Ooty or also known as "Udhagamandalam is by far the most beautiful and popular hill stations in the south. Called as the queen of hill stations this charming hill resort is situated at an altitude of 2,240 meters above mean sea level in the Nilgiri Hills. Ooty is the headquarters of The Nilgiris district in the state of Tamilnadu.
Known for its natural splendour Ooty was a popular summer and weekend getaway for the British during the colonial days. Ooty also served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency and many other small kingdoms. Ooty covers an area of 36 sq. km and contains the highest point of Southern India called the Doddabetta Peak.
The misty mountains, serene lakes, dense forests, sprawling grasslands, wide spread tea gardens, pine and eucalyptus trees attracts thousands of tourists every year. The weather of valley is salubrious. During summer temperature is rarely higher than 25°c with a minimum of 10°c and winter temperature ranges between 21°c and 5°c. The most ideal time to visit Ooty is between February to May and September to November. Ooty's main industry is oil extraction particularly from the eucalyptus trees and tea gardens.
A major attraction in Ooty is the 46 kms mountain train journey to Ooty. The ‘Nilgiris toy train' connect Ooty to Mettupalayam, at the foot of the Nilgiris. The journey starts from Kallar near Mettupalayam and takes nearly five hours and this journey offers the best scenic view of the blue mountain hills.
Top Tourist Places to Visit in Ooty
There are many other places of tourists’ interest in Ooty.
Ooty Botanical Gardens
Laid out in 1847 by the Marquis of Tweedale, the then Governor of Madras botanical gardens are a major tourist attraction in Ooty. This garden sprawls over 22-acres and lies on the lower slopes of Dodabetta peak. The picturesque garden has a variety of trees and shrubs as well as some conservatories with exotic ferns and flowering plants. There is a fossil tree trunk 20 million years old in the midst of the garden. This garden is maintained by Tamilnadu Horticulture Department. A flower show along with an exhibition of rare plant species is held every year in the month of May at this Garden. The Flower Show is the pride of the festival.
Rose Garden
The Rose Park was established at Vijayanagaram in Ooty to commemorate the Centenary Flower festival is the largest rose garden in India. Here the flowers are arranged in five curving terraces. The rose garden is situated on the slopes of the Elk Hill and has a collection of more than 20,000 varieties of roses. Here you can find one of the largest collections of roses in India.
Doddabetta
Doddabetta is about 10 Kms from Ooty. It is the highest peak in the Nilgiris and lies at the junction of the Western & Eastern Ghats. It is possibly the best vantage point around Ooty.
Ooty Lake
This is an artificial lake built by John Sullivan in 1824. There is a boat house along the lake side from where one can take a boat ride in the lake.
Government Museum
It was set up in 1989 and displays items of tribal objects, district's ecological details and representative sculptural arts and crafts of Tamil Nadu.
Deer Park
The 22 acre Deer Park has Sambar, Chital and Hares besides water birds.
Thread Garden
This is unique garden which houses artificial garden of plants and flowers all woven by thread. This garden has natural models of plants and flowers developed using the technology of “hand wound embroidery”.
Pykara Lake and Water Falls
It is situated about 21 kms from Ooty, on the Ooty-Mysore Road. The main tourist attraction here well protected fenced sholas, Toda settlements, grassy meadows and also wildlife habitat. The Pykara Dam, Pykara falls is also worth visiting.
Kalhatty falls
The Kalhatty falls also referred to as Kalahasti Falls is located on the Kalhatty slopes at about 13-km from Ooty. Here water falls from a height of 122 meters and has great natural beauty.
Mukurti Peak
Mukurti Peak is a beautiful peak which is about 2553 km in height and is located 40 km from Ooty. One can enjoy a panoramic view of the hills and plains from here. The Mukkurthi National Park is located on the Southern corner of the Nilgiri Plateau.
Apart from these places one can go for short excursions and weekend trips to nearby places like Madumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Kotagiri, Sim's park, Coonnoor etc.
How to reach Ooty
The Coimbatore airport is the closest to the Ooty which is 105km away from the destination. Major Railway station connecting Ooty is Mettupalayam, which is approximately 46 kms from Ooty which is directly connected to Coimbatore and Chennai. Mettupalayam and Coonoor are connected to Ooty with toy trains. Ooty is well connected by good roads to all the major cities. Regular bus services are available from Mysore, Bengaluru, Chennai, Madurai and many more places. Also many tourist services providers offer package trips to Ooty from many major south Indian cities.
Accommodation
Since Ooty draws heavy crowd of visitors many accommodation options are available here ranging from luxury and deluxe to mid-rung and budget hotels to suit different pockets.