Ooty, a hill station in the Nilgiris District of Tamilnadu is very popular for travellers. It is officially known as Udagamandalam, and also known as Oostacamund.
With Ooty one can easily visit to Coonoor, kind of sister city of Ooty. Coonoor is more natural, and more beautiful. ✈
We took KSRTC Airabat club class bus from Santhinagar at 10:17pm, reached Ooty via Mysuru at around 6:30 am. We have booked room at Sterling Elk Hill Resort and took an auto to reach there for Rs 200.
The SEHR is located almost at a hill top, and you could see the city below! Excellent view.
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| View from Sterling Elk Hill Resort |
It includes a restaurant, Cafe Blue offering buffets during breakfast and dinner, a la carte is also there. There is also a Bar but limited liquor options are available. They have some good cocktails though. The hospitality is top notch!
As my friend suggested, we contacted Peter for cab (94869 46087/63804 83945). He is an excellent driver, with lots of knowledge of local places. Traveling with him would give a good experience. We called him after the breakfast at SEHR, and luckily he was ready to go with us. For the day he chalked out the trip as goes below. I note this day's trip as Ooty City tour.
☸ Doddabetta Peak - the road was being repaired, hence we had to skip it.
☸ Tea factory and Tea museum
On the way to Botanical Garden you may stop at Wax World, a Wax Museum. Nothing special you saw other Wax Museum, so may skip it if you like to.
☸ Botanical Garden
Entry Rs 40, camera Rs 50
In between you can stop at Stone House, the first bungalow which was built in Ooty. It was constructed by John Sullivan in 1822. Presently it is part of Arts College and holds small museum.
☸ Rose Garden
Entry Rs 30
Ooty has a unique tropical mountain climate which offers ideal climatic conditions for growing roses. The Rose Garden was established in 1995 by the Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department to commemorate the Centenary Flower Show in the Botanical Garden. Spread over 10 acres, Rose Garden is one of the largest rose gardens in India with more than 20,000 varieties of roses. Another top tourist spots in Ooty, so you will see crowd here too.
☸ Lunch at Earl's Secret - the restaurant of King's Cliff
☸ Lunch at Earl's Secret - the restaurant of King's Cliff
Well the place is off route, but deserves a must visit, even if you don't book your stay here for its excellent food at the Earl's Secret. I must add one thing, don't skip their desserts!
By the time we became hungry despite having a breakfast in the morning. Though Peter suggested us some restaurants in the main town, we opt for Earl's Secret - the kitchen of King's Cliff. King's Cliff, a former ancestral mansion for the British guests, today is one of the most sought-after heritage hotels in the beautiful hill town of Ooty.
As we entered into the property, the driveway welcomes us into something away from the civilization. The old mansion surrounded by the lavish greenary were telling me that I am in the right place to spend some good time. But we are not sure about the food, however as the dishes came to our table, we are very sure that it's a prudent decision. Great sumptuous foods, courteous staffs and impeccable ambiance - one of the best lunch we had til date.
Nearby there is a hotel - Monarch, one of the old grand properties of Ooty, owned by Bengali filmstar Mithun Chakrabarty.
☸ St. Stephen's church
St. Stephen's Church, Ooty is located on the Mysuru Road. It is one of the oldest church in Nilgiris district.
Nearby ....
The Nilgiri Library (search as Nilgiri District Pvt. Library)
Most of the tourists travelling to Ooty will miss this elegant building with features of Gothic architecture but this 162 year old and still growing building houses one of the oldest and finest public libraries in India. It is located at the Hospital road.
I am not getting into its history, which is freely available in the internet. But this building has its own charm and nostalgia. If you're heritage lover, it's your must visit in Ooty.
List of historic places in Ooty: St. Stephen's Church, Nilgiri Library, Ootacamund Club (in Club Road), Stone House, Adam’s Memorial Fountain, Ferrnhills Royale Palace (near Ooty Lake) and Nilgiri Mountain Railway.
☸ Thread Garden
Entry Rs 20, camera Rs 20; you can buy gift stuffs starting from Rs 500 to 3000
Located just opposite to Ooty Lake, it is an artificial garden featuring flowers, plants & lawns crafted from thread, canvas & wire. Mr Antony Joseph – a professor, along with other skilled workers, used his self-discovered “Four Dimensional Hand Wound Embroidery” technique to create the masterpiece. The entire garden has been crafted only using colored thread, canvas and wire. The workers did it all with hands, without any help of machinery, and it took them 12 long years to finish.
☸ Ooty Lake & Boathouse
Surrounded by eucalyptus trees and dollops of green bushes along the shores, Ooty Lake is an artificially constructed lake with picturesque natural surroundings. It is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Ooty. Ooty lake is an artificial lake constructed by John Sullivan, in 1824 for fishing purposes.
From the Ooty lake boat house you can opt for boating. There are three types of boats are available - pedal boats, row boats, and motor boats.
On the southern part of the lake, there is a Deer Park. The park, spread across 22 acres, holds rich fauna and flora along with varieties of deer such as Sambhar and the Chithal, Deer park makes up for an interesting visit, especially for wildlife enthusiasts.
Adam’s Memorial Fountain is another heritage spot of the hill station, in a walking distance from Ooty Lake. It was built in the memorial of the last governer of the British India.
Little far away, there is a royal palace too - Fernhills Royale Palace. Built in 1844, Fernhills Palace was the summer palace of Mysore Maharajas. It had seen several ownership changes, and since 1873 it was owned by Wadiyar royal family. Today it is managed by WelcomHeritage - a joint venture between ITC Ltd and Jodhana Heritage.
After Ooty Lake, we decided to wrap up for Day 01.
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Day 2
Same like Day 1, have breakfast at the hotel, and then go towards Pykara Lake via Car. The journey is a one of the beautiful ones - across the greenery of the surroundings.
☸ Pine Forest Shooting Spot ⌛
or, 6th Mile/Kamrajsagar dam
The Pine Forest is around 6 miles away from Ooty and hence the name. This was a place for shooting films, but now the place is full of tourists. Across down the Pine Forest, there is a valley on the bank of the Sandynulla lake, made by Kamrajsagar Dam. You can see the dam on the way to 9th Mile.
We had a cloudy weather and that made the atmosphere really mesmerizing. First we had to go through the dense Pine forest and then we reached the bank of the lake. Good place for photography, indeed, but again crowd is here too.
✔✔ If you're interested, you can have a look into Toda Village, a residential area of the local tribes on the way to Pine Forest. The Toda huts are made in the shape of a semi-barrel. These huts don’t have any windows and very low doors where one has to stoop and enter.
✔✔ Well let me make something clear about Wenlock Downs. Often it is associated with 9th Mile. But actually this is the spectacular, endlessly stretching meadow on the way to Pykara from Ooty. It is one of the most scenic places in Ooty. Both 6th Mile and 9th Mile are in this meadow.
☸ 9th Mile
Ninth Mile at Wenlock Downs is another popular tourist spot in Ooty. It is also equally famous for shooting films. In my personal opinion 9th Mile is more beautiful than 6th Mile.
☸ Pykara Lake, Boathouse
Pykara Lake is formed by the dam over the Pykara river. There is a micro hydrel power station (1x 2MW) running on it.
☸ Pykara falls
Entry Rs 10
During return to Ooty you can go to Kalhatty falls and then back to hotel.
I would rather say get a stay at Mystique Ville near Kalhatty falls.
Extended Day 2 tour can include Mukurthi National Park - famous for Nilgiri tahr, which is the state animal of Tamilnadu. From Pykara falls it is around 12 km away.
If you want to go west further - St. Monica Lake, Ancient Jail Tea Museum, Eucalyptus Forest, Needle Rock View Point, Frog Hill and some other view points on the road.
There is a very good stay option nearby - Mammoth's Cliff Bed & Breakfast backed by a good kitchen. Only 48 km from Ooty, Mammoth's Cliff is nestled on the foothills of the Kokkal hills in the Nilgiri hill mountain ranges. I suggest to stay here for 1 day and do opt for their mountain trekking and Jungle Jeep Safari. They have camp fire option too. You can go back to Ooty via Gudalur via Bus or car in the same route (Coimbatore-Ooty Highway).
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Day 3
On 3rd day we planned for a trip to Coonoor. Like I said before it is an off-bit destination and more like a sister city of Ooty, like Vattakanal to Kodaikanal. We had talked with Peter regarding Coonoor trip, he suggested to take a morning toytrain to Coonoor from Ooty so we can enjoy the excellent view of Ooty during train journey and he would drive car to Coonoor station, from there he would take us to sightseeing.
Peter arranged tickets for us, and he drove to Coonoor via road and picked us from the station. We mistook Coonoor as a day excursion from Ooty, but it is more beautiful in terms of natural beauty and in my future trip to this area, I will stay in Coonoor only. The population being so less in Coonoor, it offers a peaceful and relaxing environment which many other hill stations don’t.
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| Coonoor Rail Station |
As you are going through the hilly roads of Coonoor, you can see the mesmerizing beauty of the place. The roadside natural beauty is too good, too mesmerizing.
Dolphin's Nose viewpoint
(entry Rs 10, Camera 20)
It is a viewpoint - 10 Km away from the Coonoor maintown, as it says. The name is derived from a rock formation that resembles a dolphin’s nose. Though I found it quite crowdy and more people means dirty sourroundings, the road journey is mesmerizing. The drive through numerous hairpin bends and tea gardens happen to be the best part of Coonoor.
On the way there is place called Lady Canning's Seat or view point.
Dolphin’s Nose provides a ravishing view of the heavy forests and the giant green mountains in the backdrop, making nature lovers find excuses to spend some more time in this heavenly location. If it's your lucky day you can see the enchanting glimpses of the distant Catherine Falls, which often go under the clouds.
Lamb's Rock
Entry Rs 10
The viewpoint gave me a boring look initially, but I start trekking across the rock, I saw why it attracts the tourists. Though the area is monkey infested, and the beauty lies beyond the wired fences, I would suggest to visit here once.
After watching these two viewpoints, you may ask your driver to take you to Tiger Hill Cemetery which dates back to 1905, hidden behind tea plantation. The entrance holds a fountain with a statue of mourning angel. The place is beautifully eerie.
We had lunch after this. Luckily we found the best pizza maker in Coonoor without any hint. We ate at Open Kitchen (Club road, Belford). Their hand made BBQ Beef Pizza (Rs 375) was superb. They also have their home made ice creams as desserts, so we opted Oh Susanna and Salted Caramel Ice cream (Rs 150 each).
Start your church run in Coonoor after having the lunch - St. Anthony's Church (built in 1886), St. Sebastian Church (Gray's Hill area), All Saints Church (oldest in Coonoor).
Sim's Park
entry Rs 30
After visiting Sim's Park, I would suggest to go to 180 Mc Iver, an upscale heritage villa which was featured as the Kapoors’ house in 'Kapoor and Sons'. You can get a stunning 180 degree view of the town and the surrounding hills. Like King's Cliff it also boasted by a multi-cuisine restaurant - La Belle Vie. You may have the lunch here too.
That's the end of Coonoor day trip. We returned to Ooty via car across the army area. On the way you can see the bison roaming across the streets.
If you want to explore Coonoor bit deep, I am adding some spots.
Route 1: Ralliah Dam - Quin Falls - Kotagiri viewpoint - Catherine Falls - R. Mani falls
Route 2: Benchmark Tea Factory - High Field Tea Factory & Resort - Nonsuch Tea Factory - Echo Rock - Droog Fort - Pakkasuran Peak viewpoint
Droog Fort - It is nearly 15km away from Coonoor town. Bakasura Malai, as it was known to be earlier, was an outpost of Tipu Sultan in 18th century. Now it is in ruins, with only one wall remaining. Despite its poor shape, tourists come here to touch the history.
Hidden Valley - it is trekking spot to visit a small falls. The trekking journey is interesting across the green forest. However small animals may be encountered across the trekking.
There are hotels in main town of Coonoor but I rather suggest to grab stays in off-town resorts or homestays.
While you're returning to Ooty from Coonoor, you can reroute your trip via Katary falls. (approx 16Km from Sim's Park). From Katary falls to Ooty bus stand is approx 13-15Km.
For chocolates in Coonoor:
Indian Bakery - near Coonoor Bus stand - famous for Ooty Varkey and home made chocolates.
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If you have lost all energy, take some rest on Day 4, as you are about to take a night bus to go to B'luru. That's what we did, spoiled the 4th day by relaxing.
But you have energy of bison, so travel more.
Day 4: Annamalai Temple - Emerald Lake/Upper Bhavani lake, Avalance Lake
Best places to eat in Ooty:
- Earl's Secret at King's Cliff
- Angaara
- Place to Bee (Italian)
- Willy's Coffee Pub (for Coffee)
- Le Cafe
- Ascot Restaurant
- King Star (for Chocolates)
Further Food Guide on Ooty-Coonnor:
All prices as per my trip to Ooty in August 2019.
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