Lonavala

Lonavala, with its twin Khandala, sits at about 624 metres on the crest of the Sahyadri ghats exactly between Mumbai and Pune, which has made it western India's favourite weekend hill station for over a century.

• Wreathed in mist and waterfalls through the monsoon and pleasantly cool the rest of the year, it is a place of dramatic valley viewpoints, old Buddhist rock-cut caves, and a market famous across India for one sweet in particular.
• The headline viewpoints are Tiger's Leap (a cliff-edge lookout named for a rock formation that resembles a leaping tiger, with a sheer drop and a monsoon waterfall), Lion's Point (a sweeping sunset panorama between the Bhushi and Pavna dams), and Duke's Nose (a nose-shaped basalt promontory popular with trekkers).
• The Bhushi Dam, where water cascades down stepped masonry into natural pools, becomes a joyous open-air monsoon attraction from July to September.
• The region's historical treasures are the Karla Caves and Bhaja Caves — superbly preserved Buddhist chaitya halls and viharas carved from the living rock in the 2nd century BCE, the great chaitya at Karla containing one of the finest rock-cut prayer halls in India with its towering pillars and arched wooden-ribbed ceiling.
• Lonavala is also the gateway to the Pawna Lake camping zone and the hill forts of Lohagad and Visapur.
• These twin forts, an easy half-day trek apart, were once strongholds in Shivaji's Maratha defences and reward the climb with monsoon-mist ramparts and valley views.
• For vegetarian travellers, Lonavala is synonymous with chikki — the crunchy jaggery-and-nut brittle invented here, sold fresh and warm at dozens of shops including the famous Maganlal counters in dozens of varieties.
• Add to that hot vada pav and bhajia in the monsoon mist, roasted corn at the viewpoints, fudge, and Maharashtrian vegetarian fare in the market.
• The best months are October to May, while the June-September monsoon brings the green-and-waterfall spectacle that many visitors come specifically to see.