Places to Visit in Tamil Nadu - Ooty

Udhagamandalam or popularly known as Ooty is located 7,349 feet above the sea level in the mountain ranges of Nilgiris. It’s known as the Queen of southern hill resorts in India.

Places of interest

Botanical Garden – It was established in the year 1848. It has more than thousands of varieties of plant species. A must visit place on a trip to Ooty. When you visit this place make sure you do not miss out on the monkey puzzle tree (monkey can not climb this tree), 20 million year old fossilized tree, fern house. There is a flower show which is held in the month of May which draws lot of public from all across the world.

Ooty Lake – It covers an area of one and a half square miles with a beautiful railway track running along one bank of the lake. Boating in this lake is also a major tourist attraction. In the month of May you have boat race being conducted which again draws a huge crowd. You can rent boats here on a hourly basis.

Spencer’s departmental store – A must visit place for cigar lovers. It’s a short walk from Charing Cross and specializes on cigars made of Indian tobacco taken from their own plantation

Other places around Ooty are:

Dodabetta – It’s the highest peak in Tamil Nadu
Kalhatti falls – It drops from around 130 feet and is around 12 kms from Ooty
Avalanche – This is one of the best spots for tout fishing. Don’t worry the fishing rods can be hired there. It is around 25 kms from Ooty
Suicide Point – When you go there you will realize why it is called that way
Lambs Point - From this point you can view the valley till Metupalayam
Dolphin peak – A nice place to have a look at the valley below. The point has been named based on the reseblance to Dolpin's nose.

When to Visit

September to February
This is the period most preferred by Europeans. The weather tends to be that of an English summer although the evenings and nights can be quite cool, even cold with December and January occasionally getting morning frosts. Those intending to engage in outdoor activities will find this a good time with plenty of wildlife in the National Parks. Coonoor (but not normally Ooty) does tend to be affected by the Northeast monsoon during November.

June to August
For Ooty the Southwest monsoon period is July and August (Coonoor does not tend to be affected much by rain during this period). Local travel can be problematic during this period with frequent landslides blocking roads. However, the vegetation is at its best as is the wildlife activities. This period can see very heavy rain for prolonged periods which can put a definite damper on things !

March to May
This is the Indian tourist season for the Nilgiris. It tends to be extremely congested and can be quite hot. The local infrastructure finds it difficult to cope with a large influx of short stay Indian tourists who arrive in a continuous stream of buses from the plains. Whilst this period is fine for the sun seekers it is not recommended for those who wish to engage in visits to wildlife parks.

Accessibility

Air – Nearest airport is Coimbatore. There is a regular bus service available from Coimbatore
Train – There are regular meter gauge trains running between Ooty from Metupalayam. Metupalayam is around 40 kms from Coimbatore Railway Station. It’s recommended that you take the train journey from Metupalayam; the scenery is amazing to watch.
Road – Ooty is well connected from Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mysore and Calicut. There are regular bus services from these places.
Local transportation – You have regular bus service, lots of local Taxis (Rs. 7 per kilometer) and Auto rickshaws (Rs. 7 per kilometer). It’s better to hire a taxi for sightseeing with standard fixed prices. This will save lot of time fighting with the Auto and Taxi drivers.

Temperature

The temperatures are around 25 degree Celsius during peak summer to near zero degrees Celsius during winter.

Hotels in Ooty:

Heritage hotels - Taj Savoy Ooty

First class hotels -

• Fortune Sullivan Court
• Hill Country Resort
• Holiday Inn Gem Park
• Hotel Sinclairs
• Howard Johnson The Monarch
• Kurumba Village Resort
• Nahar Hotel
• Sagar Holiday Resort
• Sterling Holiday Resort

Econonmy Hotels in Ooty

• Fernhills Palace
• Glyngarth Villa
• Hotel Lake View
• Kings Cliff
• Red Hill Nature Resort
• Regency Vilas Palace
• Sivasagar Hotel
• The Willow Hill

Budget Hotels in Ooty

• Bamboo Banks Farm Guest House
• Blue Valley Resorts
• Glanton Manor
• Hotel Charing Cross
• Hotel Darshan
• Hotel Hillock
• Hotel Khems
• Hotel Silver Oak
• Merit Inn Southern Star
• Moti Manor
• Nalapad
• Ooty Gate Hotel
• Preethi Classic Towers
• The Nilgiri Woodland
• The Queens Residency

Wildlife Resorts in Ooty:

• Jungle Hut
• Jungle Retreat
• Monarch Safari Park
• Tuskar Trails
• Ambuja Farm House
• Casa Deep Woods
• Blue Valley Resorts
• Bush Betta

Important Note: This is a plastic free zone. So, please make sure that you do not use plastic bags or dispose any plastic materials. Let us keep this place clean of plastic.