Jalgaon is more of a commercial hub and a convenient gateway to Aurangabad, Ajanta and Ellora. Note you will be travelling during peak monsoon. Depending on the time at your disposal, you can spend a day in Jalgaon, visiting the hill-top Sri Padmalaya Temple (a half peetha of the famous two and a half Sri Ganesh Peethas of India). You can also visit Pal, a picnic spot surrounded by forests with streams running through the forest. If you want to stay in a city with all amenities, then Aurangabad should be your base. Aurangabad is around 155km by the shortest route from Jalgaon. There are plenty of good hotels here. You can devote a day to local sightseeing and visiting Ellora caves (about 30km away) and another day to Ajanta (100km). If you want to stay away from crowds, then you can go straight to Ajanta from Jalgaon (about 60km away) and stay at the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation’s (MTDC) tourist lodge or private hotels in Fardapur (10km from the caves). Lonar (122km from Aurangabad and a little over 200km from Jalgaon) is a little known tourist destination. Lonar is known for its crater that was created nearly 40,000 years ago, by a falling meteorite. It is said to be one of the five largest craters in the world. The crater lake has several old temples around it.  There is a MTDC bungalow in Lonar.