How To Reach Igatpuri

Igatpuri is a small hill town of the Sahyadri mountain ranges and is located in Nashik district of Maharashtra. One of the primary hill stations and tourist towns of Maharashtra, Igatpuri is a place that one ought to visit on a retreat.

Igatpuri is a popular hill station and is well connected to the major cities and towns of the state by road, rail or air and lies near the busy thoroughfare of the Mumbai -Nashik - Agra National Highways. The hill station is about 45 km from Nashik, approximately 130 km from the capital city of Mumbai, about 240 km from Pune and 127 km from the pilgrim town of Shirdi. Igatpuri has direct connection to major cities by road and railways and is easily accessible by air as well. The most ideal way to reach Igatpuri would be by road, made most attractive with a lovely landscape.

The nearest airport is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport which is at Mumbai. The airport serves domestic flights to most Indian cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Bhopal, Belgaum, Thiruvananthapuram, Raipur, Kolkata etc. In addition, there are international flights to Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Zurich.

There are cabs, auto rickshaws and prepaid taxi stands outside the airport. You could hire a cab to drive you to Igatpuri. There is state and private regular and air conditioned buses from Mumbai to Igatpuri as well. There is yet another domestic airport at Nashik, which serves domestic flights to Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad.

While there are trains to Igatpuri from cities like Nashik and Pune, there are several trains from Mumbai like the Kolkata Mail (Mumbai – Howrah) Lashkar Express (Mumbai – Agra), ALD Duronto Express (Mumbai – Allahabad) or Amritsar Express (Mumbai – Amritsar), Mumbai CSMT – Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express (Mumbai – New Delhi) that chug into the little railway station at Igatpuri. Igatpuri lies on an important line of the Central Railways and you have a number of outstation and local trains halting at the station. Some of the trains halt at significant cities like Bhopal, Gwalior, Faridabad and Patna enroute.

Check up at the railways for particular trains for while some trains run on all days, there are some that are biweekly, triweekly or run only on weekends. Auto rickshaws are available outside the railway station and could be hired to drop you off at your destination.

There are several state and private sleeper, air conditioned multi axle Volvo and regular buses that run to Igatpuri from Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. You can also board a bus to Shahapur that is about 36 km from Igatpuri and board another bus to Igatpuri. Another option would be to hire a cab or an SUV if you are travelling in groups from either Mumbai or Nashik.

But one of the ideal touristy things to do would be driving or biking to Igatpuri from Mumbai. A road trip to Igatpuri promises a weekend of fun. Most tourists prefer a monsoon drive, past lush green slopes made verdant by the rains and the cascades that tumble down the wet moss laden crevices. A holiday at Igatpuri seems to begin as soon as you drive past Bhiwandi towards the hills!

If you are not driving to Igatpuri, you can make use of the local transport available in the hill station. Igatpuri has a bus terminus a few minutes away from the railway station, from where you could board buses that would halt at main stops around the town, though you should take the frequency of the buses into consideration. But there are auto rickshaws that can be hired for a short trip to your destination or you could surely call for a taxi.

If you are staying in a resort, they could help you in arranging for a cab that can be utilized for a day’ sightseeing trip. There are car rentals regular with SUVs and small cars in Igatpuri so a local transport would not be a problem.