Explore The City's History With The Best Heritage Walks In Pune

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Known as the cultural hub of Maharashtra, Pune is full of history. Right from being the capital of the Peshwas, to seeing the British troop around, and generations of families living in the city, Pune's history is rich and worth taking a look at. If you hate navigating on your own, sign up for a heritage walk and go around and get to know the city.

Pune Heritage Walk by Maharashtra Tourism (MTDC) & Janwani

The Municipal Corporation in collaboration with an NGO called Janwani conducts the Pune Heritage Walk. It has also won a National Award as the Best Heritage Walk project. Every weekend at 7 am, the two-and-a-half-hour-long walk will take you around 18 different heritage sites. It's conducted in three different languages: Marathi, Hindi, and English. Architecture, market streets, temples - the regular Pune heritage walk is a fascinating cultural experience that one can barely get otherwise. Arranged on special request, the signature walk for a group of at least 15, has an added benefit apart from what is involved in the regular walks. A three-hour long heritage walk, this one includes refreshments and Maharashtrian folk performances.

Wandertrails

Wandertrails

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Wandertrails, an online experiential site, arranges three-hour long heritage walks through Pune. This walk covers some of the oldest heritage sites in Pune, starting from the PMC building and covering the grandest of wadas in the city. Pune is after all famous for all its wadas built in the Peshwa Empire. A delicious Maharashtrian meal and local cultural performances are also included in the walk. Book for a group of 16 or more for only INR 385 per person.

Western Routes

The heritage walks starts at 9 am and gives an insight into the traditional architectural styles and influences on the architecture over different time periods of the Maratha, Mughal and the British empires. Take a glimpse at how the Peshwas lived at Shaniwar Wada, walk through the historic market of Tulshibaug and admire the Neo-Gothic architecture of the Phule Mandai. Covering about ten sites in a span of 3 hours, this walk is approximately 1.6 kilometres long. And, the cost of the walk with Western Routes is based on the group size and requirement.

5 Senses Tours

Conducting walks and tours across several cities in the country, 5 Senses offers a bunch of tours to choose from. You can go on a heritage walk and explore the city's wada and old markets, or walk through the city and see all the iconic landmarks, the India's Freedom Tour will show you around Phule's and Tilak's quarters. Whatever tour you choose, there are multiple ways to walk around the city and varied things worth seeing. The pricing depends on the size of the group and the kind of tour you choose.  

Chalo Heritage And Nature Walks

Jan Ali fell in love with India the moment she came here. The history and culture inspired her to start this initiative with Rashid Ali, who conducts nature walks. Chalo offers three ways to explore: the Kasba tour takes three-to-four hours and includes several temples, markets and historical sites, apart from the Kasba Peth. The out of Pune tour explores Pune’s buildings and architecture, the forts and more. The classic tour is not exactly a heritage walk but involves driving down to explore Saswad, a small town, where one can visit its temples and a 300-year-old Wada. This particular tour may take approximately five-to-six hours. There are no fixed rates of these tours, and the prices will be given on request.