Hidden gems in Pune

Three museums grew out of one person's passion and still feel like a private visit. Blades of Glory, founded in 2012 by a former Maharashtra under-19 cricketer, holds more than 51,000 items in an apartment building in Sahakar Nagar. Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railways in Kothrud runs a whole model city as a 25–30 minute light-and-sound show with timings that change by day. The Vikram Pendse Cycle Museum in Karve Nagar keeps more than 150 vintage bicycles on three floors of a bungalow, and visits are arranged ahead.

Vetal Tekdi, the highest ground in the city at about 800 m, is walked at sunrise and in the last hour of light; there is no water at the top. Pashan Lake is a birding patch with migratory ducks and waders from roughly November to February. Osho Teerth Park in Koregaon Park, a Japanese-style garden of bamboo and streams, is free but keeps strict hours, roughly 6–9:30 am and 3–6 pm, and silence is the rule.

Juna Bazaar, the flea market near Shaniwar Wada, opens only on Wednesdays and Sundays; mornings are best. In Kasba Peth the coppersmiths of Tambat Ali still hammer vessels by hand, as they have for some three hundred years; ask before entering a workshop or photographing. In Camp, the red-brick Gothic Ohel David synagogue of 1867, called Lal Deval, can be seen from Moledina Road at any hour; going inside depends on the caretaker and ID checks.

Bedse Caves were cut in the 1st century BCE; about four hundred steps lead to the prayer hall, entry is free and there is nothing at the top, not even shade. Bhuleshwar, a 13th-century basalt Shiva temple about 50 km east, is known for dense carving, including a rare female Ganesha, and is near-empty on weekday mornings outside Shravan and Mahashivratri. Ramdara, 25–28 km south-east, stands in water on three sides and looks best in and after the monsoon.