Sight seeing in Matheran

There are several points to visit in Matheran. Most people prefer to walk to the points but for the one’s who tire easily or like riding horses, these could be hired anywhere. If you don’t like horses, you could hire a hand pulled rickshaw. Sometimes one could avail of them even midway. Although Porcupine point is a good enough place for catching the sunset, Panorama point at the extreme north has a much more impressive view. The view is spectacular and on a clear day it is said that one can see Mumbai city and even hear it from Louisa point or Porcupine point. You could also catch sight of the Ulhas River from here. Going West of Porcupine point one would come to Louisa point. This point is also called Cathedral Rocks. When you look down from here Neral is visible astride the central railway line. Another point here is ‘One tree hill’, so called for obvious reasons. This is to the South. Next to it is a trail down to the valley below. This is known as Shivaji’s ladder. It gets this name since the leader of the Marathas is known to have used it.

There are other points such as the heart point where an adorable panorama of the valley is visible and the point looks like a heart. You could visit Garbut Point, Alexander Point, Malang Point, Artist’s Point, Honeymoon hill, the Charlotte Lake, Paymaster’s Park, Rambaug Point, Lord’s Point, Mount Barry, Chowk Point, Little Chowk Point, Khandala Point, Belvedere Point, Cecil Point, Echo Point and last but not the least, the Monkey Point, where one can spot monkeys in great numbers. The Olympia Race Course is another place worth visiting in Matheran.

There is no dearth of hotels in Matheran but the beautiful resorts are spread further out at an approximately 20 minutes walk from the station. The resort hotels mostly only offer full board rates. A piece of advice: Find out the check out time before moving in as it could be as early as 7 am. Another important factor to remember would be the season. If you travel to Matheran during peak season the rooms could cost you more than double the non seasonal rates. The peak season is from November to January and mid April to mid June. We wouldn’t recommend a visit in the monsoons either. Very few hotels and restaurants are operational during the monsoons and the trails become pretty muddy and messy.

There are some things we would recommend you follow. You should take a comfortable pair of shoes for walking. Feeding the monkeys could be hazardous to you so you should avoid it. It would be best to travel light since you would need someone to lug it around town till you find yourself a place to stay. The hotel you select could be at a distance, which would mean you would have to haul the heavy luggage around with you. You could find a coolie to carry it for you but some of them might overcharge you if you travel during the peak season.

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