subject: Pune To Lonavala Chugging Along The Expressway [print this page] Lonavala, a well-liked hill station in Maharashtra, is situated on the Mumbai-Pune expressway and is well connected to Pune by road. A destination where a lot of weekenders from Pune and Mumbai visit, Lonavala lies at a distance of only 68 km from Pune.
The major sightseeing attractions in Lonavala include the Ryewood Park, Shivaji Udyan, Sausage Hills, Lonavala Lake, Vinchu Kata, Tungarli Lake, Valvan Lake, Rajmachi Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajmachi Fort, Shingroba Temple, Tiger's Leap waterfall, Shivlinga mountain, Bushy Dam, Karla Caves, Koregad Fort, Tikona Fort, Tung Fort, Visapur Fort, Lohagad Fort, and Lion's Point.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, a six lane well laid concrete tolled expressway, connects Pune and Lonavala. The scenery on the way is breathtaking and takes you through mountain ranges, passes and tunnels taking about one hour ten minutes to reach Lonavala from Pune.
Famous for the caves and chikki, Lonavala is nestled on the western slopes of the Sahyadri range at an altitude of 625 m. Discovered by Lord Elphinstone, governor of Bombay Presidency in 1871, Lonavala gets the name from Lonavali a Sanskrit word meaning a group of caves.
The best way to travel is to hop onto one of the state owned bus services that are available from Pune to Lonavala. The buses ranges from Rs 200 to Rs 300. Private operators provide different types of buses with a fare ranging between Rs 200 to Rs 1,000.
Taxis can also be hired from Pune. The cost ranges from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 for a round trip. If travelling in a big group one can hire a tempo traveller. It is not uncommon to see bikers race all the way from Pune to Lonavala, even in the monsoons.
Lonavala is also connected by train and has a railway station. A lot of the passenger trains and local trains connecting Mumbai and Pune and some of the express trains from Pune to Mumbai like Madurai Express (11043), Indrayani Express (11021), Roha Diva Passenger (71096), Ratnagiri Dadar Passenger (50104), Pandharpur Mumbai (51028), Sainagar Shirdi Mumbai (51034), Bijapur Mumbai Fast Passenger (51030), Intercity Express (12127), Deccan Express (11007) and Udyan Express (16529) have a stop in Lonavala.
The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) site facilitates online booking of tickets in advance from the comforts of ones home other than the tickets available from the station reservation counters.
Lonavala is also famous for its own sweet, Chikki, which is made of jaggery and peanut.
The best time to visit Lonavala is during the monsoons, between June and September, when the hills and valleys become lush green and the rivers and waterfalls are in full flow making the place a paradise for bird watching, trekking, hiking, angling and rock climbing.
