Tourist places in Ooty.

  Tourist|Visitor's attraction in Nilgiris 

This article will provide details about places that are must see in Ooty and some of the important tourist places in Ooty with photographs. A short and crisp description will be made for every photographs for people to understand in a easy and a better manner.

Nilgiris is a hill station and a must see district in Tamilnadu, a person when he first lands to Chennai or Trichy in Tamilnadu, will be shocked to see such a beautiful and pleasant place in Tamilnadu. There are so many tourism places in Nilgiris and even if you are planning for a one month Trip, it is not sufficient to cover all the places in this part of the world. This article will make at most effort to cover as many places as possible for the readers to plan their Trip in the best possible manner.

  Image 1: Hill view.

Climate: Never miss a Jacket when you planning to visit this place, whatsoever may be the season, you will put to test as the nights are very cold here but summer is the best time to be here as the weather is pleasant and one can see different species of flowers here.

Temperature:

Average yearly temperature: - 6 degree Celsius or 21 degree Fahrenheit.

Average summer temperature: 6 degree Celsius or 43 degree Fahrenheit.

Average winter temperature: -12 degree Celsius or 10 degree Fahrenheit.

How to reach Nilgiris district, there are different routes that connect to this place, but when you are looking to travel through Tamilnadu (TN), Coimbatore is the nearest district which has got an Airport, Railway station and other roadway transports. The Airport is in Peelamedu which is 11 km away from the city.

The railway station is one of the biggest in the Tamilnadu, which is in the heart of the city and people travelling from Kerala can opt to choose mode of transport as there are lot of trains flowing from Kerala through Coimbatore and there is a several bus stations or stands in Coimbatore, Since the town has grown into a city, due to the growth of number of visitors coming into Coimbatore.

 They have segmented the bus stations based in the directions, South bound traffic will reach the new Ukkadam station and East bound traffic will head towards Singanallur station, and the north bound traffic towards Saibaba colony which is under construction and the north east places such as Tiripur, Erode, Salem and Chennai will reach the central bus station.

              Image 2: Coimbatore airport and railway station 

So once if you reach Coimbatore, there are plenty of buses available to Ooty, but during seasonal times the bus route is very busy so it is better to book in travels and depending upon the number of people, they can choose their vehicles, such as bus, van, car etc. If you are driving your own vehicle, make sure you have an experience driver on these roads, as they are multiple hairpin bends that takes you up the hill.

 Image 3: Hairpin bends

The above picture shows the hairpin bends and there are about 36 hairpin bends from the place called Mettupalayam to Nilgiri hills.

Place to visit in NILGIRIS District: 

Coonoor: When we go up the hills, the first hill station to be seen is coonoor, this is also a great tourist destination and there are several hotels available for accommodation.

                                       Image 4: Conoor night view 

                                                                      

I am sure the image might have teased you to visit this place, all the places in Niligiris are villages  but nowadays all the facilities are available due to increase in tourism.This one of major destinations for foreign visitors. There are two modes by which one can reach this destination, either by bus or by Train, and the railway system is very simple and is has only route from Mettupalayam to Ooty. There is a railway station in coonoor, called the coonoor railway station and tourists visiting this place would love to travel by train and the train is from Mettupalayam and it is a meter gauge train which is unique in these parts.

                                               

    Image 5: Coonoor railway station 

Since the train is meter gauge and runs through hills, the speed of the train is very slow when compared to the other trains, so this allows people to see some beautiful sceneries from Mettupalayam to Ooty, the following images would show the train route.

       Image 6: Train route

Image 7: Nilgiris Train 

Sight seeings in Coonoor: Since the climate here is very cold and pleasant and due to its hilly nature, almost all the places here are eye catchy. But will try give the most popularly visited places in coonoor.

a) Sim's park:The park is named after J.D Sim, ex-secretary of Chennai (Madras). It is spread over 12 hectares and build partially in Japanese style and covers many different species of plants. Usually there are about 1000 species if plants available in this park and every year in the month of May the Government of Tamilnadu organizes Flower and Fruit shows which attracts huge visitors from both local and outside population and since this falls in the summer season one can expect lot of foreign visitors flowing through this place.

Image 8: Sim's Park

Dolphin's nose view point: This place is named like this, as the tip of the mountain resembles Dolphin's nose. This is 10km away from coonoor and from here one gets to see the landscape of the Nilgiris district and not only that it gives a spectacular view of the Catherine falls.

   
Image 9: Dolphin's nose view point

Lamb's Rock: This is yet another beautiful place which is located 6 kilometers from coonoor and it has an entire landscape of tea and coffee plantations spread across the mountain and also gives a nice view towards the coimbatore district.

Droog Fort: It is also called as Bakasura malai, and is a famous port built during the dynasty of Tipu Sultan in the 16th century A.D, but the fort is not maintained now and what just remains a single damaged wall, but people visit this place as this is a historical place and also it allows trekking and hiking.

Kattary falls: The main source of tourist attraction in this place is the power station which stimulates 1000kw pf power every year.

Pasteur Institute: This is another unique place to visit, but one has to get permission to visit this place. Many vaccines are developed here, such as anti-rabies (dog-bite) vaccine. This place is situated near Sim's park and 


Law's falls: This waterfalls, falls between Mettupalyam and coonoor and it is just 5 km away from coonoor, dont ever think taking a dip in this falls during winter as you might be freezed but you can try doing it in summer season.
   
                                         Image 10: Law's falls

Please visit these places with the nice camera, take pictures and start sharing them with KnowmyTrip.com and get featured in our website.

Forest dale: It is a small beautiful village in coonoor, it is 3kms away from the coonoor bus station there are many scenic beauties to be seen, such as the wellington officers club, wellington golf course, which is one of the popular golf course in south India, where many celebrities and foreigners are part of this club.

Wellington Golf course: This is a luxurious club for people who are travelling to Nilgiris and all facilities are provided which includes a club house, bar, golf course etc, you can book your tickets before you travel to this place. 

                       Image 11: Wellington Gymkhana Golf couse club

Foods to taste:

Tea: Tea, if you are an adequate tea drinker, well this is the place you should be to taste different grades of tea. The Nilgiris is famous for its tea plantations and coonoor is no exemption. 

Image 12: Tea Plantations 

The geographical conditions such the hills and climate is very much conducive to tea plantations and most of the local populations are involved in tea cultivation and is traded both in the local and international markets, depending upon the quality elements such as taste, aroma, dust etc, the tea is graded as A, B and C and is traded all over the world. so if you are here, get the best quality tea packets from the manufacturer.

Bakery items:Tea is originated from United Kingdom and tea along with snacks in the evening in such a cold climate is a traveler's delight for sure, and in coonoor there are so many bakery items available such salted biscuts, coonoor rusks which is very famous in these areas, coconut bun, home made chocolates are the best combinations along with the best quality tea.

Ooty: This would bet the second option for any tourist who wants to visit nilgiris district, people often confuse with ooty with nilgiris, to be clear ooty is a town in the district of Nilgiris and a must see in Nilgiris. Lets explore the places to be seen in ooty and the adjacent areas.

Places to see in ooty:
                              Image 13: Ooty, the queen of hills
                                                                       

Ooty Government botanical garden: Anyone who visits ooty will give their first priority to this place, as this is very well maintained by the Government of Tamilnadu and see numerous plant species spread across the entire stretch of the garden. The 22 hectares of land covers many plants, herbs, ferns, trees etc and also it has also got 20 million year old fossil tree maintained. A must see in ooty.

                              Image 14: Ooty Botanical garden
                                                                    

Ooty Rose garden:It is formerly known as Jayalalitha's rose garden or centenary rose park and nootrandu rose garden, is is considered as the biggest rose garden in India and has different species of rose grown here such as Miniature roses, hybrid tea roses, yakimour, polyanthas, papagena, floribunda and roses of unusual colours like green and black.

The park has more than 20,000 number of species of roses, and both the botanical and rose garden conducts flower show during the month of may and it attracts huge number of people from all over India and abroad to see different species of plants and flowers grown in Ooty botanical and rose garden.

                      Image 15:  Some species of roses in rose garden

Toda House: Toda house are very few and becoming a rare place to see in this part of the world, it is a peculiar house built by the Todas, a tribal group of the NIlgiris plateau and their history goes back to the mid 1860's.

                                     Image 16: Toda House

                                                                                   

Tribal Museum: Tribal museum is a place to visit if you are explorer, as many important and rare artifacts, and photographs of the tribal of Tamilnadu and Andaman Nicobar island is portrayed in this museum. This is maintained by the Government of Tamilnadu and is 10 km away from ooty. 

St, Stephen's Church: This is one of the oldest church in the Nilgiris district, built in the period of 1830, and it is built in British architecture by Stephen Rumbold Lushington. It is on the way to mysore ooty, so if you travelling in that direction take just stop for while to see this ancient building.

                                    Image 17: Stephen's Church

                                                                  

Popular tourists spots near Ooty:

Doddabetta: This is the second highest mountain Nilgiris at a height of 2637 meters, this place lies in the Ooty -Kotagiri road and a complete view of Nilgiris is seen from this place, and it has also got a telescope house that allows people to see the entire scenic beauty of Nilgiris.

Image 18: Doddabetta View

Pykara river: This is a river thats runs in the pykara village which is 19 kms from Ooty, the river is considered to be a sacred river by the Todas and it has many scenic beauties. There is a boat house near the pykara falls and pykara dam which adds to the attraction of the place.

Image 19: Pykara river 

Pine forest:There is a stretch of pine tress which lies on the way from Ooty to Thalakunda, this is a favorite spot for people who wants to spend their time in the evenings and the trees here are placed in an orderly manner which has attracted many film directors to shoot feature films.

Image 20: Pine trees

Wenlock downs: This is named downs as it has a steep downfall from the top of the mountain, and people usually go to the top of this place to view the adjacent villages, it falls on the way to pykara village called the pykara road or mysore road , it is called as the sixth mile or nineth mile.

Kamarajar sagar dam: This dam is situated near wenlock downs, and another popular shooting spot in Nilgiris and as already mentioned most of the places in Nilgiris are beautiful due to the greenness and pleasant weather, and a dam near by this an additional beauty. It is just 10 kms away from the Ooty bus stand and a place not to miss when you are in ooty.

   Image 21: Kamarajar sagar dam

Mudumalai national park: This is yet another popular to visit by anyone who is visiting ooty or Niligris district, this park is a wild life sanctuary and also declared as a Tiger reserve in Tamilnadu has many wild animals and is divided into five main regions, Masinagudi, Thepakadu, mudumalai, Kargudi and Nellakota. This is a protected area but tourists get prior permission to visit this place with security as this is a home to many endagered species like Indian Elephant, Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Gaur etc, there are many birds species also available in this forest area. This is about 150 kms from Nilgiris district and connects two other states, Karnataka and Kerala.

Image 22: A male elephant in mudumalai forest

Mukurthi National Park: This park is situated at a distance 79 kms from Ooty and lies in the western ghat region and famous for different plant, animal and bird species. The Nilgiris Thar is the highlighting species found in these regions.

Image 23: Nilgiris Tahr

Ooty Lake: The ooty lake is another place which pulls lot of tourists from in and around Tamilnadu and the lake is over a stretch of 65 acres and boating is a part of tourism attraction, there are different type of boats available such as motor boats, pedal boats and people who wants to ride would mostly prefer pedal boats as it allows people to ride slowly along the water boundaries of the lake. It is an artificial lake constructed by John Sullivan in 1824.

Image 24: Ooty lake

Emerald Lake: Emerald lake is a beautiful natural lake found in the village, Emerald and lies about 25 kilometers from Ooty, there are few good reasons to visit this place if your touring Ooty, like you get to see different varieties of fishes, birds and also some spectacular stills for the photographers during sunrise and sunset. Adjacent to this lake, there is resort called, Red hill nature resort, which provides accommodation for visitors and this place also allows you to have many recreational activities like, biking, bird watching, fishing, trekking etc. so if you are with your friends or family a must see in ooty.

    Image 25: Emerald Lake 

Avalanche lake:

Another scenic beauty of ooty which lies 28 kilometers away from it, and the name is given as avalanche, because it does not appear as just one lake, but numerous lakes connected at one place, due to its geographical landscape. The lake is surrounded by many beautiful flowers like mangnolias, orchids, rhododendrons etc. Visitors are entertained by trout catching, as there is trout hatchery maintained near the lake where people are provided with fishing accessories to catch trouts, rafting across the lake is also part of the fun segment, and people are also allowed to trek in the forest regions of the lake.

Image 26: Avalanche lake

Kalhatti or Kalhatty falls: It is around 13 to 15 kilometers from ooty and bus facility is available to the kalhatti village and from there, one has to take a two km walk to reach this heavenly falls, which falls from a height of 120 feet.

Image 27:Kalhatti falls

Ooty or Ootacamund club: This is one of the prestigious clubs in Tamilnadu, as it is one of the oldest clubs in India and its history goes back to 1833, membership are available but its hard to get membership as there are some limitations. This is very well maintained by the local governing body and it was inaugurated by  Captain Doughlas who is also the founder of the club.

A very important history is made in this club, as the rules and regulations for the game snooker is sorted out at this place, though it is said to be originated in officer's mess in Jubbalpore in Madhya pradesh it has got a proper shape in this club. This club is very near to the ooty railway station so don't to sneak into this place.

Image 28: Ooty club

Raj Bhavan: This is also called as Governor's hall was built in 1877 by Duke of Buckingham, for officers to escape from the hot summer, so all the officials meet here during summer and was busy place, but now it is very silent and calm as it is not used much apart from when Governor of Tamilnadu visits ooty, they are allowed to stay in this massive facility.

Image 29: Raj Bhavan -Ooty

Gudalur:

This is a taluk of Nilgiris district and falls in the lower plateau of western ghats, whereas ooty and coonoor lies in the higher plateau.

Needle rock view point: It lies between ooty--------58km(needle rock view point)8km---Gudalur. It covers the entire landscape of Gudalar, mudumalai forest, parts of mysore, Karnataka, and some stretches of Kerala as well.

Image 30: Needle rock view point 

There is not much specific tourists spot available in gudalur taluk, but since the weather is very pleasant many toursits come here on summer to enjoy the vacation for trekking and accommodations are mostly available in the nearby town ooty. Another notable aspect of this place, Gold mining is one of the profession practiced in these parts of Nilgiris.

Places to see in Gudalur Taluk, click this link to see some of the significant places to see in gudalur.

Kotagiri: This is a town in the Nilgiris district and it has also got the same climatic conditions of ooty and coonoor.

  Image 31: view of kothagiri town

                                 

Tourists attraction in Kotagiri:

Kodanadu view point: This view point provides a panoramic view of the places around the hill such as the wide spead tea estates, thengumarahada region, kil-kotagiri, moyar river etc and it is about 18 km away from the Kotagiri town.

Rangaswamy peak: This peak is about 13km away from Kotagiri and offers a wide range of photography scopes for people willing to explore nature. so tourist prefer this place to take snaps shots of the hills and mountains of the Kotagiri village.

Image 32:Rangaswamy peak

Tourists information about Nilgiris district:

Image 33a:Distance information for tourists 

Image 33b: Distances

Check for other tourist spots in Tamilnadu:

Kanchipuram Tourism

Kanyakumari Tourism

Chennai Tourism

Trichy Tourism