How to reach Bhimashankar
- Railhead
- Pune Jn
- Airport
- Pune
- Air away
- about 125 km
- Season
- Oct to Feb
By train: Pune Jn
Pune Jn is the station this page treats as the railhead. Its Indian Railways code is PUNE.
Maharashtra Tourism gives Karjat as the closest railway station, with a local taxi or bus from there for the rest. The road from Karjat goes around the ghats, so check the drive time before you pick it over Pune.
By air: Pune
Pune is the airport this page treats as the nearest. It is about 125 km from the temple. On a long route the good combination is usually a flight to the closest well connected airport, then a train or a cab for the remaining distance, rather than a second flight or a day of driving.
Airport transfers are where prices are least predictable. Prepaid desks, app cabs and hotel pickups each cost something different, and at small airports the last departure of the day can be early. If you land late, plan the first night in the airport city rather than pushing on.
The state page gives Pune airport at 125 km and says travellers can hire private taxis or take state-run buses from Pune to the temple.
Where you can come from
The cities below are the ones the source names as connected, by rail, by air or by road. They are not a claim about every direct service, and no departure times or train numbers are printed: those change with each timetable, so the live enquiry is the only place to read them for your date.
By road. The state page gives Bhimashankar 223 km from Mumbai, 125 km from Pune and 230 km from Nashik, and notes a trek route in from Khandas village for walkers.
By road
Hill road, wildlife sanctuary. That is the shape of the approach: some temples are a straight drive into a town, others end in a climb or a crossing. Rather than print a highway number that may have changed with the last resurfacing, this page describes the approach and leaves the turn-by-turn to a live map on the day.
The last leg into Bhimashankar
The final stretch is a winding ghat road up to the temple. Shared jeeps and buses run from Pune and the base towns, and a private cab is easier on the bends.
Getting your dates right
Oct to Feb is the season this site plans around, with the mildest weather and the smallest chance of a road problem on the approach.
Open all year. If the town itself closes with the temple, book the last night before the shut and the first night after the reopen, because transport thins out around both.
Mahashivratri and Shravan pull the biggest crowds of the year. Trains and rooms fill weeks ahead, and the last leg into town is the bottleneck.
On the coast and in the hills the monsoon makes the approach harder rather than the visit impossible. Plan an extra buffer day at each end of the trip.
The facts in one table
| Getting there | Nearest | Away | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train | Pune Jn | Last leg by bus, jeep, auto or cab | |
| Flight | Pune | about 125 km | Cab or a train for the rest |
| Season | Oct to Feb | - | Open all year |
An "about" figure here is one a temple trust or a state source stated for this temple, and each is listed with its source at the foot of this page.