Touring Services - Travel in Maharashtra
MAHARASHTRA TRAVEL GUIDE
Located in the West region, Maharashtra is the third largest state of India by size and the second largest by population. It stretches from the
west coast to the interior regions and its climate too varies with its geography. Maharashtra contains India's most industrialized region, the
Mumbai-Pune belt. Agriculturally too, the state is one of India's more advanced and well-irrigated. The northern and eastern parts of the state,
however lag behind the western region.
REGIONS
For administrative purposes, the state is sub-divided into six divisions and further into 35 districts. Officially, all divisions save one are
named after the district where the headquarters of the division is located. But the divisions are also popularly known by other names and that
is how they are listed here. The official names of the divisions are given alongside in brackets.
- Western Maharashtra (Pune Division)
- Marathwada (Aurangabad Division)
- Amravati
- Konkan
- Vidarbha (Nagpur Division)
- North Maharashtra (Nashik Division)
MAIN CITIES
- Mumbai — the capital of Maharashtra, also the commercial capital of India
- Ahmednagar — 500+ years history, with traces of Nizamshahi, Shahjahan and Peshwas
- Amravati — Educational hub in east Maharashtra, the home of Goddess Ambadevi
- Aurangabad — the city of 52 doors, famous for its Mughal monuments
- Kolhapur — the home of Goddess Ambabai
- Nanded — holy city of Sikh Religion
- Nagpur — the city of Oranges, at the geographical center of India
- Nashik — the city of pilgrimage - The Grape city
- Pune — cultural capital of Maharashtra
- Ichalkaranji — textile capital of Maharastra
- Shegaon - A Major pilgrimage destination
TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
- Ajanta — Buddhist caves, a complex of caves representing some of the best of early Buddhist art, World heritage site
- Ashtavinayak — 8 Auspicious Temples of Lord Ganesha (Ganapati)
- Ellora — world famous for its caves of three religions, total 30 caves are divided into Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves, World heritage site, Elloraia also adob of Grishneshwar, the 12th Jyotirlanga in India
- Lonar — This place has Earth's only meteor crater in basaltic rock
- Mulshi — major dam
- Bhimashankar — one of the 12 Jyotirlinga in India
What to see in Maharashtra?
BEACH RESORTS
Coastal Maharashtra (Konkan) has some of very beautiful beaches. With a 720 km coast line, there are beautiful beach destinations almost every
50-100 km, starting from Dahanu in the Northern part of the State to Sindhudurg, at the Southern tip.
Some popular beaches are:
- Dahanu-Bordi
- Gorai-Madh
- Juhu
- Girgaon Beach (Chowpaty)
- Alibag
- Nagaon
- Kashid
- Murud-Janjira
- Harihareshwar
- Ganpatipule
- Tarkarli
- Vengurla
- Terekhol
- Devgad Beach
- Taramumbari
- Kunkeshwar Beach
While the beaches in Bordi, Gorai, Juhu, Alibag, Kashid and Murud-Janjira are well-developed, with multiple accommodation choices, the rest remain still
off the tourist circuit. The primary reason is lack of good accommodation choices. At most of the other beaches, the only decent stay options are
properties owned and managed by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), a govt. organisation. These MTDC resorts have amazing location
with great views, but being govt. run, these are not among the best in service, activities and food.
HILL STATIONS
Popular hill stations in Maharashtra are -
- Matheran
- Mahabaleshwar
- Panchgani
- Chikhaldara
- Bhandardara
- Amboli
- Raigad
- Other Sites
- National Parks
- Meteor Crater
- Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai
- Astavinayakyatra
- Shirdi
OTHER ATTRACTIONS:
River Rafting, Mountain Biking and Kayaking at Kolad.
