Mumbai Lonavala Khandala Tour Package 3 Nights 4 Days

The Ferry: From the Gateway to Elephanta Island, about an hour each way.

The Caves: Rock-cut Shiva temples carved between the 5th and 8th centuries, with the Trimurti - a three-headed Shiva nearly 6 m tall - as the centrepiece. The Portuguese used the sculptures for target practice, which explains the damage.

Back in the City: Dhobi Ghat, the open-air laundry that has run the same way for over a century, then Haji Ali on its causeway and Siddhivinayak temple.

• Top Places to Cover: Elephanta Caves, the Trimurti, Dhobi Ghat, Haji Ali Dargah, Siddhivinayak temple.
• Importance of Each Place: Elephanta was named by the Portuguese after a stone elephant they found at the landing point. The caves were inscribed by UNESCO in 1987.
• Things to Know: The ferry does not run during monsoon or in rough seas. There are around 120 steps from the jetty to the caves, or a toy train for part of it. Haji Ali causeway floods at high tide.

Meals: Breakfast | Overnight: Mumbai

The Expressway: About 85 km and two hours up the Mumbai-Pune expressway, climbing the Sahyadri escarpment.

Karla Caves: A Buddhist chaitya hall cut in the 2nd century BCE, and the largest of its kind in India. The wooden ribs in the vaulted ceiling are original and over two thousand years old.

Bhaja Caves: Nearby and earlier, with a group of stupas and some of the oldest surviving rock-cut architecture in the country.

Afternoon: Bhushi Dam and Tiger Point, both at their best in and just after monsoon.

• Top Places to Cover: Karla Caves, Bhaja Caves, Bhushi Dam, Tiger Point, Lonavala market.
• Importance of Each Place: Karla sat on an ancient trade route between the Deccan and the coast, which is why a monastery of that scale was built there at all.
• Things to Know: Karla involves a climb of around 350 steps. Bhushi Dam is closed to visitors when water levels are high in peak monsoon.

Meals: Breakfast | Overnight: Lonavala

Morning Viewpoints: Duke Nose, a cliff named for its profile, and Rajmachi Point looking down the valley.

Chikki: Lonavala is known across India for chikki, a jaggery and nut brittle, and the shops on the main road have been making it for generations.

Departure: Back to Mumbai, about two hours, for onward travel.

• Top Places to Cover: Duke Nose, Rajmachi Point, Lonavala Lake, chikki shops.
• Things to Know: The expressway back to Mumbai is heavily congested on Sunday evenings. Allow an extra hour if departing then.

Meals: Breakfast | Overnight: Journey ends