Help me plan my trip to Mahabaleshwar
- 1157
- 26
-
- Last Comment
So guys, I will be going on a trip to Mahabaleshwar for 3 days starting 16th July. I made my travel plans already and need help with good places to eat and then visit there.
As I am quite fond of eating I make sure to visit the best places to eat apart from travel.
Shortlisted the following places to eat
Mapro (Pizzas)
The Grapewine Restaurant (Multi Cuisine)
Olive Garden (Pizzas)
Sizzler Place (Sizzlers)
Chingari (Indian)
Angaare Restaurant (Indian)
Bagicha Corner (Ice Creams & Shakes)
Garden Ice Cream Restaurant (Ice Creams)
Can someone please let me know if there is anything else to cover?
And what are the best places to visit, considering the fact that we are travelling in rainy season are there any special places to visit during rains?
Thanks in advance 
- Sort By
Forget about Mapro and Sizzeler palace.
Better go to Sahayadri 10 km out of town on the way to Pratapgarh, its semi open air restaurant amidst lush greens. They also serve sizzler but actually its tawa subzi mix. , still worth that.
U can also try Brightland hotel /dreamland hotel just near to bus stand , they offer buffet too. Sometimes they have Live music .
Fooding , generally is costly. This is the holiday season of hotel staff, so except the kind of non peak service and restricted menu but could be personalised too..
U may also try Strawberry chicky (soft) Rs 50 for 6-9 PC. , fantastic for gifting .
He came back just now
will help u better
Thanks for all the insights!
I know it’s off season but it’s more of a vacation to relax and binge on food for me. Of course, explore just a little bit outside too 
Post trip update, thought it might be helpful to others in the future.
Resort: Shivsagar Farm Stay
Right until a day before travel I didn’t realise that our stay has been booked in Panchgani and not Mahabaleshwar but that eventually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we liked Panchigani over Mahabaleshwar. We felt Mahabaleshwar was too urbanised but if you are someone who enjoys dense fog and rains all day then Mahabaleshwar is better.
Places visited:
Mapro Garden
Lingmala Waterfall
Wilson Point
Savitri Point
Arthur’s Seat
Castle Rock Point
Venna Lake
Krishnabhai Temple
Panch Ganga Temple
Elephant’s head Point
Dhobi Falls
Table Point
Sydney Point
Parsi Point
Dhom dam
Harrison’s Folly
Pratapgad Fort
Places missed:
Kaas Valley – just 50 km from Panchgani but the flowering seasons starts at around October it seems
Dhom Dam – looked great in pics but couldn’t make it because of time constraint
Strawberry picking – off season so we couldn’t do anything about it. If you are keen on going for strawberry picking then somewhere between october and february would be apt. We wanted to enjoy the rains so we chose this season.
Restaurants covered: (only veg food 
)
Food at Shivsagar Farm Stay – breakfast was great and almost all dishes were great for dinner
Mapro Garden – amazing pizzas and sandwiches. The whole open ambiance and look is great. The restaurant is in two levels and I recommend to walk down to lower level so that you can enjoy the view and get a bit away from crowd.
Purohits – multi cuisine, no complaints as all the dishes we had were good.
Friends Hotel ( I guess) – same as above, all the dishes were good. Nothing too great or different.
Bagicha Corner: great strawberry with cream (frozen as it is off season) and chocolate with cream
Garden Restaurant (ice cream too) – best place! Do have their signature corn appetiser.
Restaurants missed:
The Grapewine Restaurant – closed even after going twice
Sizzler Palace – Only families allowed so we couldn’t barge in 
Travel:
Hyderabad to Pune and back by train. From Pune we rented a Honda City from zoomcar for three of us. Decently maintained vehicle and was very convenient for local travel as always.
Cost:
Around 8k per head all inclusive when we travelled as a group of 3.
Tips:
1. Do not expect much from view points in rainy season due to excess fog. You can literally not see anything at all.
2. Ensure you have an expert driver if you are planning a self driving trip as the roads are quite bad, visibility is literally zero at times and not to mention a sudden downpour of rains.
3. If you are relying on google maps for local travel then make sure you download the maps for the area and keep it offline as the signal reception will be bad at most places.
4. Carry an umbrella and a carry bag to keep it in. Most important as it rains almost all day in rainy season.
5. Do make sure to check out the Chikki and various flavours of Channa options at Dhananjay store in Panchgani. The pricing is bit higher than other stores but you get some amazing quality stuff.
Sharing my excel sheet as well having my trip details. Hope it helps someone.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEPNMOk0m2TR...
Nice review @raghupro
Heard that waterfall is mast this time .
++++++++++
##missing sahyadri
@B@R_0_0_D wrote:
Nice review @raghupro
Heard that waterfall is mast this time .
++++++++++
##missing sahyadri
Lingmala waterfall is amazing with a superb green view of the valley but more than that we enjoyed the drive to pratapgad fort. You will find around 20 to 25 mini waterfalls with water flowing down the mountain right by the road you drive on. If someone is planning a self drive then make sure you have decent experience driving on ghat roads as most of the time you will end up driving in near zero visibility due to excess fog and added to that sudden downpour of rain at times.
@raghupro Nice to see follow-up to an earlier post. 
@raghupro dimers gave u such a valuable information. At least u should have got us some fresh strawberries
Mere liye na sahi @B@R_0_0_D bro k liye to le aatey.
Hate u. Katti!!!
Buchi bhi nhi karunga kabhi
@asoka wrote:
@raghupro dimers gave u such a valuable information. At least u should have got us some fresh strawberries
Mere liye na sahi @B@R_0_0_D bro k liye to le aatey.
Hate u. Katti!!!
Buchi bhi nhi karunga kabhi
I thought why get frozen strawberries, I will treat the fellow dimers with fresh strawberries in the next season. I am always up for another vacation
You told lie.
U r not up for another vacation , u r actually up for another vacation year. Yaar karte kya ho ? Itne sapne to Amway wale dikhate hain, 6 months vacation and 2 vacations in a year.
Hope ur spouse /would be enjoy such trips.
#zindagi na milegi dubara.
Expecting detailed blog from you for less popular places. Whats unique about Kodaikanal, Ooty and Coorg ? I liked Coorg.
@asoka wrote:
@raghupro dimers gave u such a valuable information. At least u should have got us some fresh strawberries
Mere liye na sahi @B@R_0_0_D bro k liye to le aatey.
Hate u. Katti!!!
Buchi bhi nhi karunga kabhi
Just got friends from Mahabaleshwar , its not the season for strawberry. Due to heavy rains even organic broccoli / bell pepper are not available. Wausen bhi @raghupro came from Hyd.
@Alpha.Barood wrote:
How is panchgani for retirement home ?
I didn’t like that place much. Peaceful place would be Shimla, if all the monkeys from there are sent away to someplace else.
@Plato wrote:
@Alpha.Barood wrote:
How is panchgani for retirement home ?
I didn’t like that place much. Peaceful place would be Shimla, if all the monkeys from there are sent away to someplace else.
Ha
Ha..
Matheran too.
@Alpha.Barood wrote:
@Magus
@A2Zdeals
@asoka
@Plato
@raghuproHow is panchgani for retirement home ?
It’s a decent option but not great. I didn’t see many houses with good view like in Coonoor. In south, out of all the hill stations I have been to I personally loved the retirement homes in Coonoor.
OP
Trip kaisa raha?
@sunnie wrote:
OP
Trip kaisa raha?
amazingly good! I don’t mind missing out on the view points because of rain, clouds and fog but this place has to be visited in rainy season to enjoy the real beauty.
Not too much to go around, as most hill stations apart from the ones in North but will be a great holiday to binge on food and laze around with friends with minimal travelling.
Any new trips ?
@raghupro wrote:exactly we 4 friends visited in june, many people told us u will not enjoy b,coz of rain ..but we enjoyed lot , missed dhobi falls b,coz of Gmaps (wrong direction) 😑😑
@sunnie wrote:
OP
Trip kaisa raha?
amazingly good! I don’t mind missing out on the view points because of rain, clouds and fog but this place has to be visited in rainy season to enjoy the real beauty.
Not too much to go around, as most hill stations apart from the ones in North but will be a great holiday to binge on food and laze around with friends with minimal travelling.
Just an update on Mahabaleshwar as this thread has been bumped up. Was back again for strawberry picking in Feb 2017, was quite disappointed to see a completely dried out terrain all over. The only good thing was the amazingly sweet, fresh and yummy ripe strawberries that you can’t get anywhere else apart from where they grow.
If someone want’s to truly enjoy the beauty of this place a trip in Monsoon is a must!
We missed the valley of flowers.
Still managed to visit in March end and enjoyed strawberry picking, the variety which is best quality has very low shelf life. That can’t go beyond a day.
Others are shipped directly to chennai or elsewhere for hotels. Enjoyed the similar in Europe.
True monsoon will be in Jul Aug , all building with be covered for 2-3 months.
Regarding visit
-———You could have more -ve instead if +ve during rains, as Mahabaleshwar is at highest altitude point in Maharashtra. Many scenic views are not visible due to clouds and inaccessible due to heavy rains.
However, u may enkljiy waterfall @10 km maintained by forest dept, u have to leave that place by 5 pm. 2 waterfalls r in opposite direction and one can be used for walking /bathing in water.
Second waterfall needs 1 km walk and u can watch it from height and distance , inaccessible for bathing but view is worth the pain and proper stairs , footpath is available. Just take care of slippage and snakes.(occasional).
Other places like pratapgarh and temple can be visited. However, I am doubtful for panchgani visit.
This is not a tourist season , all homes are covered with thick asbestus sheets, only u can enjoy heavy downpour or monkies. Nothing to do after market closed unless u like drinking.