Coonoor and Ooty Travel Guide.

Hello Guys, first let me introduce myself - I am a travel freak person who loves to explore new places by own. I like the places where nature can been seen in abundance. I love to adventure and try new things. I am also fond of good foods from different cuisine.

Now let me tell you my travel experience about coonoor and ooty. I liked both places, but I loved coonoor more than ooty as in coonoor you can really feel the nature at it's best.That's why I stayed at coonoor instead of ooty. Even coonoor is less commercialized than ooty , so you can save money as well :) You can easily go to ooty from coonoor through different mode of transports like trains , buses,taxi and autos are available. It's only 19 KM , so you can go in morning , visit and come back by evening.I will insist that you travel to ooty by Nilgiri mountain train railway only. You would love the path train passes through; you can see Nilgiri mountains , green valley , lovely forest , waterfalls and beautiful tunnels. 

NMR Train

Let me tell about NMR now. Nilgiri mountain railway was built by the British in 19th century. In July 2005 UNESCO added Nilgiri mountain railway as an extension to the world heritage site of Darjeeling Himalayan railways, then the site became known as "Mountain Railways of India".NMR train travels between Mettupalyam and Udhagamandalam (ooty), covering 41.8 km, 108 curves, 16 tunnels and 250 bridges. Station comes Between OOTY and METTUPALYAM - first station is Lovedale (4km) , second station is Ketti (8KM) , third one is Aruvakandu (14KM) , fourth one is Wellington (17Km) and fifth one is Coonoor (19KM) and rests are Kateri road, Runneymede , Hillgrove , Adderly , Kallar and Mettupalayam (coimbatore) . I have also noted down the train timing between coonoor and ooty for you guys, so you can plan easily in better way:

Train No	OOTY Departure	COONOOR Arrival
56139	09:15	10:15
56142	12:15	13:15
56137	14:00	15:10
56140	18:00	19:10
Train No	CONOOR Departure	OOTY Arrival
56141	07:45	09:05
56136	10:40	12:00
56143	12:35	13:50
56138	16:30	17:45

No prior booking is required for these trains, you can directly walk to the ticket counter 15 mins before the train departure. Ticket is even not so costly, first class ticket you can get in Rs 85 and second class general ticket in RS 5 only. Hope this information is helpful for you guys for better planning.

COONOOR

Coonoor is a quite calm place to relax and enjoy the natural beauty. This place will rejuvenate your energy, you will feel here "life is so beautiful". I enjoyed a lot in Sim's park here, you can find here trees from 18th century as well. There are some best places to visit here, which I noted down below :

1. Sim's Park

2. Dolphin's Nose

3. Lamb's rock

4. Tea Garden

5. Catherine fall

6. Coonoor town 

Lamb's garden and Dolphins's nose are near by only. While you will be going Dolphin's nose you can find tea garden and lamb's rock on the way only. Catherine waterfall is bit far, but you can view it from Dolphin's nose point. You can visit these places by hiring cab or auto only.But I will advise you guys take an auto go to the desired place where you want to go and spend as much time you want and take another auto for the next destination. 

In Coonoor town, you should try masala chai at every corner of the town. Quality Inn is good restaurant for lunch buffet not for Ala-carte. A must try from many of the local eateries are the ever popular Avare beans and Rajma. For an authentic south Indian cuisine I will say you should try food at Rangoli at Upper coonoor. Hotel Velan Ritz on orange grove road and Hotel wellington on riga apple road are some of the best places for fine dining in coonoor.

Tea, tea and more ! And this is just one of many things you could get your hands on. There are many well known shops where you can buy south indian artifacts. House hold linen and south cotton fabrics are very popular here. Inside Singara tea estate , you will find Needlecraft , a shop that is very popular for beautiful linens.

OOTY

OOTY is also a nice hill station to visit. Best time to visit this place will be between Apr-June & Sept - Nov . Don't forget to keep woolen cloths, nice jackets irrespective of whatever season you are travelling. Atmosphere in ooty will make you feel romantic <3

Botanical garden in ooty is good to watch, but it's not better than Sim's park @ coonnor.

Doddabetta peak (10KM from city) is a good point to view entire valley. :) There are some best places to visit here, which I noted down below :

1. Doddabetta Peak

2. Ooty Lake

3. Botanical Garden

4. Fernhill Palace

5. Pykara Fall

6. Pyakara Lake

7. Pine Forest'

8. 9th Mile

9. Kamrajsagar Dam

10. Rose Garden

11.Mudumalai wild Life sanctuary 

12. Charring Cross

Pyakara falls and Mudumalai are bit far from city, so you need at least one day time to visit both the places. Pykara lake is far better than ooty lake, I will say everyone should boat once in pyakra lake you will be mesmerized by the view offered by the lake. On the way to pyakara lake you will find pine forest, 9th mile, kamrajsagar dam. If you are a rose lover then you should visit Rose garden, it's worth visiting in April month. Mudumulai national park now declared Tiger Reserve, a good place to visit as well. I would recommend you visit all the places outside ooty through taxi, cab or tour bus in one day. places inside ooty like ooty lake, botanical garden , charring cross through local auto. 

Charring cross is most happening place in ooty, you would love to walk on the commercial street in night. Also you can find all the good restaurant on this street. In ooty, I recommend that you should try Nilgiri cuisine which includes crispy dosas, spice laden vadas , pipping hot sambhar and famous varki , a combination of chakli and biscuits.

if you would like to have south indian dishes then you should undoubtedly head out to Kurinji at commercial street. Hotel Nahar Nilgiri is the best for fast foods. If you want to have panjabi food then you need to head out to Dhaba Express on coonoor road.

Home made chocolates you will find every where in ooty, you should try it out some like blue berry. Best ones you can find in a big authentic shop near by botanical garden or king star in commercial street. Ooty's best signature shopping item would be the handicrafts and other items prepared by toda tribals. These includes red, white and balck toda shawals, linens , traditional toda silver jewelry , aromatic oil, honey and jam.

Seven things, you must try here in coonoor and ooty which are listed below :

1. Nilgiri Mountain Train Ride : coonoor to ooty and vice-versa, enjoy the ride.

2. Have a cup of coffee at Doddabetta peak @ ooty and Dolphin's Nose @ coonoor.

3. Boating with your partner at Pykara Lake @ ooty

4. Walk in evening on commercial street and have dinner at Kurinji / Nahar .

5. Tranquilitea estate @ coonoor : Tea tasting session at tranquilite, loved it.

6. Horse Riding Session at high field horse riding school @coonoor .

7. Swedish Massage /Aroma therapy at K- Holistic @ coonoor .

Now, I would like to conclude my travel experience about coonoor and ooty . Lastly I will say, you should keep at least 3 days to visit all the places mentioned. When I visited these places , I didn't realize how three days are passed. I was thinking - I should have planned some more days ;) Situation can be described in a hindi song "abhi ne jao chhor ke ki dil abhi bhara nahi" :) But as per the plan I need to go, Anyway I enjoyed a lot this trip .
Hope, you liked my post and this blog is very much helpful for you guys.

                                                                               

                                                         PYKARA LAKE