We visited Mahabaleshwar from Pune which is a distance of 120 kms during Diwali holidays which is the peak season there. We started at 7 in the morning in our car and took the Pune-Satara highway till Shirwal from where you have to take a right turn. The road is very good (except 4-5 kms after katraj )and the toll is just Rs. 45 at one and Rs. 14 at another. We reached MB at around 9.30. Someone in a review had written there are only 2 petrol pumps on the way but that’s not true. We found almost 10-12 petrol pumps on the way.
As we din’t have a hotel booking we had to go searching for a room from one hotel to another, but mostly all the hotels were already booked, and we were not left with too many options. We finally chose to stay at Hotel Savoy Village, its centrally located, 2 mins from the main Market for which we paid 1800 per day which was very less compared to other hotels in the peak season.
The plus point of the hotel is the food which is simply yum. The dining area is semi open and is a nice, comfortable & beautiful place to sit.
The hotel is run by some Mr. Kumar who is a friendly person and guided us on planning our tours to various places in MB .. free of cost. In spite of being busy with the hotel chores, he tried his best to chat with us whenever he could.
We visited some points like Elphinstone Point, Connaught Peak, Monkey Point, Marjorie Point, Kate’s Point, Arthur’s Seat, Bombay point.... View is amazing from all these points. We also visited old MB which has got some good old temples- worth seeing. Evenings we spent at the Venna lake which is serene and amazing! The boats available are of two types - paddle boats(200/- for 1/2hr) and row boats(150/- for 1/2 hr + 50 for the helper which is optional). Motor boats are not allowed as this water is supplied for drinking. We chose the rowing boat as I wanted to try my hand at rowing boat. It was an unforgettable experience. You can even try horse riding here if you wish to.
Near the lake area there is a kids garden and a fun place for kids with giant wheel, small toy train and few other amazing rides. Good fun! You can even find stalls near by which serve good items to eat.
Pratapgarh fort is one must visit place. Its 24 kms from the city and the way too is through ghats so- drive carefully. Reach there early morning as under the hot sun its difficult to climb.
In our 3 days stay, we had food at several places in MB but the best was what we had at savoy village. The worst food in mb we had was at hotel Sagar in the main market (we had gone there after reading a review which said the non-veg food there was very good). Another place which I would like to recommend is at Pratapgarh Fort where villagers provide you with almost home made Maharashtrian thalis. They are worth trying.
Also dont forget to visit the bee farming center. You can have various types of pure honey from there which is sold at a very reasonable price.
Another must have in MB is the strawberry with cream available at all places(we liked it eventhough we are not strawberry lovers )... it costs 60/- for one. Its yummmmmmm...!!!