Most people view Pune through a few famous sights. Shaniwar Wada is always included, along with a couple of cafes and perhaps a fort day trip. I needed something slower, so I picked a few older neighbourhoods, left my car behind and spent three days walking through them. I found small museums, quiet streets and a couple of meals I still remember.
Pune is at the base of the Sahyadri hills, about 150 kilometres from Mumbai. In the 18th century, it was the capital of the Peshwas, and the city is still laid out in peths, meaning quarter, or locality, in Marathi. These names and borders are easy to read on a map but make much more sense when you visit them.
Early hours in Pune’s Kasba Peth
Kasba Peth is the city’s oldest residential area, and I started there at seven in the morning. Narrow lanes, old wooden houses and small shrines packed in at odd angles. The Kasba Ganpati temple is Pune’s popular spiritual landmark, and it looked very quiet that morning, with a few residents stopping in for a short prayer.
Shaniwar Wada is just a walk away, but I decided to view it from outside and spent my time exploring the streets. The streets behind the Wada have shops selling flowers, plates, and small tea stalls.
Pune’s museum afternoons in Shukrawar Peth
Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, located in Shukrawar Peth, was the one I liked the most among all the places I visited. The museum was opened in 1962, and it contains more than 20,000 objects personally collected by a man during his lifetime. The museum has rooms full of lamps, musical instruments, doors, costumes, and areca nut slicers.
I spent nearly three hours there and could have stayed longer. The collection feels personal rather than curated. Go on a weekday afternoon, when the galleries are calm. Vishrambaug Wada is not far, an 1810 teak mansion built for the last Peshwa, and its carved wooden entrance is worth a few minutes.
Rock-carved tranquillity in Pune’s Shivajinagar
The Pataleshwar Cave Temple sits off Jangli Maharaj Road in Shivajinagar, and I almost walked past it. The temple is cut from a single basalt rock and dates to around the 8th century, during the Rashtrakuta period. Its round Nandi pavilion stands in an open courtyard, and the cave itself is cool and dim.
Only a few visitors were there. A local man sat on a low step, folding paper for an offering. I stood in the doorway for a while and listened to the traffic fade behind me. It is rare to find a place like this in the middle of a modern city.
Food stops in the peths of Pune
Pune’s older localities have enough small food outlets. My day began at Bedekar Misal in Narayan Peth, where I tried misal pav with a curry made with a liquid called tarri and sliced bread. The meal was spicy, very simple and delicious. Lokmanya Tilak Museum is situated in front of Bedekar Misal, and I went there after eating.
In the afternoon, I picked up a packet of bakarwadi from Chitale Bandhu, Pune’s popular food stall. The delicious and crunchy roll was over before I reached the next street.
Heading home from Pune in comfort
After three days of walking, I was glad to book a business class cabin on my flight to Mumbai International Airport (BOM) from Pune International Airport (PNQ). The seat was spacious, boarding felt unhurried and a hot meal arrived soon after takeoff. I spent most of my flight to Mumbai looking through notes and photographs, and I actually rested.
This small comfort mattered. My legs were tired, and I wanted a calm end to the trip, not a cramped one.
What Pune taught me about slowing down
I left the city feeling that Pune pays off the trouble of hiking its roads. Its best locations may not always be in the common lists of tourist attractions. They are found in alleys that you can reach by walking and a bit of patience.