By Girish Chhalwani, Co-Founder, Lords of the Lands · 8 min read · Last updated 2 October 2026

How long the Khopoli to Pali drive really takes in 2026, which road you take, what slows it down, and why those 35-odd kilometres matter if you are weighing a plot along State Highway 93.

How long is the Khopoli to Pali drive in 2026?

The Khopoli to Pali drive is about 35 km along State Highway 93 and takes roughly 40 minutes in normal traffic. Allow more on Ganpati-season weekends and through the monsoon, when stretches are single-carriageway and the surface is wet.

Forty minutes is the honest “most days” figure, not a best case. The road is good in parts and ordinary in others, and it carries a steady mix of local traffic, pilgrims heading to Ballaleshwar and weekend cars. On a clear weekday morning you can do it a little quicker; on a festival Saturday, or after heavy rain, plan for an hour. The point for anyone looking at land here is that Pali is genuinely close to the Expressway, without being on top of its noise and tolls.

What road do you take from Khopoli to Pali?

You take State Highway 93 (SH-93), the Wakan-Pali-Khopoli road — a roughly 41 km state highway that links the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at Khopoli to the Mumbai-Goa highway (NH-66) near Wakan, passing Pali, Parali and Pedali on the way.

SH-93 is the single spine of this corridor. From the Khopoli end it leaves the Expressway area and heads south-west through the hills of Raigad, reaching Pali before carrying on toward NH-66 near Wakan. That means a plot on this road is reachable two ways: from Mumbai or Pune via the Expressway and Khopoli, and from the Konkan coast via the Mumbai-Goa highway. For the Khopoli to Pali leg specifically, you stay on SH-93 the whole way; there is no toll road shortcut that beats it.

What slows the Khopoli to Pali drive down?

Three things slow the Khopoli to Pali drive: temple-festival and weekend pilgrim traffic around Pali and Ballaleshwar, the monsoon surface and reduced visibility from June to September, and the single-carriageway character of some stretches where overtaking is slow.

None of these is a dealbreaker; they are just the reality of a semi-rural state highway. Ganpati festival periods bring the biggest crowds, because Ballaleshwar is one of the eight Ashtavinayak temples and draws pilgrims through the year. The monsoon turns the whole belt green and scenic, but also slower and wetter. And because the road is not a wide expressway, a single slow truck can hold up a line of cars for a few minutes. Build a buffer into any journey where timing matters.

• ✓Festival and weekend traffic. Pilgrim flow to Ballaleshwar peaks on Ganpati dates and many weekends.
• ✓Monsoon conditions. June to September brings rain, greenery and slower, wetter driving.
• ✓Single-carriageway stretches. Overtaking is limited where the road narrows, so convoys form behind slow vehicles.
• ✓The Khopoli toll area. Getting on and off the Expressway at Khopoli can add a few minutes at busy times.

How do you get to Pali from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway?

From the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, you exit around the Khopoli toll plaza and join State Highway 93, then follow it about 35 km south-west to Pali — roughly a 40-minute drive once you are off the Expressway.

This is the usual approach for anyone coming from Mumbai or Pune. You run down the Expressway to Khopoli, come off near the toll, and pick up SH-93 toward Pali. Since the Mumbai-Pune Expressway Missing Link opened on 1 May 2026, the ghat section between Khopoli and Lonavala is smoother, which mainly helps the Mumbai-side leg before you ever reach Khopoli. The Khopoli to Pali part of the trip is unchanged by the Missing Link; it is the SH-93 drive that sets your final arrival time.

What will you pass on the Khopoli to Pali road?

On the Khopoli to Pali road you pass through semi-urban Khopoli near the Expressway, then open, greener country on SH-93 via Parali and Pedali, arriving at Pali below Sarasgad fort — with the Amba river, Sudhagad fort and the Unhere hot springs close by.

The drive is a study in contrast. The Khopoli end is busier and more built-up, close to the Expressway and industry. As you move along SH-93 the landscape opens into fields, hills and monsoon streams. Pali itself sits below Sarasgad fort, with the Amba river nearby, the trekking fort of Sudhagad about 11 km east, and the Unhere (Uddhar) sulphur hot springs a short distance away. It is this scenery, rather than any single amenity, that makes the Pali end attractive for a weekend-home plot.

Why does the Khopoli to Pali drive time matter when buying land?

Drive time matters because access is most of what you are buying on a weekend-home plot: a 40-minute hop from the Expressway keeps Pali inside a comfortable Mumbai or Pune day-trip, but the value of any single plot still depends on its own title, NA status and approvals, not on the corridor’s convenience.

A buyer choosing a second-home plot is really choosing how often they will actually use it, and that comes down to how easy the journey is. Pali’s roughly 40-minute link to the Expressway, inside a two-hour reach of both Mumbai and Pune, is a genuine point in its favour. But convenience does not price a plot. Pull the ready-reckoner rate for that survey, check recent registered deals in the same village, and confirm the documents before you let the drive time sell you on a parcel. No appreciation is ever guaranteed.

FAQ

Related reading

• The complete Khopoli-Pali road land guide
• Khopoli-Pali to the Navi Mumbai airport
• Mumbai to Khopoli-Pali
• Pune to Khopoli-Pali
• The Expressway Missing Link and Khopoli
• A Khopoli-Pali road trip
• Khopoli land in 2026: the complete guide
• Farmhouse land near Mumbai

Land along the corridor

• Buying land in Pali in 2026 — the temple-town end of the corridor.
• Khopoli-Pali land prices in 2026 — asking bands village by village.
• The villages along the Khopoli-Pali road — where to look, and why.
• Buying land in Pali and Sudhagad — title and tenure in this taluka.
• A weekend home on the Khopoli-Pali road — second-home country within two hours.
• Land near Ballaleshwar and Sarasgad — plots around the temple and fort.

Access and infrastructure

• Navi Mumbai airport status in 2026 — where the project stands.
• Atal Setu and Raigad land — the sea link effect.
• NMIA’s impact on Raigad land — what the airport changes.
• The MMR growth corridors — where the region is expanding.

Visit and nearby

• Things to do in Khopoli — the weekend draw at the Expressway end.
• Things to do in Pali — temple, forts and river.
• Which authority approves a Khopoli-Pali plot — NAINA vs Raigad Regional Plan.
• Khopoli-Pali vs Karjat and Lonavala — comparing the weekend-home belts.
• Life in Pali and Sudhagad — what living here is actually like.

Citations and sources

State Highway 93 (Wakan-Pali-Khopoli Road), about 41 km — Maharashtra PWD / pre-feasibility report, environmentclearance.nic.in. Khopoli to Pali distance and time, Lonavala and NMIA distances — corridor road data, verify live before travel. NAINA and Special Planning Authority status for Panvel-Khalapur villages — CIDCO / MSRDC notifications. Raigad Regional Plan (notified 1991) and UDCPR 2020 — Urban Development Department, Government of Maharashtra. Mumbai-Pune Expressway Missing Link opened 1 May 2026; NMIA commercial operations from 25 December 2025. Distances and times are indicative and vary with traffic and weather. This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice — verify every plot’s records independently before you transact. Official sources: MSRDC · CIDCO / NAINA · UDCPR / Urban Development Dept.