Earlier this year, I choose Ooty , India for my first year anniversary to escape the hot summer of Tamilnadu. It was a memorable experience which I had planned few weeks earlier to anniversary as an surprise to my wife.
About Ooty
Udagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund , and abbreviated as Udhagai and popularly known as Ooty,is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of TamilNadu It is located 86 km north of Coimbatore and 128 km south of Mysore and is the headquarters of the Nilgiris district. It is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills. The town is connected by the Nilgiri ghat roads and Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Its natural environment attracts tourists and it is a popular summer destination.
How to reach Ooty?
Since my home town is at south part of TamilNadu, I took bus from hometown to Coimbatore and got another bus from Coimbatore to Ooty. Coimbatore to Ooty bus is available at New bus station of Comibatore which is few kilometers away from the old bus station. If you go by bus, you will have a tea/snack break during trip to Ooty. For others, nearest airport is Coimbatore and nearest railway station is Metupalyam.
Stay at Hotel Darshan !
Hotel Darshan is 4Kms away from the Ooty bus station. It is very close to boat house and thread garden. This hotel has a beautiful lake view rooms and morning buffet area. Restaurant, laundry, WIFI & cab services are available here. Staffs are very helpful and kind. Hot drinking water is served anytime. Kindly book your room in online for better discounts and cashbacks.
Day 1
A lake surrounded by hills and beautiful scenic views to make you awww ! Parking is available here for all types of vehicles. Entrance fee of 15 INR per person is collected here. Ticket for camera is to bought at the entrance itself. You can choose choice of boating such as pedal boat, motor boat and row boat. A skilled person will be accompanying if you choose motor boat and row boat. If you want have self-experience boating, better choose pedal boat. Pedal boat is highly recommended for romantic couples. Boating tariff board is display in a visible place once you enter the boat house. You have select and collect your token number for boating. You will be called once your turn comes ! wear your lift jacket and enjoy your beautiful ride. Don’t ride very near the land surface, as mine got stuck with roots near the land surface, we called for help. Food court and souvenir shopping center area available here.
A magnificent display of flowers, plants and lawns fabricated entirely from thread, canvas and wire awaits you here at the Thread Garden, Ooty!. This is one of the unique and innovative garden. Entrance ticket of 15 INR per person and camera/mobile photograph fee of 20 INR has to be paid at the entrance. These are self-developed products of by a group of skilled artists. You can see more than 300 varieties of flowers and plants displayed here. Definitely wonderful works have done by the artists. At the end the thread garden flower show, you can buy souvenir thread flowers! Thread Garden website for your reference.
Day 2
On the second day trip, we decided to cover the other attractions in Ooty. Since other attractions are little away, so we took a cab thru travel2ooty website. Vehicle and driver details were shared thru whatsapp. I have already chosen a package for my second trip and we can customize our trip as per our need. Vehicle reached on time and we started our second day trip.
Our first stop was at Doddabetta peak. This is 9km away from ooty. This is the highest mountain of the Nilgiri mountains. It is a very popurlar tourist attraction with road access to the summit. Entrance fee of 10 INR per person, camera fee of 15 INR, video camera fee of 60 INR has to be paid. You get to see the beautiful valleys of Nilgiri mountains. This is a wonderful view point to get see all green mountains. Telescopic view room is available here. Restrooms and food stall are also available here. You find desi snack stalls at entrance.
India is famous for its tea and that too specially from Ooty and Munnar. The attraction in ooty is an open tea factory & museum. Entrance fee has to be paid. You will be guided by the posters, signage and audio message in the loud speaker. You can witness the process of making tea leaves to tea powder. It’s totally worth to know about this. Finally you can taste a sample tea of their product. A tea powder stall is at the exit of the museum.
This adventure sport activities is for any age group. Activities such as commando net, rappelling , rock climbing, sky bridge, valley crossing, zip line and zip swing. All these are beginner level adventure sport and it will be fun. We tried few and left the place as early as possible.
This museum is located in the middle of way to Botanical garden from tea museum. This place has several was statues of leaders, movie characters and some other statues. Entry fee of 50 INR per person and 10 INR for camera fee has to be paid at the entrance. This place takes a maximum of 30mins only. Kids will have fun in watching the wax statues. There is a chocolate market available near to wax museum.
This is one of the oldest garden since 1848. This is very famous and well known attraction. Entrance fee of 40 INR for adult, 20 INR for children above 10 years, 50 INR for camera and 100 INR for video camera is to be paid and tickets to be collected at the entrance. This place is famous for its summer flower show, which is being conducted every year. Various varieties of flowers are displayed in that flower show. It is maintained by the Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department. The garden enjoys a temperate climate. It is a very nice place for all age groups.
This garden is especially for roses. Since Ooty has a unique tropical mountain climate, it is very much suitable for growing roses. Many different species of roses are available here. More than 1500 varieties of rose plants are available here. Entrance tickets of 40 INR for adult, 20 INR for children and 50 INR for camera and 100 INR for Video camera to be paid and tickets to be collected at the entrance of the garden. It is always feel very romantic when you a rose, but seeing so much rose will make you so hyped.
Final Stop of my trip – Niligiri Mountain Railway
After vacating the room, we reached our final stop and much spot of Ooty. That’s Nilgiri Mountain Railway a.k.a Udadagamandalam railway station. Many people who visits Ooty will expect to have this wonderful ride thru caves and mother nature mountains in one of the oldest mountain railway line of India. You can book tickets thru IRCTC website or else you take tickets at booking center of railway station for current tickets. You have to be early at the station to buy tickets. I am damn sure, every person who takes this ride will enjoy and cherish that moment. After our trip, we have reach Coimbatore and returned to my hometown.
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