Things to do in Ajanta and Ellora

Two UNESCO cave sites from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad): Ajanta's painted halls in one day, Ellora, Grishneshwar and Daulatabad in another.

Getting around Ajanta and Ellora

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the city long known as Aurangabad, has app cabs, but Ajanta is about 100 km away with the last 4 km on a mandatory shuttle from the T-point, and the Ellora road has four separate stops with their own gates and parking. Ajanta is closed on Mondays and Ellora on Tuesdays. Every experience below includes the vehicle, a local driver who waits, and the parking.

Experiences

• Ajanta Caves from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Thirty caves in a horseshoe of rock, and the oldest paintings in India still on their walls
• Ellora, Grishneshwar, Daulatabad and Bibi ka Maqbara: A fort on a cone of rock, a temple carved downwards out of a hill, a jyotirlinga and the Taj of the Deccan

Best months

October to March. July to September is green with the Ajanta falls running; April and May are very hot.

Getting there

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has an airport with flights from Mumbai, Delhi and other cities, and a railway station with direct trains from Mumbai. About 6 to 7 hrs by road from Mumbai or 5 hrs from Pune.