Tour packages · from Pune

Tour packages from Pune: the Deccan caves, the ghats and the coast

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Pune sits on the Deccan plateau at the top of the Sahyadri ghats, which puts it closer to most of Maharashtra’s best country than Mumbai is. Aurangabad and the Ajanta and Ellora caves are about 235 kilometres north-east, Lonavala and the ghat edge are 65 west, and Goa is a long but genuinely good day down the coast. For a road trip, Pune is the better of the two western bases.

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4 circuitsFrom one city

235 kmTo the Ellora caves

65 kmTo Lonavala, 1.5 hrs

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The plateau

Why Pune beats Mumbai as a starting point

Mumbai has the flights and Pune has the position. Anything heading inland from the western coast has to climb the ghat first, and Pune is already at the top of it — which removes two hours and the worst traffic in India from the start of every circuit. Aurangabad is 235 kilometres from Pune and 335 from Mumbai; Mahabaleshwar is 120 rather than 260.

Pune’s own airport at Lohegaon has good domestic connections and is fifteen minutes from Koregaon Park, where most visitors stay. For international arrivals the airport is Mumbai’s, and the Expressway down is about 150 kilometres and three hours — a leg our chauffeurs drive constantly, including the midnight arrivals that make up most of it.

What that means practically is that a circuit booked from Pune usually starts with either a short domestic flight or a Mumbai airport meet and an Expressway transfer, and in both cases the same car and chauffeur carry on for the whole trip. The Pune chauffeur page covers the two-airport arrangement in detail.

The Expressway itself deserves a word: it is the best motorway in India, it climbs the Bhor ghat through a series of tunnels, and in the monsoon the escarpment either side of it runs with waterfalls. It is one of the few transfers on this site that passengers actively enjoy.

The Deccan plateau east of the Sahyadri ghats

Choosing

Which circuit for which trip

Four directions from the plateau.

The great caves

The Deccan caves circuit — Ellora’s Kailasa temple, cut downward out of a single hillside, and Ajanta’s painted caves, with a full day at each.

A long weekend

The four-day circuit: Lonavala’s second-century Karla and Bhaja caves, Pune, and Mumbai with Elephanta island.

The coast

Goa in four days, about 450 kilometres south. Most travellers fly; the drive down the Konkan is good if you have the day.

Gujarat

The Gujarat circuit — Ahmedabad’s heritage city, Modhera, Patan and the Statue of Unity — reached by a short flight north.

The monsoon

The season the Sahyadris are actually for

Pune is the best city in India from which to see a monsoon. From June the Sahyadri escarpment west of the city runs with hundreds of waterfalls, the plateau turns from brown to violent green, and the hill forts — Sinhagad, Rajgad, Torna — sit in and above the cloud. Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar are an hour and two hours away respectively, and both are transformed.

The practical caveats are real. The Expressway slows in heavy rain, ghat visibility drops, and some trails become genuinely unsafe. Weekend traffic up the ghat is severe because the whole of Pune and Mumbai has the same idea; weekdays are a different experience entirely. The chauffeurs on these routes drive the ghat year-round and will not take a vehicle onto a flooded stretch.

October to February is the conventional season and is comfortable and clear across all four circuits. March to May is hot on the plateau and the waterfalls are dry, which makes the caves circuit the better choice then — Ellora and Ajanta are stone and shade and work perfectly well in the heat if the days start early.

Shaniwar Wada, the Peshwa palace gateway in Pune

Before you go

What Pune holds for a spare day

Pune was the Maratha capital and the Peshwa seat, and Shaniwar Wada is what survives of that — a fortified palace burned in 1828, of which the great gateway and the foundations remain. It takes an hour and it is the right place to start understanding the city.

The Aga Khan Palace on the Nagar Road is the other historical stop: Gandhi, Kasturba and Sarojini Naidu were interned there from 1942, and Kasturba died in the building. It is quiet, well kept and moving in a way the scale of it does not prepare you for.

The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is the one nobody expects. It holds some twenty thousand objects of Indian daily life collected by one man over decades — lamps, nutcrackers, writing instruments, locks, musical instruments — and it is far more interesting than any list of it sounds. Two hours at least.

Beyond those, the old peths of the walled city, the Parvati hill temple for the view, and Sinhagad fort about 30 kilometres out for a half day. The Pune guide covers the districts and the chauffeur page prices a city day on its own.

How it works

What the transport package covers

One car and one chauffeur for the whole circuit, with the chauffeur’s own meals and accommodation on outstation nights inside the rate. Fuel, permits and insurance included; Expressway tolls, parking and state entry taxes billed at cost against receipts rather than estimated into the fare.

The price is the published charter-day rate multiplied by the days, checkable against the rates page. A circuit that starts at Mumbai airport and finishes at Pune, or the reverse, is priced the same way with no repositioning surcharge.

On the caves circuit the coordinator earns the fee: Ajanta closes on Mondays and Ellora on Tuesdays, and an itinerary that gets that wrong loses a day. The dates are checked against the closures before the run sheet is fixed.

The caves themselves reward a little preparation. Ellora holds 34 caves cut between the sixth and eleventh centuries, Buddhist, Hindu and Jain side by side, and the Kailasa temple at its centre was excavated downward out of the rock as a single piece — not built, removed. Ajanta’s 30 caves are earlier and are about the paintings rather than the carving; they were lost to the forest for centuries and rediscovered in 1819 by a British hunting party.

Both sites involve real walking, Ajanta more than Ellora, with steps and a shuttle from the car park. Photography rules differ between the two and flash is not permitted at Ajanta, where the pigment is the whole point. A licensed guide makes a considerable difference at both and is quoted separately; the desk books one who works the caves rather than a general city guide.

Booking

How to book a circuit from Pune

Open the circuit, pick the length and the class, and book the transport on the booking page with the fare fixed before payment. Tell the desk which airport you are arriving at — Lohegaon or Mumbai — because it changes the first day. For hotels and guides, ask through the contact page. The charter builder prices anything not published, including Mahabaleshwar and the Nashik vineyards.

From this city

Circuits that start in Pune

Each circuit below starts with a chauffeur meeting you in Pune or at Mumbai airport. Prices are the published charter-day rate multiplied by the days of the circuit, for the car rather than per person.

Circuit	Days	Where it goes	Transport package, from executive sedan, whole circuit
5-day Ajanta Ellora tour	5	The Ellora and Ajanta caves near Aurangabad, a full day at each.	$8,500 - $10,200
4-day Maharashtra tour	4	Mumbai, Elephanta, the Lonavala rock-cut caves and Pune.	$6,800 - $8,160
3-day Goa tour	3	North Goa, Old Goa and Panaji over a long weekend.	$5,100 - $6,120
4-day Goa tour	4	Both Goa coasts, with the southern beaches and the Portuguese mansions.	$6,800 - $8,160
5-day Gujarat tour	5	Ahmedabad, Modhera, Patan and the Statue of Unity.	$8,500 - $10,200

Every figure is the published charter-day rate on the rates page multiplied by the days of the circuit — for the car, not per person, and with no tour mark-up.
Hotels, meals, monument entries and guides are quoted on request through the contact page, itemised and in writing.
Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before the first pickup, then 10% inside 72 hours, 50% inside 48 hours and the full first day inside 24 hours or for a no-show.

Questions

Tour packages from Pune: frequently asked

Is Pune a better base than Mumbai?

For anything heading inland, yes. Pune is already at the top of the ghat, which removes two hours and the worst traffic in India from the start of every circuit. Aurangabad is 235 km from Pune and 335 from Mumbai.

Which airport should we fly into?

Lohegaon for domestic flights, fifteen minutes from Koregaon Park. For international arrivals it is Mumbai, and the Expressway transfer is about 150 km and three hours — a leg our chauffeurs drive constantly, including midnight arrivals.

When is the best time for the ghats?

The monsoon, genuinely — June to September, when the escarpment runs with waterfalls. Travel on weekdays, expect a slower Expressway, and note that the Elephanta ferries stop entirely.

Do Ajanta and Ellora close on different days?

Yes — Ajanta on Mondays and Ellora on Tuesdays. Getting it wrong loses a day, so the desk checks your dates before fixing the run sheet.

Is it worth driving to Goa from Pune?

About 450 km, so it is a long day but a good drive down the Konkan. Most travellers fly and have the car meet them at Dabolim or Mopa; the desk prices both.

What is worth seeing in Pune itself?

Shaniwar Wada, the Aga Khan Palace where Gandhi was interned, and the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum with its twenty thousand objects of everyday Indian life. Sinhagad fort is a half day out.

Is there a surcharge if the circuit ends at a different city?

No. A circuit starting at Mumbai airport and finishing in Pune, or the reverse, is priced the same way — the chauffeur’s return is already inside the charter-day rate.

What is actually at Ellora and Ajanta?

Ellora has 34 caves from the sixth to eleventh centuries — Buddhist, Hindu and Jain together — with the Kailasa temple cut downward out of the rock as one piece. Ajanta’s 30 earlier caves are about the paintings, lost to the forest until 1819.

Is a guide worth booking for the caves?

At both sites, yes. It changes the day considerably, and the desk books one who works the caves rather than a general city guide. Guides are quoted separately from the transport package.

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Book a circuit from Pune direct

Pick the circuit and the class and the whole trip prices live, fare fixed before payment. Tell the desk which airport you land at.

Weddings, film units, multi-day chauffeur hire, outstation journeys and anything with more than one vehicle are quoted by a person: call (877) 860-3388 or send the outline and a coordinator replies with a written quote.

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Tour packages from Pune: the Deccan caves, the ghats and the coast

Why Pune beats Mumbai as a starting point