A good two-day offsite near Ellora gives a team focused work sessions in the mornings, a shared cultural or outdoor experience in the afternoons, and relaxed evenings that build real connection. The template below is designed for groups travelling from Pune or Mumbai, and you can copy it as is or swap blocks to suit your goals.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is roughly four hours by road from Mumbai and Thane via the Samruddhi Expressway and about four and a half hours from Pune, with direct flights and trains from Mumbai as well. That makes it far enough to feel like a real break, yet close enough that travel does not eat the whole agenda.
Before you go
Set one or two clear outcomes for the offsite. "Agree our priorities for the next two quarters" works better than a long list of topics. Share pre-reads a week ahead, confirm dietary needs, and decide who owns facilitation, notes and follow-ups.
For travel, most teams either leave Pune or Mumbai very early on day one, or arrive the evening before so the first session starts fresh. If people are flying, Aurangabad airport (IXU) and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar railway station are both within about forty minutes of the Ellora area.
Day one: arrive, align, explore
- 10:30 to 12:00: Arrival, welcome drinks and a short walk around the property to stretch after the drive.
- 12:00 to 13:00: Check-in and settle into rooms.
- 13:00 to 14:00: Lunch together.
- 14:00 to 14:30: Opening session. The leader sets context, goals and ground rules for the two days.
- 14:30 to 16:30: Working session one. Review of where the team stands: wins, gaps, customer feedback and numbers.
- 16:30 to 17:00: Tea break outdoors.
- 17:00 to 18:30: Sunset trek to a ridge with views over Daulatabad Fort, or a relaxed lakeside walk for those who prefer it.
- 19:30 onwards: Bonfire, dinner and an informal evening. Karaoke or an outdoor movie works well for groups who enjoy a lighter mood.
Keep the first afternoon's session diagnostic rather than decision-heavy. People think more clearly after a night's rest, and the trek gives time for informal conversations that often surface the real issues.
Day two: decide, commit, return
- 06:00 to 07:30: Optional dawn kayaking, birdwatching or yoga for early risers.
- 07:30 to 09:00: Breakfast.
- 09:00 to 11:00: Working session two. Priorities and decisions: what we will do, what we will stop, and who owns what.
- 11:00 to 11:15: Short break.
- 11:15 to 12:30: Working session three. Action planning with owners, timelines and measures of success.
- 12:30 to 13:00: Closing circle. Each person shares one commitment and one thing they valued.
- 13:00 to 14:00: Lunch and check-out.
- 14:00 to 17:00: Optional guided visit to the Ellora Caves on the way home, or a direct departure for Pune or Mumbai.
Note that the Ellora Caves are closed on Tuesdays, so if your offsite falls then, swap the visit for Daulatabad Fort or Grishneshwar.
Swaps and variations
Every team is different. A few easy substitutions:
- Replace the fort trek with a guided cycle ride to Ellora in the early morning for fitter groups.
- Add a photography or birding session for teams who enjoy quieter, reflective activities.
- For sales or leadership teams, turn the Ellora visit into a discussion on long-term vision; the caves were carved over several centuries by successive generations.
- For larger groups, split into smaller pods for the working sessions and bring them together for decisions.
- Include a craft visit to the handmade paper mills at Kagzipura as a gentle cultural break.
Facilitation tips
- Keep sessions under two hours and include movement in between.
- Use printed agendas and sticky walls rather than slides wherever possible.
- Keep laptops closed in working sessions unless needed for a specific task.
- Capture decisions in a single shared document before anyone leaves.
- Send a short summary within 48 hours so momentum carries back to the office.
A base near Ellora
Hiranya's conference room seats up to 60, with a banquet lawn for up to 150, free Wi-Fi, parking, a restaurant and a mix of rooms, glamping cottages and tents for different group sizes. Treks, kayaking and bonfires are all on hand for the non-work blocks. Write to us with your dates and team size, and we can share current rates and help adapt this template.
