The cultural capital of Maharashtra situated in the Deccan plateau on the bank of Mutha River.
Pune – Maratha Empire’s center of power, the “Pride of Peshwas” and the political center of India in the 18th century, known as the “Queen of the Deccan.” Such a magnificent name which truly suits Pune as the city is surrounded by greenery with great infrastructure and no compromise with its natural beauty as there are many hills standing tall in Pune as well as there are many hill stations in its outskirts which will mesmerize anyone by its scenic beauty and vivid picturesque.

Tourist places in Pune – Shaniwar Wada, Aga Khan Palace, Sinhagad

How to step in such a beautiful place

• By Air – Pune airport which is in Lohegaon.
• By Railways- Pune station has various junctions Pune junction, Gorpuri, Shivajinagar, Dapodi, and Hadapsar.
• By Road- Various Road transports run buses to Pune and from Pune.

The best Places to visit in Pune is in monsoon

Pune as a city is very alluring and elegant, although it is a developing city but with this, it is eco-friendly also, you can experience the natural beauty in an around Pune so let’s just see how this city surprises us:

Places to visit near Pune

Dagruseth Ganpati Mandir – Pune is the cultural capital of Maharashtra and that is why it has many of the temples and forts within its proximity, one of the phenomenal temples in Pune is Dagruseth Halwai Mandir, which was established by a sweet maker Dagruseth in 1893.
Situated in Budhwar Peth the temple’s interior is magnificent and is not only a sacred place but also amongst one of the best tourist places in Pune.

Shaniwar Wada 

Primarily it was the building of Peshwas of the Maratha Empire with its base made up of stone whereas the 6 storey was made up of the brick, after the British attacked the six storey building fainted and only the stone base survived, presently only the base is there to be seen and is preserved as a tourist place.
Till date it is the main tourist attraction of Pune, as it is very rich and vast in culture and has very stories hidden in it like a highly rumoured one, where it is considered as one of the haunted places, people believe that the spirit of Narayanrao is still there.

Aga Khan Palace

The palace was built by Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan III in the year 1892, at that time it was the biggest landmark in Indian history, and not only then but it also holds importance now, as the Archeological Survey of India in 2003 declared it as a monument of national importance.
It was initially made with an idea to serve the neighbouring children with a better education but later it served as a jail to Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba bai, Sarojini Naidu etc. Later it was donated to Indians by Aga Khan IV as a virtue of respect towards Mahatma Gandhi.

Parvati Hill – It is a hillock situated in Pune 640 m above the sea level and there is a temple at its top which is one of the oldest temples of Pune, as it was built during the Peshwa dynasty. The second highest hill in Pune where one can get a panoramic view of Pune from its top also serves an adorable scenery and a calming place from a busy life.

With these, there are also few parks or gardens that are very delightful

Saras Baug

Earlier there was a lake in place of the park, the lake dried and eventually transformed into Sara’s Baug.
There is a Ganesh temple over there, known as Talyatla Ganpati and the park is almost 25 acre of complex which is known as the Sara’s Baug and is situated near Swargate.

Japanese garden 

Also known as Pune-Okayama Friendship Garden or Pu-La Deshpande Udhyan is one of the largest gardens of Pune and is situated at Singhgad road, the idea of which was taken from a 300 old garden named Okayama’s Koraku-en Garden and hence is it also named so.

Walking on the lawn isn’t allowed but one can walk through this garden and can enjoy its changing scenery where you can have a look at the fishes also and you can see them via taking the bridge within it.

It has a part two garden also which is a copy of Mughal garden in Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi.

Bund garden – Located in Yerwada, near Pune station. The uniqueness of this garden is that it was planned by Colonel Selling who use to transform the wasteland into gardens.
The garden is soothing, you can enjoy a boat ride or just can lay beside a tree.

Places and Beaches near Pune

Singhgad Fort

It is a part of Pune district around 25km to the southwest of city the Fort is around 2000 yrs old. Earlier it was known as Kondhana.
It is basically a hill Fort situated on hill 760 metres above the ground and been a site of many battles with two entries via Pune Darwaza and Kalyan Darwaza. You can see a wide variety of flora above there, and the climate over there is pretty much cooler and foggy, mostly within the rainy season it’s a very good site of attraction.

How to reach here – the local municipal transport service runs buses every hour, shared taxis are also available to the top and to bottom also. One can approach any of the gates, depends whether one wants to treck or normally visit it, it can be trekked within 1-1:30 hour.

Khadakwasla Dam 

Established on Mutha River in Pune district around 12 Km from the city, the dam created an attractive lake presently known as Khadakwasla Lake and the dam is the main source of water in Pune and its surrounding areas and is one of the India’s oldest dam and which was completed in 1879.

The National Defence Academy is in the close proximity of the Khadakwasla Lake, along with that there are Institute of Advanced Technology (IAT) and Central Water and Power and Research Station (CWPRS).

Lonavla

Lonavla is a mesmeric hill station of Pune district, almost 64km from the city. The hill station is surrounded all over by the greenery, glooming hills, caves and water bodies and the town is famous for the production of “chikki” (hard candy).
The climate of Lonavla is very angelic and soothing and the best time to visit it is during the monsoon season.
It has a twin hill station Khandala situated in its neighbourhood and that is why a one day trip or a two-day trip can also be planned to Lonavla.

The major point of attraction in Lonavla are

Bhushi dam – as you reach towards the hilly area first you will be welcomed by Bhushi dam having a small waterfall adjacent to it.

Tiger point – The next stoppage is tiger point or tiger leap which is a cliff top, during monsoon season small waterfall serves it.

Lion point- It is also similar to Tiger point, as it is a cliff top but the view from it is breathtaking, you can experience and can feel the touch of nature here.

Lavasa

The first planned hill station of India, spread over 2500 acres.

Lavasa is a privately planned city in the outskirts of Pune, primitively build as an Italian town by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), and at this point of time the construction is incomplete but one can visit it.

It is a blend of infrastructure and beauty. With its picturesque sceneries to the hotels, restaurant, resorts, theme park, malls it offers a lot to the tourists.

Lohgarh and Visapur Fort –

Situated at a distance 20-30 km ahead of Lonawla, if you are interested in trekking these two forts are for you.

In Visapur you have to treck from a waterfall while in Lohgarh there are stairs for tracking, during monsoon these stairs have a continuous flow of water so basically, you have to treck amongst water.

Keeping aside all these natural beauties, Pune can be considered as a night city, or we can say Pune never sleeps, to sum up the nightlife of Pune, the night is for clubs and pubs. A renowned and very posh area of Pune, Koregaon Park commonly called as KP is the hub of clubs and pubs where one can get every kind of drink and can dance in their trance.

Some of the best clubs in Pune are-

1. Penthouze – Penthouze is situated in Koregaon Park Pune, just next to Westin, the ambience is soothing as well as peppy as it has a rooftop joint so one can experience trance and can also calm.

2. MIA MI – Situated in JW Marriott, Senapati Bapat Roadfood, the club is superb as well as it’s ambience and the bar counter is eye-catching, square in the shape it serves drinks all around. Also, MI A MI has special offers for girls on Wednesdays, where entry is free so girls hit it once.

3. Mix@36 – It is within the Westin, its interior and exterior are amazing, the tables have a lot of them that changes colour and on the outer side of rooftop they got bean bags so the people who wanna have some quality time they can have a seat there.

So pack your bags and hit Pune for its magnificent treats, beautiful atmosphere and for its picturesque beauty. Pune is a complete holiday package for one to spend a quality time.