Trip to Matheran

It was a summer. Me and my wife was looking for some hill station near Pune. Mathern is small and very famous hill station near Mumbai and Pune. Due to Eco sensitive zone, Vehicles are not allowed inside this hill station. You have to either walk or take Horse riding.

We decided to go to Matheran as a short weekend trip. We opted to go by train. We did reservation of Sahyadri Express from IRCTC website in advance. We caught train from Shivaji Nagar at 7 am and we got down at Neral Station at 10:15 a.m.

From there we have to go to Matheran top hill. There are two ways to go at top hill. Either you can go by Toy train or you will also find many shared taxi once you come out of railway station.  For toy train, you need to have reservation done well in advance. Otherwise it's very crowded over the weekend. There is 40 rupees ticket for train and it takes almost two hours for train to reach at Matheran market.

Matheran Toy Train Station just next to Neral Railway Station

We didn't have reservation done so we come out of the railway station and booked share cab. They charge 80 rupees per person. Cab started once it got fully occupied by other co-passengers (in 5-10 mins) and then it took 30 to 40 minutes to reach at the top.

Road to Matheran top is narrow and steep curve so you have to be cautious while driving. Cab will drop you at a point called as Dasturi Naka from that, There is no entry allowed for any vehicle inside Matheran town.

If you come by your own car then also you will have to park at this point only. parking is safe and you have to pay some parking charges.
There is main entrance gate for Matheran hill station where cab driver drops you.

Matheran Entry Gate near Dasturi Naka

At entry gate you have to pay entry fee of 50 rupees per person.

Marathi Board At Entry Gate showing Entrance Fee to Matheran

We paid the fees and moved ahead. Actual Matheran market is 1.5 to 2 km away from this place. There were horses and man-pulled rickshaw standing outside of entry gate. You can either hire them who drop you at main Market or prefer to walk.

Man pulled Rickshaws standing outside Entry Gate

We decided to walk. To reach market there are two ways. Either you go by small soil road or you can directly walk on toy train track. Track route is shorter so most of the people prefer same route.
This is the way from where we have to walk. Sounds adventures,  right !

Track Route to reach main Matheran Market

On the way you will find there are many villagers who sell Kokam Sarbat, Icecream and local foods. We had Kokam Sarbat to get some energy and moved further.

Do also watch on your belongings as there are many Monkey's on route and overall in Matheran. But don't worry, they will not harm you unless you harm them or do some suspicious things in front of them.

Monkey and his Cute baby on the way

After 15-20 mins walk, on the way you get Aman Lodge station board. This is one of the mini-toy train stop before it reaches to Main Matheran market stop.

Aman Lodge Station of Toy Train En route while walking

You will find many hotels like below on the way near by track. They provide stay at cheaper rates though you will have to walk to market every time from here as an disadvantage.




It took us almost half an hour to reach at Matheran market. We reached at main Matheran market around 12:00 p.m. Here is how Matheran Station looks. Station and main market are side by side only just 2 mins walking.

Matheran toy train station

We have already done online reservation at hotel Paramount. The hotel was approx 10 minutes walking distance from the Matheran market. So we started walking again.

Soon we reached at the hotel. Staff was very friendly and given us a warm welcome. They served us quick lunch which was tasty. Since we were very hungry after lot of walking, it wasn’t hard for us now to finish the delicious lunch quickly. After lunch we went back to room again for some rest as it was hot and heavy sunlight outside.

hotel Paramount - room view

Now it was 4:00 p.m. We already have enough energy after dinner and a nice break. So we all set up to explore Matheran now.
We started walking from the market towards hilly area where all view points are situated. On the way we saw this garden but we decided to visit it later as we wanted to cover Sunset point.

Matheran Garden close to main market

We came at one circle and clicked below picture. You will find map like this on major corner of Matheran roads which will be helpful for you to find correct location point and direction.

Maps of various points to be seen in Matheran

We covered Khandala point first which is very close to market first and then headed to Sunset point.
Sunset point is one of the main point in Matheran. If offers great view from top of the hill.

Sunset from Matheran

Only thing is beware of Monkey and don't eat anything while walking as they will snatch the bags and food plates from you.

Sunset from Matheran

After having great experience of Sunset watching, we headed back towards market. Once sun sets it gets too dark on the road as most of the inside roads don't have street lights. So do carry water and flash light (Phone light will also useful - but ensure you have enough charging done).

While returning to hotel, we covered same Matheran Garden that I talked above. This is how it was looking in the night. Amazing right ! There are many sitting places in garden. We sat here and spent 20-30 minutes and then moved further.

Matheran Garden Night View

It was 7.30 pm. We decided to roam in the market. Matheran market is great place to spend time and explore various options that sellers sell there. It's well crowded even till 9 pm so you can just go and have a round in the market. This is how market looks like in the night.

Matheran Main Market - Night View

We then went back to hotel for dinner. After dinner, hotel have arranged DJ event. We had load of fun their, DJ timing from 8 to 10 pm and then magic show.

Hotel room and bathroom were very clean, bedsheet and towel were spotless, 24*7 hot water in our room with a relaxing sit-out. Notice at the reception are, hot water timing was written 7 to 9 am but in our room there was personal geyser with 24 hour hot water.

Though it's a pure veg restaurant they served amazing food in breakfast, lunch and dinner.

They have badminton, carrom and table tennis. Hotel's ground is beautiful, well decorated with bird's house, swimming pool and children playground.

hotel Paramount - Swimming pool

hotel Paramount - Garden View

Next morning we had a breakfast in the hotel and then all geared up to explore the Matheran bit more. Today we decided to hire a horse to watch couple of points.

Horses available in Matheran on Rent

We covered couple of points like Charlotte Lake, King George Point, Panorama Point, Lords Point, Echo Point etc.

Charlotte Lake in Matheran

Roads inside Matheran to reach various points

Most of the point will offer the similar Valley View from different angle. So once you visited one or two valley points then you can avoid some of the points if you are out of the time.

Valley view seen from Matheran Point

It was 2:00 p.m. by now.
We left the horse and went back to hotel for having lunch. After lunch we again covered some of the points like Alexander Point, Rambaug Point, Hart Point etc. by walking.

It was now time to bid farewell to Matheran but we promised our self to come back here in rainy season. As local guide told us that it's beautiful to watch waterfalls in the rainy season.
We walked back again to Dasturi Naka. Cabs were standing there. We took the cab and reach to Neral railway station in 20 minutes. From Neral we took the train back to Pune.

Quick Info:

About Hotel Paramount   : 900 per night for Deluxe Non A/C room
                                             Food is not included in booking
                                             Budget hotel and ideal for family

About Horse riding           : They charge 100 to 200 per hour basis but you can negotiate with them. Man-pulled rickshaws are also available for older people with similar  rates

How to reach:

• Matheran is 120 km from Pune and 90 km from Mumbai approximately

• Train : From Mumbai you can take a local train of Karjat and then get down at Neral railway station. Approx 2.5 hrs journey by train.

• Toy train has fixed timing which goes from Neral station to top of Matheran hill. Trains are every 2 hrs from 6 am to 12 pm. You can get timing on IRCTC site.

• There are also private vehicle outside the station who takes you to top of hill. They charge around 120 rs. per person. 


Here is Google Map Link route information followed.

Some useful tips for planning itinerary :

• If you want to go by toy train then book in advance on IRCTC website.
• There is lot of walking you need to do if you are not taking horse so be prepared for that.
• Soil in Matheran is red colored and muddy so ensure you wear good shoes.
• In evening or night, you might need flash light as internal roads do not have street lights so ensure to carry torch handy
• Best time to visit is from October to May
• If you want to save some time then avoid toy train and prefer local sharing taxi to reach Mathran from Neral station