Places to visit near Pune: day trips by direction

Karla Caves hold the Great Chaitya, finished around 120 CE and the largest prayer hall of its kind in India, with its 2,000-year-old teak roof ribs; an active Ekvira Devi temple shares the forecourt, so weekends are busy. Bhaja Caves, 22 caves from the 2nd century BCE above Malavli, are the quiet half of the pair. Lohagad Fort is the gentlest fort climb near Pune, with the Vinchu Kata spur over the Pawna valley. All three fit one day; Bedse Caves (~50 km, near Kamshet) are the near-empty alternative. The Pune-Lonavala local train stops at Kamshet and Malavli.

Sinhagad Fort is the hill everyone in Pune climbs at least once: Tanaji Malusare's memorial, the Kondhaneshwar temple and pithla-bhakri at the stalls. Walk up from Atkarwadi in 45 to 90 minutes or drive to the top. Come back via Khadakwasla Dam for the sunset over the water. Weekends are packed; go early on a weekday.

Mulshi Lake spreads between Sahyadri ridges and paddy fields, greenest during and after the monsoon. Beyond it, the Tamhini Ghat road runs with waterfalls from June to September; Palase near Vaduste is a 10–15 minute forest walk. The two are usually driven as a loop. Outside the rains most falls dry up. See waterfalls near Pune.

Alandi on the Indrayani river is built around the samadhi of the poet-saint Dnyaneshwar and is the starting point of the Wari to Pandharpur. Shivneri Fort near Junnar, where Shivaji was born in 1630, is a full day, usually combined with the Lenyadri Buddhist caves. Both Shivneri and Lohagad are among the twelve forts on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Maratha Military Landscapes of India.

At Jejuri, pilgrims climb about 200 steps to the hilltop Khandoba temple throwing bhandara (turmeric powder), so bring covers for cameras. Bhuleshwar, a 13th-century basalt Shiva temple off the Solapur highway, has dense Mahabharata and Ramayana carving. Closer in, at Loni Kalbhor, are the small Ramdara temple on its pond and the MIT World Peace Dome.