Recently I and my husband had a short holiday getaway to Mahabaleshwar. Mahabaleshwar is a beautiful hill station and a city of Maharashtra. The spectacular views of the surrounding valleys and huge mountain peaks, cool, crisp air, beautiful waterfalls add to the beauty of the hill station. The city was a very nice retreat for city dwellers those seeking a relief from the hot and humid climate of urban area.
We had to travel about 120 kms by road to reach Mahabaleshwar from Pune. We stayed at Temple view guest house there. That was a budget guest house and we got all the required amenities there.
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Mahabaleshwar[/caption]
As requested, they also provided us a car for sightseeing. Arthur’s Seat was the first spot we visited in Mahabaleshwar. From this spot we could see the clear contrast in the Konkan and Deccan landscapes of India. Venna Lake is one of the main attractions of Mahabaleshwar. We enjoyed boating in the lake. On the top of the Venna valley is the Lingmala Waterfall gushing down from 50 feet.
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Waterfall at Mahabaleshwar[/caption]
We also visited the nearby tourist places of Mahabaleshwar. Panchgani is the main tourist place nearer to the city. We had to travel about 19 kms from the city to reach Panchgani. This is a beautiful scenic hill station. From there we planned to visit Pratapgadh fort. The fort was on the top of a hill. There is also a temple of goddess Bhavani. The next place we visited was Tapola also known as “Mini Kashmir”. The unpolluted environment there was a best summer retreat with picturesque natural beauty.
We also had a great shopping in the city. From there we purchased a wide variety of squashes, jams, jellies, and fresh strawberries. We could also find honey, Kolhapuri footwear, handcrafted walking sticks, crochet dresses, shawls, baskets and decorative items in the market. If you are planning for a short holiday trip Mahabalehwar is best to visit.