Perfect Birthday Surprise at Lavasa Trip !

It was November and my Wife’s birthday was approaching nearby. She was expecting some surprise outing from me in her mind. Wife never express anything but expectation is we (as a husband) have to read their mind. All married people can understand what I mean to say here.

So expectation was high and I was really tight on pocket as I already booked one gift for her online. Further, I don’t want to drive too long since I had some other work planned on Monday too. So, I was looking for overnight destination near-by Pune which is really romantic and couple friendly that suit our occasion. This finally lead to us for an trip to Lavasa.

The Lavasa in Maharashtra is India’s first planned hilly town is situated in the Sahyadri Ghats near Pune. You will need your own vehicle to reach here as there are not State Transport Buses or Railway station nearby.

Distance From Pune to Lavasa : 1.5 to 2 hours drive

Route to follow:

From Hadapsar or pune > via Kothrud > via Bhugaon
From PCMC or Pimple Saudagar > via Wakad > Hinjewadi phase 3 > via Pirangut

There is currently no public transport available to this place. But you can hire car on rent for some fixed amount from Pune.

Day 1:

We left from Pune on Saturday at around 1 pm. Since, I had booked hotel in Lavasa for only 1 day (that saved on my pocket J ). We Followed PCMC > Hinjewadi route. Since we didn’t eat anything at home, we went to MacD near Mezza9 corner in Hinjewadi and had some burger and Cokefloat. I also refilled Fuel at Petrol pump nearby and then started our journey again at around 3 pm.

View of Megapolis at Hinjewadi Phase-3

Roads to Lavasa are pretty good so your drive become scenic and enjoyable. Enroute, you get beautiful and close view of Temghar Dam which is situated on the Mutha River that flows through the city of Pune. Do stop by here for some time for clicks.

Temghar Dam-on the way

We reached at entry gate near Lavasa and was shocked to hear that they have 500 rs. Parking changes for the Car ! Plus they give some discount coupons of some hotels in Lavasa which is not useful to me at-least.

Entry Gate of Lavasa

Anyways, we paid parking charges, collected receipt and discount coupons and moved ahead. Lavasa is well maintained City with proper sign-boards so finding places is not that difficult. We decided to first check-in to the hotel as it was 5.30 pm by now. Hotel “Mercure Lavasa” is next to “Lavasa Watersports” point. Hotel has its own basement parking but that was full so they requested to park car in front of hotel for timebeing. From main Lavasa Entry gate we reached to hotel in 15-20 minutes.

Hotel servant helped us to take our luggage inside the room and check-in process was quite quick as booking was done online. Hotel room was on 3^rd floor. Room was large, clean and offering nice view from gallery. Since, I informed occasion to Hotel management they have done nice Birthday decoration around Bed and room. My wife was happy with surprise and hotel we selected.

Room at Hotel Mercure

Hotel Room at Lavasa

View from Room Gallery

Now, we decided to get fresh and go outside to do some sightseeing. We went to Lavasa – Bridge Link Road first. It’s a bridge built on river/lake and you can see amazing Sun-set from here. It also offer’s pleasant view of Lavasa’s colorful buildings. Many people were capturing pictures on this bridge. You can park your car on bridge itself which is OK unless and until you are around.

Sun-set from Lavasa – Bridge Link Road

Post sun-set View from Lavasa – Bridge Link Road

Lavasa in night

From there we went to “Lavasa Lakeshore” which is near “Lavasa Town Hall”. Note that all these places are nearby and like 3-4 minutes’ drive from each other. Lakeshore is nice place to roam around in the evening as there are many food shops around. Lightning, atmosphere and cleanness make you feel like you are in US and not really in India.

There were many couple like us and some couples also came for Pre-wedding photography shooting.

We clicked some pics, had pure Ghee Jalebi (Indian sweet) and Chaas here. Food rates are bit on higher side than regular. Card payment is accepted everywhere. It was 8.30 pm now. We enjoyed the surrounding and left for the hotel which is 3-4 minutes’ drive from that place.

Nice Evening at Lavasa Lakeshore

We decided to have dinner at hotel we stayed. Hotel has nice restaurant on ground floor. But before that, I collected the Birthday Cake at hotel restaurant counter as per order given to them earlier. We came to room again as I wanted to give surprise gift to my wife which I brought. She was very happy by looking at the gift. We also done Cake cutting celebration there. After that we decided to go for dinner but….

But..I found there is small door below TV in room. To unfold my curiosity, I just opened that door and to my surprise, it was mini-fridge and I found chilled beer lying inside the fridge.

I called to counter from room phone and came to know that those are not complimentary but price was OK. So, after taking due permission of my wife, I enjoyed chilled beer along with fresh air surrounded by nature by sitting in the room gallery.

Enjoyed chilled beer with fresh nature in the gallery before dinner

Later, we went to hotel resto in the ground floor and ordered one Chicken Biryani between both of us which was tasty but quantity was just OK.

Hotel restaurant at ground floor

Lavasa parking charges: 2 wheeler : INR 200 and 4 wheeler : INR 500
Hotel we stayed: Mercure Lavasa -Address “3, Dasve Circle, At Post Dasve, Lavasa,”
Charges for one day: Rs. 4956 (including Tax + GST)
Room type: Standard Twin Room
Package Inclusions : FREE Breakfast and Accommodation
One Chicken Biryani at Mercure Hotel – 300 rs.

Day 2:

Complimentary Breakfast at Hotel Mercure

Breakfast was included in our hotel package so we went to ground floor in the morning. They have arranged buffet which has many options like south Indian, Pohe, fruit plate, Tea, Breads, Omelets , variety of Sweets etc. Of-course , we had heavy breakfast there. Then we checked-out from hotel. We can see Fun Square Multiplex is just beside our hotel. We decided that we will go to movie there on our next visit.

From there, we came to “Lavasa Lakeshore Watersports” point which is again 3 mins drive. There are some water sports available. Ride time is less compared to money charged. Big boat is 250/- per person for 1 round of entire lake in-between 10am to 5 pm. Paddle boat n kayaking is good at evening time only. I recommend not to go in the afternoon as it can be quite hot here. We spent some time there and left at around 11 am from there.

Lavasa Lakeshore Watersports

Colorful Buildings of Lavasa

On the way we stopped at “Dasve View Point” for 15-20 mins. You can have beautiful view of the Lavasa town and water bodies from the top. No entry fee and you can park car on the roadside.

Dasve View Point

We left from there at around 11.30 am with most of fun-filled memories in our mind.

Some useful tips:

It’s safe journey to lavasa by Car but ensure you fill your tank enough before you leave. For 2-wheeler avoid journey in the dark especially if you are couple.
Public toilets are not maintained at all.
You can cover Lavasa in one day trip as well if you don’t want to stay here which is very cost effective
There is also “Indoor Golf Recreational & Learning Center” in lavasa but I don’t recommend that as prices are too high unless you are big fan of Golf. Basic Introduction/ Gameplay – 1 Hour 500 rs.

You can find complete route of my journey on Google Map link: Here

That’s it till now. Please Leave your comments below about your suggestion and improvements…See you soon…