Land of Tableland. Review on Panchgani

Panchgani is a picturesque hill station near Mahabaleshwar. The name of the place is due to five plateaus - “Panch” (five) “Gani” means Plateau.There are five tablelands and one of these is second biggest in Asia; biggest one is in Tibet. It is amidst five hills in the Sahyadri mountain ranges.

Panchgani is a hill station at a height of 1300 meters above sea level near Mahabaleshwar. One has to go by road only. This place discovered in 1860 by British and used it as their summer resort. Panchgani, well known for its many boarding schools since British Raj. These schools attract student from the cities of Mumbai and Pune.

Taare Zamin Par and many other movies are from this place. Panchgani is favorite place of Amir Khan. Panchgani has fantastic landscape. The zigzag road that climbs up the hill from both side (Mumbai –Goa highway or Pune) offers panoramic view of Sahyadri mountain ranges. The daytime temperature around 27 – 28 deg C and at night around 15 deg C in last week of January is very pleasant to walk around. This year in this part of the country winter is not that harsh.

April to June is the peak tourist season but I like monsoons of this region. Bike ride through the cloud is a wonderful experience but a bit risky.

How to go there-

It is about 100 km from Pune and about 250 km from Mumbai. From Mumbai – Goa highway take left turn at Paladpur. From Paladpur, Mahabaleshwar is about 1 hour and Panchgani is 16/18 km from Mahabaleshwar on Mahabaleshwar –Pune road. Lot of private and government bus services are from Mumbai or Pune.

Anyone going into Panchgani would have to pay local toll; cannot tell you the exact amount but it is in the range of Rs. 20-30. The fee is valid for a week and allows to park vehicle anywhere in Panchgani.

The Hotel / Resorts:

There are many resorts and hotels to choose in Panchgani. We were booked at IL Palazzo because of its lonely location though in the middle of the city just below the tableland. Owned by a Parsee Family. About 20 independent rooms are there and we occupied half of it. No noise at all.

We paid about Rs 2500/- per room (corporate booking) per person all-inclusive (breakfast, lunch, Dinner). They served very heavy veg and non-veg breakfast and one can skip lunch. Food I did not like but others enjoyed.

There are many restaurants in market or in other hotels and one can try various foods including Maharashtrian Junka Bakhar. These restaurants I tried in my earlier visits.Want to buy something for your friends?

Well, strawberry and different varieties of jam and fruit drinks are famous here due to big fruit farms and fruit processing units. Honey is also very famous and quality is good …. I know atleast three different varieties. Like any tourist place, you may get few funny items.

Tourist Spot:

Table Land is the main attraction in Panchgani. Normal visitors go to a particular tableland where you can go for horse ride or horse cart ride. No vehicle allowed after a point. Vehicle parking place is available and it is quite big.

This time I could go there early in the morning so could see beautiful sunrise. That day was not that cool so could enjoy the suhana mausam on the tableland. Some photos I have uploaded in MS.Parsee Point: On the way to Mahabaleshwar one can stop there to look at beautiful scenic beauty of Krishna River. Nice place.

Sydney Point: I do not know why this point is known as Sydney Point. From this point, one can enjoy panoramic view of Doom Dam and Wai but not Sydney. This point is on the way to Wai. At that Dam, one can go for boat ride or water sport. Visited two years back so facilities may be better than past. There is a very old Ganpati Temple at Wai. This is my review on Panchgani. I recommend this place for 2/3 days with your loved one.Thanks for sparing your time. Enjoy