The Word “Lonavla” is derived from a Sanskrit word that is “lonavli” which suggest numerous caves. Lonavla is situated at Pune district in Maharashtra. It is only 96 km away from Mumbai and 64 km from the west part of city Pune.
It is famous for many caves such as Karla caves, Bedsa and Bhaja Caves. Along with it, beautiful valleys, hills, greenery, relaxing cool winds is what attracts a number of tourists to visit this place.
Best Time to Visit Lonavla: You can enjoy the immense beauty of these places throughout the year, but the best time to visit is from October to May.
How To Reach Lonavla:
If you are localizing near Pune, there are various local trains available from there, such as Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Mumbai-Chennai Highway.
By Rail: It is connected with various major stations of India through Mumbai. It is about 42 miles from there, so one can get a bus to reach Lonavla easily.
By Road: There are frequent bus services available from the major cities to reach Lonavla. It takes about 2 hours to reach Lonavla from Mumbai.
By Air: The nearest Airport is Pune, which is about 36 miles away from Lonavla.
Top Tourist Attractions in Lonavla:
Admire Natural Beauty with these top tourist attractions in Lonavla with these below mentioned Top Tourist Attractions in Lonavla:
Lonavla Lake:
Popularly known as Monsoon Lake, it gets flooded with water every monsoon and gets dried up in winters. The best time to visit this beautiful Lonavla Lake is in the month of June to September.
It is one of the top tourist attractions in Lonavla and looks amazing with extensive fauna in monsoon season. The natural beauty is even more complemented with the snacks such as Vada Pav, hot ginger tea, chaat, shaved gola and much more.
Rajmachi Fort:
The tour to Lonavla is incomplete without visiting the famous Rajmachi Fort which is also popularly known as Udhewadi. There are mainly two forts are there while visiting Rajmachi, these are: The Shrivardhan Fort and the other one is Manaranjan Fort.
Also, one can reach to Rajmachi Fort by the two means: The first one is by climbing about 2000 feet from Kondivade Village. This route is quite a difficult one. The easiest way from this is from Lonvala which is just in a walking distance. The waterfall, streams, greenery, especially in monsoon season gives it a mesmerizing look.
Bhairavnath Temple:
This golden Konkan Architectural designed temple is located in Rajmachi, a place known as Dhak. A number of peace seeker tourists visits Bhairavnath Temple to worship Lord Shiva that is Bhairav every year. People visits in shivratri mostly to enjoy its beauty to its fullest. Apart From Hindu deities, this popular place is also known for trekking adventures.
The best time to visit Bhairavnath Temple is in monsoons and winter seasons, especially in the months of June to February.
Visapur Fort:
Built by Balaji Vishwanath in the era of 1713-1720 CE, it is one of the strongest examples of the architecture. One can reach to Visapur Fort by Malavali Railway. It is said that the walls inside this fort were built by Pandavas.
Also, you can look over to some of the guns inside, which are from Queen Elizabeth’s reign. There is no entry fee to visit this place. Its cool breezed surrounding makes it a super camping spot too.
The best time to visit Visapur Fort is in monsoon and winter season.
Tikona Fort:
Tikona Fort, commonly known as “Vitandgad Fort” has not much significance in history but is famous for trekking destination. It was conquered by Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I in 1585 and later on in 1657, Shivaji Maharaj became the ruler of this territory. Tikona fort is just 18 km away from Lonavla. Cabs and local buses are available to get there.
You can cover a lot of other places while visiting this one day trek place such as Seven Water Tanks, Satvahan Caves, Pawna Dam, Taljai Temple and shakti sai baba mandir.
The best time to visit Tikona Fort is from June to September because this is the time when it gets covered by greenery even more, hence glimpsing an even much attractive look.
Rajmachi Wildlife Sanctuary:
Rajmachi Wildlife Sanctuary is only 82 km away from Mumbai and 65 km away from Pune. If you want to explore the rare species of flora and fauna, then Rajmachi Wildlife Sanctuary is the place to visit. There you can see, the pristine greenery along with the wild animals strolling in their natural surroundings.
The best time to visit Rajmachi Wildlife Sanctuary is winter and monsoon seasons, in the month of June to January
Della Adventure:
Situated around 5.4 km away from Lonavla, Della Adventure offers much more than expectations. It is the perfect spot to spend some quality time with your near and dear ones. You can click extremely cool pictures at their Photo Gallery. Not only this but also they offer Della Luxury Resorts, Adventurous activities in the supervision of trained trainers, 24- hour services for Della spot and what not.
One can go for 150FT Bungee Jumping, 100FT Swoop Swing, 1250FT Flying Fox and five types of Zorbing.
Lohagad Fort:
Lohagad Fort, commonly known as iron Fort is situated close to Lonavla and is about 52km northwest from Pune. Built in 18th century, it is famous for its immense ancient architectural design. There is more than one option to reach this fort via trekking.
The easiest way to reach up the place is through Lohagadwadi village and from there simply walk to the Fort.
Another way is through the 5-6 km from Malavali, a village known as Bhaje, from there one has to take a walk and have to each to the place known as Gaumukh Khand. Take a right turn from there and after certain footsteps, the fort will be on the sight.
Karla Caves
.jpg)
Karla caves developed from the period 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD is known for ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut caves. It is situated at Karli, near Lonavla, Maharashtra.
It consists of various types of fine sculptures along with largest preserved chaitya hall of the period and the famous Grand Chaitya/ Cave no. 8. This ancient cave was started more than 2000 years ago by Buddhist.
Bhaje Caves
Bhaje Caves was created around 20 BC by ancient Buddhist and is one of the significant Monument Of Art, architecture and history. It is situated 8.4 km east from Lonavla. It is believed that Bhaje Caves is influenced by Barabar caves, an even old cave temple.
It is a proof that depicts that an musical instrument Tabla was used in India for about two thousand years.
Duke’s Nose
Duke’s Nose is about 10 km away from Lonavla and 8 km away from Khandala railway station. The high altitude of this place makes it a perfect spot for trekking, Rock climbing, hiking as well as an amazing vantage point.
Because of the snake hood cliff, it is popularly known as Nagphani. There are two options of trekking to Nagphani. One is from Khandala railway station that takes about 3-4 hours of time and the other one is from Kurvande. This takes about 1.5 hours to reach the top
Korigad
Korigad, popularly known as Koraigad, Koarigad or Kumwarigad is located about 20 km south of Lonavla, Pune, Maharashtra.
There are very few medium of transportation available to reach this place. You can hire a cab from Lonavla or Aamby valley buses are also available from there.
Other Tourist Destinations in Lonavla:
- Lion Point
- Narayani Dham
- Shooting Point
- Ryewood park
- Valvan Dam
- Tiger’s Leap
- Bhushi Dam
- Pawna Lake
Where to stay in Lonavla:
MTDC have a resort named MTDC Karla near Karla cavas in Lonavla. The cottages includes adequate amenities with attached bathrooms. The resort contains a multicusine restaurant and Water sports facility and boating are an add-on advantage here.
This resort is recommended for people who are looking for a low priced stay in Lonavla. Apart from this, there are various other hotels and resort available at a very affordable price such as Picaddle Resort by Meritas, The Machan, Fariyas Resort, Hotel Grand Visava and much more.
For Booking & more info: https://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/properties/property/mtdc-karla
Place Details:
| Name: | Lonavla |
| Name in Hindi: | लोनावला |
| District: | Pune, Maharashtra |
| Known For: | Production of Chikki (A Hard Candy) |
| Total Area: | 38 km2 (15 sq mi) |
| Official Language: | Marathi |
| Entry Fees: | Nill |
| Camera Fees: | Nill |
| Official Booking Portal: | https://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/ |
| Elevation: | 624 m |
Lonavla Contact Information:
One can contact Maharashtra Tourism Development Council (Ph. No. 82230) if you want to go trekking or hiking trips. Also, bikes are available on the hourly basis for the one who wants to explore Lonavla or Khandala in detail.
Address:
Maharashtra State Tourism Development Corporation(MTDC) C.D.O.
Hutments, Opp. L.I.C. Building, Madame Cama Road,
Mumbai-400 020
Ph: +91 222202 6713 / 7762 / 4627
Love Photography & Travel? Sign up for our newsletter and stay updated with the latest articles.