subject: How To Reach From Pune To Shirdi [print this page] Pune, a hilly city located at the confluence of Mula and Mutha rivers on the Deccan plateau in the state of Maharashtra is the seventh largest metropolis in India and also the administrative capital of Pune district. A prosperous city, it is famous for its excellent educational facilities. Pune is also known as the cultural capital of Maharashtra. Pune houses fantastic restaurants, museums and is surrounded by hill forts.
Shirdi, a popular pilgrimage centre, the hometown of Guru Shirdi Sai Baba (the greatest saint of the 19th century) is located in the Rahata Tehsil of Ahmendnagar district in Maharashtra state. One of the richest temple organizations, around 25000 pilgrims visits this temple daily. Every activity at Shirdi centre round the vast temple complex. There are a large number of hotels here to accommodate the devotees.
You can reach from Pune to Shirdi via road or rail. By road there are two routes to Shirdi from Pune. One is the Pune-Chakan-Sangamner-Talegaon-Shirdi route (183 km). The other is the Pune-Shirur-Ahmednagar-Shirdi route (200 km).The first route being the shorter one; it is preferable to take that route. From Pune one has to take the NH4, head north and drive along the Pune-Nashik road(NH50) up to Sangamner. From Sangamner you take the SH44 and then drive onwards to SH10 to reach Shirdi. It takes about 3 hours from Pune to Shirdi by road.
Private buses from Pune to Shirdi are very common. The cost of a seat ranges from Rs 250 to Rs 500 for Non AC Seater or Sleeper and from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 for semi sleeper type with push back seats, AC Sleeper, Multi-Axle Volvo AC, depending on the type of bus.
If you do not have much time, a private taxi can also booked from Pune to Shirdi. The cost of a round trip ranges between Rs 2500 to Rs 4000 depending upon the type of car.
Shirdi is connected to Pune via the railways also. From Pune one can take the Shirdi Fast Passenger (51033) to reach Shirdi. The journey takes 6 hours 30 minutes. Otherwise one can take a train to Kopargaon from Pune, the other nearest railway station (14 km away) to Shirdi where many trains like the Pune-Patna Express (12149), Pune- Nanded Express (12729), Pune-Nizamuddin Passenger (51421) pass by. The time taken in these trains ranges from 4 to 6 hours. Bus travel maybe more feasible from Pune to Shirdi as the time taken is lesser than the travel by train. One can book for the train or bus tickets on the various net portals.
Shirdi does not have an airport and the nearest airport would be Aurangabad which is at a distance of 100 km from Shirdi.
