Matheran Reviews

Matheran Experience: Peaceful and Best.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Sunrise/Sunset point are great. Food is awesome(atleast in the hotel we stayed in). The lake is good. Overall, its one of the most beautiful hill stations i have come across. Leather items/Footwear are good and cheap in Matheran

Activities & things to do: Long walks, Horse Riding, Shopping, Rest (Its a very clean, nice and peaceful hill station)

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Reach Neral (the nearest Railway Station) which is between Lonavla and Mumbai. From Neral, toy train is available which will take you to Matheran in less than 3 hours. The toy train journey is not be missed as its exciting.

Matheran Experience: Matheran is a hill station, good for a change. (from the routine life).

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Sightseeing :- there are a total of 32 points but all are the same. Shopping : Chappals, handicraft and chikkies

Activities & things to do: Stay in Hotel is a best in Matheran.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: You need wet tissue paper so you can protect yourself with dust (lots of dust because of horses).

Matheran Experience: Matheran, “forest on top”, boasts of steep slopes, offering breathtaking points, overlooking the Western Ghats and scattered villages. Famous for its leather products and popular food item, chikki, the architecture of Matheran has the influence of British and Parsi styles, giving it a combination of global and local charm. Glocal, one may say...

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: The markets in Matheran are famous for cheap leather products, like bags, shoes and belts. The streets of this hill station have stalls selling cheap kolhapuri chappals, walking sticks, etc. Matheran is also famous for honey and chikki (soft peanut brittle).

Activities & things to do: It is one of the spots with highest altitude, offering a breathtaking view of the ghats and villages. It is close to the Governor’s hill.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: It is 110 km. away from Mumbai on Mumbai-Pune rail route. A visit to Matheran can be exhilarating, what with a two-hour toy train journey from Neral, 90 kilometers from Mumbai! The green enthusiasts will go gaga over Matheran’s practice of not allowing motor vehicles. Away from the loud honking and polluted fumes of the city life, the only mode of transport in Matheran, are ponies and hand pulled rickshaws.

Matheran Experience: Eco tourism at its best. However, with no vehicles plying inside this hill station, visitors should be prepared for either extensive walking or adventorous horse riding. Even hand pulled cart is an option to move around mainly used by elders.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Sightseeing - Various points like Honeymoon point, Echo point , Panorama point etc. Matheran as a whole can be explored for its scenic richness and visitors can just end up discovering few more so called 'Points' :) Shopping - Footwears , bags , Hats , Chikki , Flavoured drinks Food - All varieties available. Mutton handi at point view restaurant is a must-try.

Activities & things to do: Leisure, roam around, casual shopping, horse-riding, trekking etc.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Carry enough cash as the place do not have any ATM . Also for those who booze should carry bottles with themselves, Matheran do not have any liquor shop.

Matheran Experience: Matheran at 2500 ft above sea level with thick forest cover and no pollution of any type, is the most preferred holiday destination for Mumbaikars, Puneites and even visiutors from abroad. Since no vehicles are permitted, you have to walk or ride a horse through it's unpaves dusty tracks winding through thick foliage. Travelling by the heritage Toy train that connects Neral on CR line to Matheran is one unique experience for travellers.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: The road outside the toy train station has the main market for shopping, buying famous Matheran chikki or relishing a vast variety of food. Matheran has many hotels that offer good accommodation and dining options.

Activities & things to do: There are many view points and places of interest one can see walking through forest on dusty trails or riding on horse back. The real experience is a walk through thick forest early morning in cool atmosphere to rejuvenate and freshen you up for the day.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Matheran can be reached by train from Neral on CR. or by taxi from Neral or Karjat stations. If one wants to drive then there is a hige parking spot at Dasturi point about 2.5 kms from Mathera market.From here take a horse or walk along rail track. Hotels fill up on holidays and week ends so prebook one of your budget. The horsewalas always quote high price but negotiate.A ride from parking to market will cost you about Rs 125-150.

Matheran Experience: The best

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Sightseeing and food excellent. One should not go with the intention of shopping, but still locally made chappal, shoes and Chikki are very good.

Activities & things to do: Relax, speak to nature like wind, unpolluted weather and soak yourself in deep satisfaction

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Mumbai - Neral - Matheran train or Mumbai Neral train and then by road (shared taxies at nominal fare available. Journy is short and wonderful especially by toy train between Neral and Matheran

Matheran Experience: Very close to Mumbai(within 100 Kms). Ideal stress-buster..A place to relax and get enthralled in the nature's lap.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Many points to visit,not much for shopping,however can check out few local handicrafts

Activities & things to do: Very calm and quiet place,,horse riding seems to be very popular

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Board a train from Mumbai CST(Karjat or khopoli local)to Nerel(about 2hrs of journey).From Nerel either toy train(Rs35/head) or shuttle cab(Rs 50/head). Cab will take 20 minutes to dasturi (5 kms from the main town, need top walk or take a horse ride to the town). It takes about two hrs in toy train to matheran station (5 mins of walking distance from the market area).

Matheran Experience: Matheran is a very nice place for honeymoon, trekking and family visit. It has many points around 30 points but you may visit main ones,

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: We have eaten only inside the hotel where we booked the room and the food was very good, outside there is food market where you can get plenty of food with different varieties. Sight-seeing is very beautiful, big valleys and mountains and many many things, Shopping - there are lot of shops for handmade things and chikkis and leather ware things. but prices are little high and you need to negotiate on that.

Activities & things to do: Activities: Horse riding and trekking are main, Inside the hotel there are lots of activities like table tennis, badminton, carom. There are lots of sight seeing so you get busy with that most of the time.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Traveling from Mumbai is pretty straight, Get up early in the morning, reach Dadar (central) by 5:45 am and there is 6:00 am train for Karjat bound which will take you to Neral and from there you have 2 options, either you go by cab which takes 50 rs. per person and makes you reach in half an hour to Matheran or you can take toy train which takes 2 hrs to reach Matheran. There are only 30 current tickets for toy train which you can get only before 45 minutes of the departring time. So if you really want to travel by toy train then it is better to reserve the ticket online or through reservation counter. Same thing works for returning. There is a option for people who are staying near Borivali suburb as they can go to thane by ST or BEST bus and from there they can take Nerul train. It is worth to travel by toy train at least once as the sight seeing is very beautiful. without that the Matheran trip is not complete.

Matheran Experience: Thronged by tourists from Mumbai and Pune, this once tranquil hill station has been transformed into a heap of plastic bags, drunk weekenders, car horns, and over-priced hotels. However the town still has several hidden spots that make it worth a visit in the monsoon and winter months.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: there is a big market place where you can shop and enjoy your food.

Activities & things to do: adventuring, horse riding, enjoying sunset and sunrise...

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: what i preferred was train travelling. we took a train for karjat or any xpress train that wil halt at neral station and then we have the option of going by mini train or expensive car travelling to matheran up the hills.the train traveling is prefered as its the best experience of enjoying matheran.

Matheran Experience: It is very good place for Athletes. Even horse riding makes you worried for your life and as vehicles are not allowed the points coverage is becoming a problem on foot. But we enjoyed a place.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Hotel Panorama - Bargain is must.

Activities & things to do: Valley Crossing was thrilling - must to do.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: While going up take a train from Neral with your luggage. And while coming back ask your driver to wait for you at Dasturi point.

Matheran Experience: This beautiful jungle on top of Sahyadri mountains is one of the best weekend destinations in Maharashtra. Matheran is about 2625 feet above sea level. It is located about 100 km from Mumbai. Matheran is green throughout the year but its a visual beauty post monsoons with lush greenery, waterfalls and Charlotte lake full with water. The weather is pleasantly cold throughout the year. Thousands of visitors visit the place every week but as it is being declared as eco sensitive zone by environment ministry the amount of pollution is much less as compared many other hill stations. Still people throw a lot of plastic waste around which is slowly but surely damaging the nature there.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Echo Point, Panorama Point (Sunrise Point), Porcupine Point (Sunset Point), One tree Hill, Garbut Point, Heart Point, Rambag Point, Charlotte Lake are some of the places to visit. Matheran has a very small market place. Some of the must buys are different flavours of Chikki and fudge. There are some big shops in the market but one can get the same things even in smaller shops like Sastick Chikki Mart. One more thing not to miss is Leather Chappals. You can buy a variety of leather chappals from Dnyaneshwar Chappal Mart at a reasonable but fixed price.

Activities & things to do: Get up early in the morning and walk through the jungle in a thick cover of fog.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Get a Karjat of Khopoli bound train from Mumbai CST and get down at Neral. From Neral you can get a joyous ride to hills in the mini train. The small toy train will take you to the hill top in an hour and a half. The other options are share taxis which charge Rs.50/ per person or a mini bus service started by S.T. Train will take you to Matheran station. By road you can reach only upto Dasturi. From there you have to walk on your feet or you can ride on horse back or hand pulled rickshaw. You must travel by toy train if you get the booking.

Matheran Experience: This week, me and my Hubby went to Matheran for a 2 day break. We choose weekdays to visit this place so as to avoid the regular weekend crowd. While Matheran welcomes you whole heartedly the moment you step in…we are a great example of how things can go wrong when you are too much in holiday mood. Me and Prasad are both very cautious people. We always plan our trips very much ahead of time, make all possible bookings previously and avoid any on the spot hassles. This time somehow, we planned for an on the spot holiday. Being a weekday in an off season we were hoping to pull on an awesome hotel deal …or so we thought. We made a 2.5 days booking for Paramount Hotel at an all Matheran hotel booking office near Neral taxi stand. After a good lot of bargaining, I managed to pull down the rates for deluxe room from 2500/- for 2.5 days to 1500/- .The person at booking counter tried hard to sell off lunch n dinner package also, but we were pretty adamant that we wanted to dine at various places. Everything was great, rosy and romantic…till we saw our rooms!! Paramount has ok, ok, exteriors…but interiors suck big time. Snaps along will speak for all the eeekkkksss, yakkkkk, and ccchhhheee we did for rest of our stay. We just wanted to stay out of our room for as long as possible. We had to ask the hotel staff to change our bed sheets because it had big black spots…that was somehow not visible to the staff till we showed them. The bathroom door was broken, it won’t shut, and that was justified coz we anyways didn’t want to use it. It was horrifyingly filthy. Everything else about Matheran went smooth. We did not get any such weekday discount any where else, neither did we try. Food was excellent at the small Jadhav’s joint, opposite Park view hotel. We also made a profit of 10 bucks at the game parlour!! Yeppy!! Inspite of the terrible start each day coz of the filthy hotel room, and the pinch of money wasted…Matheran was Awesome!! The greenery was a treat to eyes. The rains, the soil, the leather chappal stalls, the monkeys, the forest and the fog…that’s Matheran!! I have been to Matheran thrice over last 15 years, each time a different experience and every time I came back recharged and energized. For everyone who calls our metro cities as ‘concrete jungle’ will tell you that this place is ‘a forest city’. It’s a forest, a city and a lot more…

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: excellent, excellent and excellent!!

Activities & things to do: Most spots from one direction give you the same view...so give some of them a miss and spend time in the market...get those chikkis!!

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Most of the travel is hassle free...just be very cautious when you make hotel bookings...bargain bargain and bargain.

Matheran Experience: When we reached in the morning at Matheran the climate was really very good and yes for us staying in Mumbai the expereince for relaxing to enjoy the rain this place is cool in this rainy season. I prefer to go to Matheran for relaxation during rainy season than to Lonavala.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: You will get mostly all types of Indian Food.

Activities & things to do: Just relax and enjoy the weather and rain.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: You can reach up to Neral Railway Station by Car or Bus and then from their you can get taxi charing 50/- per person and they take you to Matheran. If you are going by your private car then you can park your car at check post and From Check post you have to take a horse ride or you can go by walking along side Railway Tracks or Road it is 2.5 KM to reach Matheran Railway Station.

Matheran Experience: For goosebumps & heart-in-mouth experiences, skip the mini train & drive yourself to the top. It's the steepest & narrowest climb. Our drive to Sinhagad Fort (Pune) was a cakewalk.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Favourte resort--Byke--heritage. Minus point- no non-veg food. Shop for real funky Kolhapuri chappals & leather bags.

Activities & things to do: Horse riding till you are unable to sit & are sore all over. Try riding at dusk through off beat paths & you will be transferred to a different piece of history.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Since there is no mode of transport except horses & your two good feet, its a bit taxing if you have kids or senior citizens. They also provide hand rickhaws. Kids enjoy mini-train ride but book well in advance. Watch out for monkeys!!

Matheran Experience: Nice Experience ..First time to Matheran..Beautiful & unique hill station.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Good to visit Charlot lake & Echo point (by walk). Don't miss sunset point too.. You can buy leather purse & Kolhapuri chappals at reasonable price.

Activities & things to do: You can relax in the resort and can enjoy the internal activities .

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Best way to go is by train. Then board a taxi from Neral till Dasturi point and after that you can take horse to reach to your destination in Matheran.

Matheran Experience: Matheran is 105 KM from Pune, towards Mumbai… tiniest hill station in Asia (as read on Matheran Entrance). No vehicles allowed in Matheran, so you have to walk lot so be healthy if you want to enjoy it :) ….

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Reached Matheran around 11:15 am, then it takes hour to book the hotel. Courtesy to Kavan, we got good hotel in our budget, Hill Top Hotel, which is nearby market and old home like ambiance. After 20-30 minutes rest, we took lunch in garden view restaurant in market which is so so…. Chappals are real cheap here and Rinku bought 5 (including one for me and dad). We took dinner at Prasanna which was again ok ok…. But we enjoyed very much as it was taken with friendsJ

Activities & things to do: We explored Matheran, from Alexander point to Ram bag to little chowk point which is mistake as only 3 points. We did a lot of walking for two and half hours and after that reached little chowk point, and we realized that now we cannot reach sunset point as it takes 2 hour to reach there. Although we tried but reached one tree hill point in 25 minutes, after that we gave up for sunset point. But then we went to lord point and lake, saw sunset point from there and it was great, really enjoyable walking in jungle.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: To reach Matheran, we caught Sinhgad exp at 6:05 am in the morning, and reached Karjat at 8:05 am. No express train stops at Neral so you have to leave Express train at Karjat and then catch local train for Neral which takes 10 minutes to reach Neral. From Neral, there is Toy train from Neral to Matheran. It takes 2 hours to complete 20 kms but should go one time, it is enjoyable journey as it goes through Jungle and Hill area and we really loved it. You can go by taxi also. Charges 50Rs per person which is fixed as on Jan, 2009. It takes only 20-30 minutes. We booked Toy train tickets two weeks ago as there are only 4 bogies and no extra passengers allowed in train. And journey was thoroughly enjoyable.

Matheran Experience: Matheran is a small, densely forested plateau at an average altitude of 700m AMSL, approx. 100km drive from Mumbai. Motor vehicles are not allowed in beyond the Dasturi car park at the top of the Neral Dasturi ghat road. Coolies, ponies and hand rikshas are available at Dasturi. Hotels are available at all budget ranges.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Most hotels and all shops are around the station area which is a good half hour walk from Dasturi. There are several well known view 'points' which are best reached by walking or on horse back through densely forested trails. Almost all offer equally good views of sunrise and sunset. Just after the monsoons, butterflies abound and wildflowers delight the senses. The Charlotte Lake is also a good spot with its monsoon fed waterfall.

Activities & things to do: Walk or horse ride through the many forest trails. Nature lovers can delight in the varied wild flora. Huge Blue Mormon butterflies are common and Matheran Giant Squirrels can also be spotted on higher branches of trees, as well as golden langurs. Watch out for the ubiquitous bonnet macaque monkeys who will certainly snatch any packets or food out of your hands. Wear sturdy walking shoes or sandals and carry a stick to beat off naughty monkeys.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: One can get to Matheran by car via Chowk Neral and ghat road to Dasturi carpark or toy train from Neral station or by mini ST bus plying from Neral and Karjat stations to Dasturi. From Dasturi rent a horse or a hand pulled riksha. Or simply, walk! Take the railway track route if walking from Dasturi to the market area as it is an easier walk with good views of the forest and the valley below.

Matheran Experience: Nice place to spend weekend for Mumbaikars

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: There are many points to see in Matheran. You can enjoy horse riding or else trekking will be enjoyable with friends.

Activities & things to do: Horse riding and toy train

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: You can reach Matheran through Nerul. Nerul is connected by rail from Mumbai.

Matheran Experience: a tiny hill station nestling atop the hills with breathtaking beauty and splendor. kind and warm folks. only if we - the outsiders did our bit and did not litter the place the way some of us have done!

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: food, well depended on where u had it. spent some days at Ashok Hotel where the food - not fancy but was fingerlickingly good. few days spent at The Lord were a different gastronomic experience. four course meals there with abundant helpings and some puddings were good. only the mutton could be a tad better! tried the famous Fudge at the shop in the middle of the market, (sorry can't recall the name) and it was delicious. worth a try anytime u're there and haven't been able to lay ur hands on it at Lonavala.

Activities & things to do: keep away from the crowded market if u don't like people stepping on ur toes all the time - the place was thick with people. u would also avoid numerous pony walas pestering u all the time for rides. long walks along numerous jungle trails are a better option- try those leading to less popular spots, as these are likely to be less frequented by sometimes loud and occasionally rowdy revelers on ponies who think themselves to be clint eastwoods in the wild west on a treasure hunt. but then it all depends on what is ur idea of a holiday. if u're the loud kind, then the place will still not disappoint u. we heard loud hindi numbers being belted out at numerous joints till late in the night ( to our utter chagrin, though). go shake a leg, if u like. we spent a reasonably long time swimming or sitting by the pool at The Lord and taking in breathtaking view of the valley, when we were not walking on a quiet narrow foot path deep in the forest.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: abundantly available, have nothing new to add. just go, have a good time!

Matheran Experience: It is a wonderful place on the hilly regions of shayadri with no pollution at all as there are no transport vehicles allowed after a particular distance in city as the mode of movement are horses and men carrying you in man pulled rickshaw. There is total red mud all over the place in Matheran.

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: There are in all 18 points in Matheran which can be covered on horse or by walking enjoying the hilly areas around you . Matheran is one the most secured place i have ever found and the people over here are very polite and good.

Activities & things to do: But would really like to suggest you the little chowk point which is around 2.5 kms from market place.. but the view from this point is beauty which I can’t really explain in words. I visited this point in evening at around 5 and the view was awesome covering many places in your eyes.. the Morbe dam which is a huge dam build to supply water to Navi Mumbai areas, Karjat, Lonavla, express high way, old highway ( Mumbai – Pune), Rasayani , Panvel and many more Places… The real beauty starts when it starts getting dark and the lights starts glowing in the citys and small village .. stars come out popping from the dark blue sky and moon shines on your head.. It gives a such a sexy view as if you are god watching the earth from the sky.. and stars twinkling around you.. the lights of vehicles on the road.. I was amazed to see the view … We were sitting at this point for more than 4-5 hours talking on various topics and enjoying the view and dint understand when the time passed out in seconds..

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Yes always do carry a torch with you if you are out in evening as there are no lights around. There is a mini train from Neral station which lies on central railway when moving towards karjat side from kalyan. Also by road you can reach Matheran ( From mumbai vai badlapur its 80Kms and vai mumbai pune old high way its 95 Kms).. There are steeps slopes when moving up the hill of Matheran so a professional driver is more recommended. You can also take down the local taxi cars from just out of Neral station to reach to Matheran for which they charge you 50Rs per head. Please do not carry new clothes or white or light colored clothes or foot wear they will never be use able again...