Matheran: Natural Scenic Beauty

In the lap of nature, Matheran is one of the tiniest hill stations in India. It is Asia’s only automobile free hill station. If a person wants to travel around the city, then peoples need to walk or use pull-carts or take Horse Rides for the same.There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran. Exploring each of them will be a complete visual treat for you.

Important points to remember:

  • To visit each point and enjoy a lot, plan your travel for at least 2 days to explore Matheran.
  • Since it is automobile free destination so only 4 wheelers are allowed till Dasturi Point which is at 3km from Matheran Marketplace. Travelers and other big vehicles are not allowed to enter from Neral. You can have shared taxi from Neral till Dasturi Point.
  • Tickets of toy trains will be available only at the counters which open about 45 mins in advance and there is a huge rush for that.
  • You can face the issue of mobile network connectivity so do save offline maps.

To-do list of Matheran:

  • Toy Train Ride: Earlier train used to run between Neral to Matheran but it closed since few months. Now one can take a toy train ride from Aman Lodge Railway Station near Dasturi point to Matheran railway station. You will see a huge rush for tickets so be prepared for that as there are limited seats only. It will take about 15-20 mins to complete the whole journey.

  • Charlotte Lake visit: A visit to Matheran is incomplete without witnessing the beauty of this lake. It is located at a 2.5km distance from the Matheran market. It may be a tiring walk to this place, but once you reach here you will feel like this is the most spectacular place of Matheran. There are a few small shops located at the lake where you have quick bites. The various things one can do at the lake are Camping, Picnicking, Birdwatching and visit Pisharnath MahadevTemple. You can sit in silence lakeside and enjoy the cool breeze coming from the Lake.

  • Explore the Various Look-Out Points: There are designated 38 viewpoints. You should try to explore the maximum points to enjoy the natural beauty. It is not possible to cover each one of them and enjoy one day so better plan for two days. Sunrise Point and Sunset points are also there where you can welcome the rising sun and say goodbye to it. Some of the major attractive viewpoints are Louisa Point, Panorama Point, Echo Point, Garbett Point, Lord Point, Alexander Point.
  • Horse Riding: To travel between different viewpoints, you can have a horse ride. They have different types of tour packages for charges and one can negotiate also. You can opt accordingly. Some of the jockeys are guides also. You can ask them for more information about the place.

  • Trek: There are various routes of Trekking to explore this natural beauty. One can choose according to time and distance. Some of the routes are: Dodhani Village to Matheran Sunset Point Trek, One Tree Hill Trek, Garbett Point Trek, and some other routes are also available. If you are an adventure freak, then you must do trekking here.

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