Last weekend I took a break and headed to the hill station of Matheran about 2 hours by suburban train outside of Mumbai. Locals head here for weekend getaways from the hectic Mumbai lifestyle. Unfortunately, the historic toy train connecting Neral with Matheran wasn’t working (apparently it stopped working 9 months ago, but a local says it should be running again by next year when it celebrates an anniversary)
Matheran is a wilderness retreat and pleasantly doesn’t allow motor vehicles inside. Instead you can opt to hire a horse (120 Rupees/hr) or get carted along in a human powered push cart. I’d recommend a horse because the human-powered cart over unpaved, muddy road does a lot more damage to the butt (and gave me a headache).
To get to Matheran, take a suburban train to Neral on the Karjat-line train (different from Nerul which is on the Harbor line). The train code is S. From the Neral train station, walk right (past the toy train tracks) to the share taxis that will take you to Matheran car park (50 rupees/per person). From there you can choose your method of green transportation (human-powered push card, horse, or walk) to Matheran town (there’s also a 25 Rupee/per person park entrance fee). I stayed at the Regal Hotel and was satisfied with the value. If you are going during the off season, there’s no reason to book ahead (it’s more expensive online).
Enjoy the beauty and clean air…at least by Indian standards.