Land of Strawberries - Mahabaleshwar

It was    the  4^{th of}  April , my family and I, hopped into the car and said Ready, Steady ,Po and we were on our way to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in the western  ghats range in the Satara district of Maharashtra which has one of the very few evergreen forests of India.

Travel Options:

Road: Mahabaleshwar is situated around 285-290 Kms from Mumbai, about 32kms from Wai and is connected by the National Highway 4. Bus services by state run MSRTC and private organizations connect it from Pune, Mumbai, Satara.

Rail: Nearest rail road is Satara. Nearest major railway junctions include Pune and Sangli.

Come lets discover Mahabaleshwar  and I am sure this place will not disappoint you.

Venna Lake

One of the major tourist attractions of Mahabaleshwar , Venna lake, a place surrounded by scenic beauty  offers a lot of options to spend quality time with your family and friends. Enjoy a boat ride or go horse riding next to the lake. There are lot of eateries situated near the lake where you can enjoy some sumptuous fruit juices. You can buy fresh strawberries from the roadside vendors selling  near the lake and the strawberries are really worth tasting.

Mapro Garden

Mapro garden is a place you  must visit place in Panchgani near Mahabaleshwar for its fresh hand picked strawberries and variety of fresh fruit juices which everyone can taste  and  can purchase . They also have a restaurant in the garden itself where you can treat yourself to amazing and delicious fast food. The pizzas and sandwiches are worth dying for and do not forget the fresh fruit ice creams . I personally loved the strawberry ice cream.

The Mapro garden also showcases the process of making chocolate in its small factory within the premises.

Table Land

This is  a large expanse of rock which is known to be the second largest in Asia. A good place to enjoy scenic beauty.  One can enjoy  shooting, ball throwing, ring game, horse riding etc and compete for prizes.

Parsi Point

A beautiful viewpoint  facing the Krishna Valley and blue shiny waters of Dhom Dam lake which can mesmerize you and make it difficult for you to leave the place. You can have a closer look of the Krishna valley and the glittering waters of Dhom Dam using a telescope at this point.

Dreamland and Purohits restraurant

If you are looking to enjoy a sumptuous  gujrati  thali , then you can’t miss these two places: Dreamland Hotel in Mahabaleshwar and Purohits in Panchgani. They will leave no stone unturned to make your meal the best in the whole trip. These restaurants serve hot dishes which will make you lick your fingers.

Sunset Point

Sunset point is one of the most visited places  in hill stations. Sunset Point of Mahabaleshwar , also known as Bombay Point has a lot to offer other than a beautiful sunset. The only disadvantage of this place is it gets crowded during the sunset. You can also enjoy a horse ride before the sunset.  You can refresh yourself after a tiring day at this point .A variety of eateries serve delicious snacks and juices here. This place offers  mesmerising sunset which can calm down your nerves and make you feel at peace.

Sherbaug Park

Nature lovers will enjoy this place. Sherbaug is a theme park that has within its periphery a variety of plants including  cactus plants.It also has  a rose garden . The park also  boasts of having a  vast collection of fossils  of  many of the extinct species inclding Dinosaurs, eggs of Dinosaurs, nail and teeth of Dinosaurs . This place also has a horror house .

Gaming and Entertainment

 You can have a gala time at Velocity entertainment  which offers outdoor games like Go-karting, hanging merry go  round, gayrosescope, zobing ball, etc. and indoor games like Dashing car, air hockey, basketball,etc. Youngsters will have a really enjoyable time here.

 The disadvantage of Go-karting is that the track is small as compared to tracks  in cities .Nevertheless it is fun and dirt biking is a different experience altogether.

These were the places which I visited during my trip to this amazing hill station. I hope you guys will also take out time and visit this place. 

I will bid adieu now and will be back with a new place next time.

Ready, Steady, Po - Travel the world.