Hyderabad to Pune, Lonavala, Mahabaleswar DEC 2020

[santosh]

Hyderabad > Pune > Lonavala > Mahabaleswar >  Pune > Hyderabad:

 

Total round Trip	~1800 km
Drive	Ecosport
Fuel	Diesel
Mileage	17 kmpl
Road Condition	PFB Break up of roads. Overall Excellent.
Drive time	12 hrs from Hyd > Pune Hinjewadi (Including ~1.5 hour pitstops).
Hotels	Stayed in Holiday Inn Hinjewadi for 1 night, 2 nights in Diwatel grande resort Lonavala, 1 night in Treebo mahabaleswar, 3 nights in Novotel Pune. All the above hotels prices are dynamic. I recommend staying at above all hotels except holiday inn & Treebo which aren’t up to the mark. Prices are dynamically changing based on dates & availability.
Occupants	Myself, My wife and my 1-year old kid.
Timeline	25th Dec 2020 – 2nd Jan 2021 early morning
Places Covered	Pune, Lonavala, Mahabaleswar

 

Pune Mumbai expressway @ Khandala Valley Point:

 

 

 

 

Round Trip Stats:

 

Followed below mentioned route To & From Hyd <> Pune:       

 

Hyderabad > Humnabad > Solapur > Pune (NH 65).

 

a.       Road from Hyderabad > Humnabad > MH Border is NHAI and its excellent. Couple of NHAI tolls each 90 INR.

b.       Road from MH Border > Solapur is good with few stretches with road widening/bad patches/diversions/amidst rustic towns (unlike standard NHAI flyovers or bypasses). This stretch has couple of Tolls if I recall correctly.

c.       Road from Solapur > Pune is excellent with 4 NHAI Tolls each around 70 INR.

d.       Traffic is medium all along from Hyd outskirts till Pune outskirts.

 

Key Take Aways on road conditions:

 

a.       Excellent roads overall except for MH Border > Solapur (this is also good but not excellent).

b.       Following google maps and no issues at all

c.       Quite a few highway dhabas/restaurants around Solapur and other cities on Solapur > Pune stretch. I dint pay a visit to any of them as we packed lunch for day one.

d.       Quiet a few fully loaded double trailer tractors on NHAI and few morons are coming in wrong route with full liberty. Hence please be mindful about these folks.

e.       Heads-up about the toll lane you are taking if you don’t have a fastag. It’s painful if we enter wrong lane now. Left most lane of tollgates are basically cash ones now.

 

How it started:

 

It’s December last week and that is all enough for planning a road trip. We thought of few places in south india (Wayanad, Chikmaglur etc.,) along with Pune and ended up going Pune for below reasons:

 

a.       It’s easily accessible from Hyderabad (given I’ve my kid with me).

b.       Pune has pretty good accommodation options and we are looking for safe accommodation's during Covid times.

 

We were bit skeptical about our trip after MH Govt started coming up with new travel restrictions & guidelines before Dec 31st but finally it was just night curfew without any road travel ban for Telangana vehicles. I didn't even undergo any vehicle paper check, temperate check etc., neither at state borders nor in MH cities. I've witnessed at least 90% of people putting on masks in Pune and I really appreciate this.

 

Day wise Itinerary:

 

 

Day 1, Hyd > Pune (All about Drive):

 

 

a.       We've started at 6 am on 25^th Dec 2020 Friday from Hyd and reached Pune by 5 PM including 1-2-hour pitstops.

b.       Had Breakfast at Udipi @muthangi ORR exit. We packed lunch so we didn’t really halt anywhere.

c.       Checked in @Holiday Inn Hinjewadi Pune. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel personally as we have other better options in same budget. Problem with hotel was I dint really like the food and the way they managed restaurant (Overcrowded). There was no self-service as part of corona precautions but that created more mess and turned out to be actual trouble maker. 

 

Day 2, Pune > Lonavala (visited Kesar Sai Dam & Pawna Lake):

 

a.       Did breakfast at in-house restaurant and started our journey by 11 am.

b.       We have two roads to reach Lonavala, Mumbai – Pune expressway and NH48 which is used by locals & regular traffic. I skipped expressway as I had to visit few places on our way else we can stick to expressway if we wish to directly reach lonavala.

c.       Visited Kesar Sai Dam - Can ignore this place if we are planning to Lonavala as we expect same picturesque in other lakes in Lonavala. Few KM’s stretch before reaching this place is also not good.

d.       Took a glance at Vissapur Fort, Lohagad Fort enroute Pawna Lake. It’s ghat road to reach these destinations and one would love to drive here. Didn’t really trek to any of these forts to avoid exertion with a kid. Ended up at final destination Pawna   lake and it was good spot to spend some quality time. Handful of tourists at the spot.

e.       There is camping available at this lake and bachelors/group can try that out.

f.        Checked in @Diwatel Grande Resort Lonavala and I recommend this hotel.

g.       Had Dinner at in-house restaurant and food was good.

 

Vissapur Fort (please note that I don't have all plain pictures hence had to upload few with my baby, excuse me on this):

 

If you carefully observe the hill behind me, you can see tourists (more like miniatures) standing on the edge of the cliff  

 

 

 

Pawna Lake:

 

 

 

Enroute Pawna Lake:

 

 

This is how it's inside tunnel during Sunny day @ 10 AM:

 

 

Day 3, Lonavala Sightseeing (Khandala, Lonavala valley points, Bhor dam, lions & tigers points):

 

a.       We woke up around 6 AM and waited for day light and then started to check out Khandala and Lonavala Valley points on Pune-Mumbai expressway. After witnessing the beautiful roads between foggy hills, we returned to hotel.

b.       Started our day after having sumptuous breakfast at in-house restaurant in the hotel.

c.       Started to Bhor dam around 10 AM and reached dam within few mins. We found a spot to spend time leisurely here. Private car Parking fee is 100 INR.

d.       Headed to Lions point and tigers point from Bhor dam. Views are splendid from both the points. Good thing about these 2 points is that it doesn’t involve any trekking. Just park the car and view the valley.

e.       Had lunch at Lions point with some food we packed and fritters we bought at the stalls as there are no proper restaurants.

f.        Returned to hotel and we tried to discover a lake very close to our hotel and it was very peaceful. Tourists were handful at this lake, and we can easily camp if we wanted to. Too many lakes around Pune & Lonavala.

g.       Called it off a day and finished Dinner at in-house restaurant.

 

Lonavala Valley Point:

 

 

Bhor Dam:

 

 

Day 4, Lonavala > Mahabaleswar (Lingmala Waterfall, Venna lake):

 

a.       Checked out hotel after having breakfast and Started to Mahabaleswar around 9AM. Took the spectacular Mumbai-Pune expressway and I clocked ~120 KMPH easily.

b.       Paid toll around 200 INR and got off expressway after reaching Pune outskirts. Took Pune Bangalore NH48 road till WAI Junction and this road is good except few patches with diversions and road widening. Took a right turn to Mahabaleswar – Pachgani road at WAI Junction and after crossing WAI town, road is all across ghats. Followed google maps all the way and no issues in reaching destination.

c.       One major tunnel on NH48 “Katraj Tunnel” which is nearly 1KM.

d.       Checked in @Treebo hotel and finished off lunch at some random roadside restaurant.

e.       Post lunch visited to a waterfall close by hotel. Bit of trekking downhill to reach the fall. It was a small water fall but very peaceful and not crowded at all.

f.        Headed to Pawna lake and this place was heavily crowded for boating enthusiasts and seemed like most happening spot of Mahabaleswar. There are many roadside stalls for street food and other amusement options. Lot of horses to take a ride in whatever speed we wish 😊

g.       Temperatures were low in Mahabaleswar when compared to Lonavala, Pune.

h.       Had to pay couple of 100 INR at panchgani and mahabaleswar entrance for respective municipalities.

 

Venna Lake :

 

 

 

Treebo Cottage Mahabaleswar:

 

 

NH48 (Can't picture how this would look like when it's pouring) :

 

 

Day 5, Mahabaleswar > Pune:

 

a.       Checked out hotel at 11 AM and reached Kates point and Arthurs point. Kates point was wonderful and one of the best viewpoints I’ve ever witnessed.

b.       Had lunch and started my drive to Pune around 3PM.

c.       Reached Pune by 8 PM with some pitstops/bio-breaks.

 

Kates Point (not the best picture):

 

 

 

Mahabaleswar hotspots:

 

 

Day 6, 7, 8 –Novotel (new year celebrations and bidding bye to awful 2020 )

 

a.       We spent our time leisurely at hotel and Goofing around Pune streets.

b.       Been to FC road for shopping, Dagdushet temple and Shaniwar wada palace.

 

Kolhapuri Pomfret @ The Square Novotel:

 

 

In Room Dine-in is now trending due to Covid  :

 

 

 

 

 

Last Day of Trip (Pune > Hyderabad):

 

We checked out from hotel and started to Hyderabad at 2 pm after having lunch. Followed the same route back home and we are sad that our trip ended so soon  . Reached home by 2am next day. Had Dinner @ Dhaba few KM's before reaching Solapur and couldn't recall the name but it was decent, very big with some kids play arena as well.

 

Key take aways on overall trip:

 

1) Dec is good to travel this places but I bet it would be excellent to visit these places when it's pouring @monsoons, can't picture how magnificent it would look like and how it feels to drive across lush green hills.

 

2) Mahabaleswar wasn't in my plan actually and we added it on the fly when we were in Lonavala. If we had Mahabaleswar in our plan, we would have followed bit different itinerary, may be directly going to mahabaleswar from Hyderabad and then going to pune, lonavala from here. We had Lavasa, Bhatgar Dam etc., places but skipped those and added Mahabaleswar on the fly.

 

3) I personally felt, Mahabaleswar has a lot to offer and a must visit place.

 

4) There are many places around Pune and time would never be enough to cover those.

 

5) One doesn't need these many days to do this trip but I had time so I spent them leisurely.

 

Hope this helps!!

 

Please let me know for any queries. Happy Road Tripping.

 

Below are few other pictures:

 

Lions Point (not the best picture):

 

 

 

Mahabaleswar - Panchagani Ghat road:

 

 

Inside random tunnel:

 

 

Enroute Mahabaleswar - WAI Junction:

 

 

Katraj Tunnel extending around 1 KM @ NH 48 Pune Bangalore Highway:

 

 

Enroute Khandala & Lonavala Valley Points:

 

 

Tunnel Ahead 700M:

 

[mit1682]

Very handy, detail and beautiful travel log bro. This will surely help for the people traveling in and around Pune. Next time try to explore it during monsoon

[santosh]

Thanks bro. Will definitely try in monsoon next time.

[shiva]

Great pictures. How is the overall weather, place looks pretty dry. Im planning to drive down to Pune in February.
I am pretty much following all the posts from @mit1682 
 

[santosh]

Weather wise its all good. Personally i felt hyd was colder than pune & lonavala. Mahabaleswar temp's were lower than hyd ranging around 10 in early morning.

 

Regarding dryness, yes for pune and lonavala but mahabaleswar wasnt dry. Idk how FEB will be, will defer @mit1682 to respond on this. 

But I'll surely do this trip once again in monsoons.

[shiva]

21 hours ago, santosh said:

mahabaleswar wasnt dry

 

Will consider this place in Feb. It can be dry but I am going on a work. I have two days free. Thank you Santosh.

[mit1682]

On 1/13/2021 at 12:49 PM, santosh said:

Weather wise its all good. Personally i felt hyd was colder than pune & lonavala. Mahabaleswar temp's were lower than hyd ranging around 10 in early morning.

 

Regarding dryness, yes for pune and lonavala but mahabaleswar wasnt dry. Idk how FEB will be, will defer @mit1682 to respond on this. 

But I'll surely do this trip once again in monsoons.

February will be dry and hot. You can't enjoy site seeing and stay.

[sagar]

Excellent travelogue @santosh

You are on a roll.. One after the other.. As @mit1682 said, monsoon would be the perfect time to witness a widely different side of the western ghats. You will fall in love with every place you drive through. If not monsoon, atleast post monsoon should do to avoid rains and witness greenery. August ending would be the right time to do all of this very comfortably. 
Next time you visit Panchgani enroute Mahabaleshwar, do not forget to do strawberry picking.. It’s super fun.

[santosh]

Thanks much bro 

On 1/15/2021 at 10:30 AM, sagar said:

Excellent travelogue @santosh

You are on a roll.. One after the other.. As @mit1682 said, monsoon would be the perfect time to witness a widely different side of the western ghats. You will fall in love with every place you drive through. If not monsoon, atleast post monsoon should do to avoid rains and witness greenery. August ending would be the right time to do all of this very comfortably. 
Next time you visit Panchgani enroute Mahabaleshwar, do not forget to do strawberry picking.. It’s super fun

Thanks much bro.. I checked all your blogs around pune before I planned this and they were very helpful and amazing content.. As you suggested, I'll definitely do this once again in monsoons 👍