. Shanivarwada is located at the city center of Pune.
Entry fee INR 15 for Indians and INR 200 for foreign nationals. Famous Ganapati temple is situated nearby.
Agha khan palace:
National monument, located at Yerwada of Pune city. This is also called Gandhi National Memorial. This was constructed by Sultan Mohammad Shah Agakhan during 1892. This monument is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhiji and his life. Kasturba (Wife of Mahatma Gandhi) and Mahadevbhai Desai (secretary of Mahatma Gandhi) died while in captivity here and their samadhis can be seen. Museum inside the building consists pictures of some important events of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Many of Gandhiji’s belongings also can be seen here.
Asht Vinayaka temples:
Requires minimum two days to visit all temples including one day stay at outside Pune. Start with Moregaon and end with the same to complete.
Sinhagad: 33Kms, Sinhagad fort, valley view
Kamshet:
Paragliding, Hot air balloon point – to be booked in advance to fix the slots in a day. Requires minimum 6Hrs in a day.
Karla caves, Bhaja caves, Lohagad fort, Lonavala Lion point, Wax museum, Sahara city (farther view), Monkey point at Khandala, Sun set point and return.
One way distance is 70 – 80 Kms , Duration 7am to 7pm.