Say cheese

What good is an opportunity, if it’s not milked? And so it is at Manchar, a sleepy town not four hours from Mumbai. Home to Parag Milk Foods’ forty-acre dairy farm, it now hosts cattle of a different ilk. City-bred tourists interested in cheese-making or large-scale milking systems arrive in herds to meet over 3,000 Holstein Friesian cows and to take in the other more obvious charms of the Western Ghats. Also on the menu at the Bhagyalaxmi farm—where products of the Go! and Gowardhan brands are manufactured—are milk-tasting sessions, bhakri pizzas and a gift hamper to keep you sweet. Choose from 1- to 4-day tours that also include trips to Malshej Ghat and the Bhimashankar temple (Rs 1,500–8,250 per person, includes transfers, stay, sightseeing and meals; heenatours.in/machar.html).