Munnar, Kerala ~ A Travelogue about Lush Green Hills, Lakes, Spices and Nilgiris Tea

Munnar in Kerala is one of the most picturesque tea plantations in India in my opinion (I should know having been already been to Kangra & the world famous Darjeeling). Verdant green hilly landscape on which tea is grown, dreamy falls, lakes, gardens and reservoirs. One can walk endlessly on the hilly roads of Munnar and never get tired of the views. For me, the most attractive part about Munnar is though it’s a popular destination, it’s not touristy and definitely one does not bump into hordes of tourists at every noon and cranny.

We stayed in Munnar for 3 days as part of our 7 day trip to Kerala and were wowed by its natural beauty, fresh air and the superbly aromatic Nilgiris tea.

Our stay was at Autumn Trees and it was a lovely cozy hotel with wonderful staff and the most delicious north Indian food we had in our south India travels.

Of course, when in Munnar, everywhere one looks, there are the TEA PLANTATIONS!! And what wonderful scenery they make for!!! I must have clicked around 100 pics of the tea plantation from various angles.

One of the things we did most during our stay was drive around to the scenic area of Mattupetty and then walk around the Mattupetty Lake & Dam. There is a specialised dairy farm which rears cows in the open hilly grasslands; watching the cows graze on the lush green grasslands was like being transported to the scenes from Switzerland country side that we see in films or tourism brochures.

The gardens in Munnar are breathtakingly beautiful with assortment of varieties of flowers in vibrant colors. I went totally trigger happy :).

Munnar not only has the amazing tea plantation (for which is famous) but spice plantations and we visited one lovely cardamom plantation at Pothamedu. Oh the smell as I walked around the plantation ~ heavenly is the word that comes close to it!!

One of the touristy places we visited was surprisingly Eravikulam National Park. There were hordes of tourists (lot of honeymooners) and also locals lined up here during our visit. Though, it did not make it less pretty!! Famous for Nilgiri Tahir and Kurinjiflower (which flowers once in 12 years), this National Park has some of the loveliest views and has been maintained very well.

Other than the scenic views and the natural beauty, we had a gala time shopping for Nilgiri Teas, homemade chocolate and spices.

Munnar turned out to one of the most invigorating getaways for us during our Kerala Trip and we still spend many a Sunday afternoon talking about it. Hopefully, I will make a visit to Munnar again soon!!

And if you got inspired reading this, you should too!!