Bangalore -> Pune -> Mahabaleshwar -> Lonavala -> Shirdi -> Ajanta & Ellora

ashwinsid · 18th September 2009, 12:25

Hey all you wonderful people.

We are planning a trip to Shirdi from Bangalore between September 26 - 30. And along the way, we plan to visit Pune, Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Ajanta Ellora.

I would like some info on how the road conditions are and is it rainy at this time of the year?

Right now I am going through all the travelogues of the other members for route details. We'll be traveling in a Maruti 800.

Any suggestions are welcome with a huge smile

Akadian · 21st September 2009, 12:28

While approaching from the Bangalore side, you could first see Mahabaleshwar and then proceed onward to Pune and the other places you want to see. Then from Pune, it would make sense to see Lonavla before going to the rest of your sight-seeing list. Right now, the rains have subsided and I don't envisage heavy rains this time of the year

aryashiv1 · 21st September 2009, 13:40

yes you can first take Mahabaleshwar, then proceed to Pune. From Pune you can ahead to Lonawala. From Lonawala...you can take Talegoan Chakan road and once you reach Chakan take left on NH 50. This is very good raod to take you all the way to Shirdi via Rajgurunagar, Manchar etc. One you finished Shirdi you can take road to Shani Shingnapur (which is another holy place to visit as it comes on the way you can visit the same). After finishing Shani Shingnapur, the highway to Aurangabad (Pune Nagar Aurangabad Highway) is just a KM away from there. It wont take you more than couple of hours to reach Aurangabad from there. Had done this route twice in my i10 last year only. The road is excellent. Only bad patch you wont like is road from Shirdi to Shani Shingapur. Its quite wide road but not done up properly. You can make your base at Aurangabad and from there can visit Ajanat Ellora. 90% of the roads on this route are very good.

One word of caution please beware of the farmers. the cattles and the bike ridden people on these road. They can appear right in front of your car from no where all of a sudden. I have had a bad experince last year.

f1fan · 21st September 2009, 20:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinsid

Hey all you wonderful people.

We are planning a trip to Shirdi from Bangalore between September 26 - 30. And along the way, we plan to visit Pune, Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Ajanta Ellora.

I would like some info on how the road conditions are and is it rainy at this time of the year?

Right now I am going through all the travelogues of the other members for route details. We'll be traveling in a Maruti 800.

Any suggestions are welcome with a huge smile

What dates are you planning to be in Mahabaleshwar as I would be there from 26th to 28th. Its always a great feeling to meet a fellow T-BHPian

ashwinsid · 21st September 2009, 22:54

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

Right now this is the plan (but not yet decided):

--Friday 25-09-09: Leave from Bangalore at evening.
--Saturday 26-09-09: Reach Mahabaleshwar in the morning. Then visit Panchgani.Evening reach Pune. Overnight halt at friends place.
--Sunday 27-09-09: From here we hire a car with driver as we'll have our friends join in too. So from Pune to Aurangabad, Ellora, Grishneshwar. Night halt at Aurangabad.
--Monday 28-09-09: Visit to Ajanta. By evening reach Shiridi.
--Tuesday 29-09-09: Have Sai Baba darshan early morning and then visit Bhimashankar, Lonavala and reach Pune by evening.
--Wednesday 30-09-09: Leave Pune early morning and return to Bangalore.

Now is this plan good or can we cover other places too? If there are really good places to visit, we can reach Bangalore on Sunday 4th October too.

Your suggestions are eagerly awaited.

@f1fan, Thats nice. I will confirm the details of when I will be in Mahabaleshwar. Though I plan to just visit the place for a few hours and not stay there.

Akadian · 21st September 2009, 23:04

hi ashwinsid,

The plan is cool but if you are visiting both Bhimashankar and Grishneshwar, why don't you include Trayambakeshwar in your itinerary as well. It is in the same parts more or less

ASHISHPALLOD · 22nd September 2009, 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinsid

--Friday 25-09-09: Leave from Bangalore at evening.
--Saturday 26-09-09: Reach Mahabaleshwar in the morning. Then visit Panchgani.Evening reach Pune. Overnight halt at friends place.
--Sunday 27-09-09: From here we hire a car with driver as we'll have our friends join in too. So from Pune to Aurangabad, Ellora, Grishneshwar. Night halt at Aurangabad.
--Monday 28-09-09: Visit to Ajanta. By evening reach Shiridi.
--Tuesday 29-09-09: Have Sai Baba darshan early morning and then visit Bhimashankar, Lonavala and reach Pune by evening.
--Wednesday 30-09-09: Leave Pune early morning and return to Bangalore.

Now is this plan good or can we cover other places too?

@ ashwin,
little time and too many places. too ambitious.
you are going to play game of touch and go.
do you really want to play this game with your trip?
i suggest, skip bhimashankar and lonavala , spend that saved day at ellora, a'bad and ajanta. also skip mahabaleshwar. no point to go there for merely 6 hours.

ashwinsid · 22nd September 2009, 10:08

@Akadian, We have already been to Tryambakeshwar. So planning to visit the temples we have not been to.

@ ASHISHPALLOD, even I have a feeling that it is crammed. But our main intention of the tour is Shiridi Darashan. So visiting Mahabaleshwar as an 'en-route place'. If it is not recommended, then we'll drive directly to Pune. Lonavala also just visiting and can be removed from the plan. Bhimashankar is a must visit. As I had mentioned, the itinerary is not yet decided. I wanted TBHPians response to the plan so that I can make changes accordingly. Will see which places to skip.

ASHISHPALLOD · 22nd September 2009, 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinsid

But our main intention of the tour is Shiridi Darashan. So visiting Mahabaleshwar as an 'en-route place'. Bhimashankar is a must visit. As I had mentioned, the itinerary is not yet decided.

Then i suggest,

day1 drive bangy to pune in day time on saturday and halt at pune.
day2 halt at aurangabad. see all places in a'bad. skip ajantha.
day3 ellora, daulatabad fort, ghrishneshwar and halt at shirdi.
day4 lendyadri [ ashtvinayak ganapati], ozar[ ashtavinayak ganapati], take darshan at bhimashankar and halt at pune.
day5 pune-bengaluru.

soarer · 10th February 2014, 20:32

Dear BHPians,

We ( 4 adults and 20 Month old Kid ) are planning to visit Shirdi ,Ajantha and Ellora from Bangalore, I have booked flight tickets from Bangalore to Pune on 14-Mar evening (will reach Pune @9:20Pm)and return flight from Pune to Bangalore on 17-Mar night,so I have 3 nights and 3 days in hand to cover all the above places ( Shirdi,Ajantha and Ellora ), Request you to kindly advice which is best plan to cover all these places without much of stress and also kindly advice list of budget hotels( with AC) to stay in these areas.

As of now my intial plan is as below

1) Day -1 Night stay @ pune
2) Day-2 Pune to Ajantha and sight seeing and travel to Ellora and overnight stay
3) Day-3 Ellora sight seeing and travel to Shirdi and Darshan
4) Day - 4 Shirdi to Pune via Shani shinapur and if time permits local sight seeing of pune.

Additional information: Return flight is @ 9:50 PM from pune and planning to hire Xylo for the entire trip

Note from Support : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.
Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

ranjitp1 · 11th February 2014, 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by soarer

Dear BHPians,

We ( 4 adults and 20 Month old Kid ) are planning to visit Shirdi ,Ajantha and Ellora from Bangalore, I have booked flight tickets from Bangalore to Pune on 14-Mar evening (will reach Pune @9:20Pm)and return flight from Pune to Bangalore on 17-Mar night,so I have 3 nights and 3 days in hand to cover all the above places ( Shirdi,Ajantha and Ellora ), Request you to kindly advice which is best plan to cover all these places without much of stress and also kindly advice list of budget hotels( with AC) to stay in these areas.

As of now my intial plan is as below

1) Day -1 Night stay @ pune
2) Day-2 Pune to Ajantha and sight seeing and travel to Ellora and overnight stay
3) Day-3 Ellora sight seeing and travel to Shirdi and Darshan
4) Day - 4 Shirdi to Pune via Shani shinapur and if time permits local sight seeing of pune.

Additional information: Return flight is @ 9:50 PM from pune and planning to hire Xylo for the entire trip

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...commended.html

ampere · 11th February 2014, 14:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by soarer

As of now my intial plan is as below
1) Day -1 Night stay @ pune
2) Day-2 Pune to Ajantha and sight seeing and travel to Ellora and overnight stay
3) Day-3 Ellora sight seeing and travel to Shirdi and Darshan
4) Day - 4 Shirdi to Pune via Shani shinapur and if time permits local sight seeing of pune.

Definitely possible. But note roads around Shirdi/Ajantha/Ellora re quite bad. The drive can easily fatigue you out. I would suggest an Innova instead of a Xylo.

RArun · 11th February 2014, 23:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by soarer

Dear BHPians,

We ( 4 adults and 20 Month old Kid ) are planning to visit Shirdi ,Ajantha and Ellora from Bangalore, I have booked flight tickets from Bangalore to Pune on 14-Mar evening (will reach Pune @9:20Pm)and return flight from Pune to Bangalore on 17-Mar night,so I have 3 nights and 3 days in hand to cover all the above places ( Shirdi,Ajantha and Ellora ), Request you to kindly advice which is best plan to cover all these places without much of stress and also kindly advice list of budget hotels( with AC) to stay in these areas.

As of now my intial plan is as below

1) Day -1 Night stay @ pune
2) Day-2 Pune to Ajantha and sight seeing and travel to Ellora and overnight stay
3) Day-3 Ellora sight seeing and travel to Shirdi and Darshan
4) Day - 4 Shirdi to Pune via Shani shinapur and if time permits local sight seeing of pune.

Additional information: Return flight is @ 9:50 PM from pune and planning to hire Xylo for the entire trip

Suggest you travel from Pune to Shirdi early in the morning. After darshan at Shirdi, you should be able to visit Singnapur and then travel to Aurangabad. Use Aurangabad as a base for travel to Ajanta & Ellora. While it is possible to visit both Ajanta & Ellora in a day, it would be stretch and completely tire you out. Needless to say, you will not be able to enjoy the beauty of the caves and the sculptures. To sum up
1. Day 2 - Visit Shirdi & Shani Singnapur. Travel to Aurangabad - night halt
2. Day 3 - Visit Ajanta (Aurangabad to Ajanta is about 100 km and has some bad patches)
3. Day 4 - Ellora & Local sight seeing - return to Pune (likely to late in the night)

Since you would be having your own vehicle, you can cover some local sights on Day 3. Will save you some time on Day 4.
Arun

ampere · 12th February 2014, 00:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by RArun

1. Day 2 - Visit Shirdi & Shani Singnapur. Travel to Aurangabad - night halt
2. Day 3 - Visit Ajanta (Aurangabad to Ajanta is about 100 km and has some bad patches)
3. Day 4 - Ellora & Local sight seeing - return to Pune (likely to late in the night)

Perfect plan! Only change I would say, visit Shani Shignapur first as its on the way. And then visit Shirdi.

ideally while driving toward Aurangabad (via Vaijapur), one can touch Ellora on the way, but I think after visiting Shani Shignapur and Shirdi, he may not have time to visit Ellora the same day. As you said in that case, its good to drive to Aurangabad by evening. Good to do Ellora on the way back to Pune.

soarer · 12th February 2014, 15:43

Thank you RArun and ampere, I will plan as per below

1. Day 2 - Visit Shirdi & Shani Singnapur. Travel to Aurangabad - night halt
2. Day 3 - Visit Ajanta (Aurangabad to Ajanta is about 100 km and has some bad patches)
3. Day 4 - Ellora & Local sightseeing - return to Pune (likely to late in the night)

Can we cover some other places on day-3 as we have only Ajantha for that day?

18th September 2009, 12:25	#1
ashwinsid BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 181 Thanked: 34 Times	Bangalore -> Pune -> Mahabaleshwar -> Lonavala -> Shirdi -> Ajanta & Ellora Hey all you wonderful people. We are planning a trip to Shirdi from Bangalore between September 26 - 30. And along the way, we plan to visit Pune, Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Ajanta Ellora. I would like some info on how the road conditions are and is it rainy at this time of the year? Right now I am going through all the travelogues of the other members for route details. We'll be traveling in a Maruti 800. Any suggestions are welcome with a huge smile Last edited by ashwinsid : 18th September 2009 at 12:26.
	() Thanks

21st September 2009, 12:28	#2
Akadian BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Karnal Posts: 264 Thanked: 5 Times	While approaching from the Bangalore side, you could first see Mahabaleshwar and then proceed onward to Pune and the other places you want to see. Then from Pune, it would make sense to see Lonavla before going to the rest of your sight-seeing list. Right now, the rains have subsided and I don't envisage heavy rains this time of the year
	() Thanks

21st September 2009, 13:40	#3
aryashiv1 BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 132 Thanked: 2 Times	yes you can first take Mahabaleshwar, then proceed to Pune. From Pune you can ahead to Lonawala. From Lonawala...you can take Talegoan Chakan road and once you reach Chakan take left on NH 50. This is very good raod to take you all the way to Shirdi via Rajgurunagar, Manchar etc. One you finished Shirdi you can take road to Shani Shingnapur (which is another holy place to visit as it comes on the way you can visit the same). After finishing Shani Shingnapur, the highway to Aurangabad (Pune Nagar Aurangabad Highway) is just a KM away from there. It wont take you more than couple of hours to reach Aurangabad from there. Had done this route twice in my i10 last year only. The road is excellent. Only bad patch you wont like is road from Shirdi to Shani Shingapur. Its quite wide road but not done up properly. You can make your base at Aurangabad and from there can visit Ajanat Ellora. 90% of the roads on this route are very good. One word of caution please beware of the farmers. the cattles and the bike ridden people on these road. They can appear right in front of your car from no where all of a sudden. I have had a bad experince last year.
	() Thanks

21st September 2009, 22:54	#5
ashwinsid BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 181 Thanked: 34 Times	Hey guys, thanks for the replies. Right now this is the plan (but not yet decided): --Friday 25-09-09: Leave from Bangalore at evening. --Saturday 26-09-09: Reach Mahabaleshwar in the morning. Then visit Panchgani.Evening reach Pune. Overnight halt at friends place. --Sunday 27-09-09: From here we hire a car with driver as we'll have our friends join in too. So from Pune to Aurangabad, Ellora, Grishneshwar. Night halt at Aurangabad. --Monday 28-09-09: Visit to Ajanta. By evening reach Shiridi. --Tuesday 29-09-09: Have Sai Baba darshan early morning and then visit Bhimashankar, Lonavala and reach Pune by evening. --Wednesday 30-09-09: Leave Pune early morning and return to Bangalore. Now is this plan good or can we cover other places too? If there are really good places to visit, we can reach Bangalore on Sunday 4th October too. Your suggestions are eagerly awaited. @f1fan, Thats nice. I will confirm the details of when I will be in Mahabaleshwar. Though I plan to just visit the place for a few hours and not stay there.
	() Thanks

21st September 2009, 23:04	#6
Akadian BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Karnal Posts: 264 Thanked: 5 Times	hi ashwinsid, The plan is cool but if you are visiting both Bhimashankar and Grishneshwar, why don't you include Trayambakeshwar in your itinerary as well. It is in the same parts more or less
	() Thanks

22nd September 2009, 10:08	#8
ashwinsid BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 181 Thanked: 34 Times	@Akadian, We have already been to Tryambakeshwar. So planning to visit the temples we have not been to. @ ASHISHPALLOD, even I have a feeling that it is crammed. But our main intention of the tour is Shiridi Darashan. So visiting Mahabaleshwar as an 'en-route place'. If it is not recommended, then we'll drive directly to Pune. Lonavala also just visiting and can be removed from the plan. Bhimashankar is a must visit. As I had mentioned, the itinerary is not yet decided. I wanted TBHPians response to the plan so that I can make changes accordingly. Will see which places to skip. Last edited by ashwinsid : 22nd September 2009 at 10:10.
	() Thanks

10th February 2014, 20:32	#10
soarer BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 92 Thanked: 17 Times	Shirdi, Ajanta, Ellora trip query Dear BHPians, We ( 4 adults and 20 Month old Kid ) are planning to visit Shirdi ,Ajantha and Ellora from Bangalore, I have booked flight tickets from Bangalore to Pune on 14-Mar evening (will reach Pune @9:20Pm)and return flight from Pune to Bangalore on 17-Mar night,so I have 3 nights and 3 days in hand to cover all the above places ( Shirdi,Ajantha and Ellora ), Request you to kindly advice which is best plan to cover all these places without much of stress and also kindly advice list of budget hotels( with AC) to stay in these areas. As of now my intial plan is as below 1) Day -1 Night stay @ pune 2) Day-2 Pune to Ajantha and sight seeing and travel to Ellora and overnight stay 3) Day-3 Ellora sight seeing and travel to Shirdi and Darshan 4) Day - 4 Shirdi to Pune via Shani shinapur and if time permits local sight seeing of pune. Additional information: Return flight is @ 9:50 PM from pune and planning to hire Xylo for the entire trip Note from Support : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers. Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers. Last edited by aah78 : 12th February 2014 at 00:36. Reason: See note.
	() Thanks $Received Infraction$

12th February 2014, 15:43	#15
soarer BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 92 Thanked: 17 Times	Re: Shirdi, Ajanta, Ellora trip query Thank you RArun and ampere, I will plan as per below 1. Day 2 - Visit Shirdi & Shani Singnapur. Travel to Aurangabad - night halt 2. Day 3 - Visit Ajanta (Aurangabad to Ajanta is about 100 km and has some bad patches) 3. Day 4 - Ellora & Local sightseeing - return to Pune (likely to late in the night) Can we cover some other places on day-3 as we have only Ajantha for that day?
	() Thanks