Did You Know There's An Amphitheatre In The Middle Of This Gorgeous Park In Mumbai?

If we told you that instead of the famous NYC’s Central Park you could drop by one in Navi Mumbai? That’s right – we checked out Kharghar’s popular Central Park and came back refreshed and in awe of the space.

Kharghar’s Central Park is not much of a hidden gem as it’s a popular spot. After it was recommended to us by a few locals, we decided to decode the hype and made our way there. To get there, we suggest you get off at Belapur station on the Harbour line and take an auto to the park {it’ll cost you approximately INR 80}.

Now, now we don’t like to blow things out of proportion here, but Central Park really took us aback in a good way.

It’s massive, green and as calm as the ocean. It opens up twice a day – once in the morning, and then in the evening. Maintained and planned by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra {CIDCO} this one is a hit and a hit, all-in-one.

Families, lovers, friends and kids, this park is open to one and all barring pets {we know, we were bummed too}. Here you can take charge of your fitness regime. We do think the steps of the theatre are perfect for running up and down, and to be fair, we did spot young lads doing the same.

Armed with our suburban surprise intact, we walked around the park to find a lovely pond, a gorgeous open-air theatre and Indian classical musical instruments that were at display.

You don’t have to pay to enter the park and can easily spend an entire evening here by yourself or with your friends. They have a jogging path – an area dedicated for playing sports {take your stuff with you}, and gorgeous landscaped gardens for you to lounge on.

We loved how massive, clean and green it was. Surrounded by the nearby small hillocks with chiming of the birds and air as fresh as the first monsoon shower, we couldn’t believe this existed just an hour and a half away from Mumbai.

The Central Park is open in the mornings from 6am to 9am and then in the evenings from 5pm to 9pm. We do realise we cannot always make a trip out here but we do suggest coming by here on a weekend and giving in to the slow-paced life and calm life in Kharghar’s Central Park.

Kharghar also has a F.R.I.E.N.D.S-themed cafe, which we love {and you can read it here}, and we suggest you go grab a hot cuppa there right after your walk.

PS: Autos in Kharghar don’t necessarily go by the meter, so be prepared to negotiate and battle it out.