If you believe that all a metropolitan city can offer is big malls, sophisticated hangout places, luxury hotels and resorts, expensive restaurants and modern amenities you are wrong because the city of Pune has a lot to offer for tourists searching for natural beauty and places which are less of the artificial comforts but more of natures’ essence and glories. This city in the state of Maharashtra is a paradise for nature lovers showcasing a number of lakes, parks, gardens, dams, zoo and a lot more places. The Pune city is the city with the second largest population in the state of Maharashtra after the capital city of Mumbai. The city offers an amazing getaway for people of all age groups and it is also known to be the “Pensioners’ Paradise” 12 acreas it is a great place for a retired person to spend the life.

The major attractions in the Pune city:

• Osho Teerth Park: Set in a beautiful atmosphere with nature at its every nerve, the park is a must visit for all tourists visiting the city for some nature connect. The place has immense natural beauty with an exceptionally outstanding location with trees flowers and a stream of water adding on to the beaut12-acreland was once a barren land with a dirty stream which became a part of a project and with the efforts of nature lovers, it turned out to be one of the most visited places in the city with greenery and mesmerizing beauty all around.
• Impress Garden: This place is another delight of the city preserving the flora and fauna of the place. Sprawling of an area of about39 acres, there are lush green spaces, flowers and beautiful birds and butterflies. The botanical garden is visited by a large number of tourists and visitors and is crowded the most at weekends.
• Veta Hill Pune: The highest point in the city with an elevation of 2600 ft., the place is a retreat to photographers and people searching for greenery and peace. The place is good for a hangout with friends and for curious people to explore the quarry.
• Okayama Friendship Garden: The garden is one of the largest gardens in the city of Pune. A well maintained garden with green landscape with a small lake. The garden was made so that people come and walk on the garden land and build friendship. The phase two of the garden is known as Mughal Garden and has beautiful flowers like the Mughal Garden in Rashtrapati Bhawan located at New Delhi.
• Rajeev Gandhi Zoological Park: Popularly known as Rajiv Gandhi Zoo, the park is a perfect destination for wildlife admirers and photographers. The park is located at a distance of about 8 kilometers from the heart of the city. There are over 10 species of reptiles, 22 species of snakes and a large number of mammals in the park. Some of the fauna includes leopard, white tiger, Bengal tiger, Sambhar, barking deer, Indian star tortoise, sloth bear, king cobra, russells viper, black bucks, Indian giant squirrels and a lot of other animals. The park is a perfect place for children who are curious to see the animals and get amazed.
• Taljai Hills: The hills showcase the perfect greenery of the city and are a hot-spot for bird watching and to get a wide picture of the city from an elevation of about 2000 ft. The picturesque scene drives a large number of photographers towards the hill. The major attraction of the place is the peacock which is seen to be opening its wings and dancing often specially at the time of monsoon or before rain.
• Pashan Lake: Located at a distance of about 12 kilometers from the city, it covers an area of about 40 sq. kilometers. A beautiful opportunity to capture nature in the lens, the lake is an alluring site for nature loversand photographers with the green carpet of forest, the colorful flowers, wildlife and the water of the lake. The lake has also the facility of boating in which one can adore the nature from the water. Thesite is visited by a large number of migratory birds like grey heron, red lapwing little egret, coot, white breasted kingfisher, jungle babbler, cattle egret, mahratta woodpecker and a lot more.
• Mulshi Lake: The lake is a reservoir set on Mulshi Dam. The area offers a picturesque view of the greenery and mountains around it. This has been a famous site loved by tourists in recent years and now it is a not to be missed spot for nature tour to Pune.