Queen of Hill station- Ooty

Ooty is located in Nilgiris District and its easily accessible by bus, cab and toy train.

Nearest railway station is Coimbatore. Trains to Coimbatore are frequent from Chennai, Mysore, Bangalore

Buses are frequent from Coimbatore to Ooty.

Nearest Airport is Coimbatore Airport.

Toy train is available from Mettupalayam to Ooty via Conoor. Travel time is about 5 hours. And its advisable to pre-book your tickets in advance from irctc website to avoid last minute rush. Since unreserved tickets are sold over the counter the demand is usually high plus there is only one boghi for unreserved ticket.

Ooty toy train provides you with a mesmerizing view admist valley, waterfalls, dense forest.

Since we didn't pre-book our train we opted to take bus from Coimbatore to Ooty which took us around 3hrs to reach.

Drive through the hills offers you a splendid view.

There are several staying options in Ooty within budge you can choose from popular webistes.

Taking a stroll through the roads of Ooty one can find several eateries near the Race course road. And walking all the way up you can reach the main market.

Since Ooty toy train station was nearby we managed to book tickets upto Conoor and luckily we got a seat in it.

The jouney from Ooty to Conoor was a mesmerizing one with all the marvelous views one can ever dream of.

Conoor provides a panaromic view of Nilgiri Hills. Major attractions in Conoor are :

#1. Sim's Park

#2. Dolphin Nose

#3. St. Catherine Falls

There are several cab drivers willing to take you around Ooty for a package. You can opt for one if you have less time at your disposal.

You can even opt for Autos for short trips.

From Conoor we got a bus to reach Ooty.

Day 3

Ooty

Ooty is known for its famous Chai factories, Chocolates, Boat house and the Highest peak in the Nilgiri range known as Doddabetta.

There are 24 peaks in the Nilgiris range and the Highest one is Doddabetta. Doddabetta offers a stunning fascinating view of Nilgiris.

One can reach Doddabetta by travelling towards Kothagiri either by bus or taxi.

Doddabetta tea factory is not to be missed travelling enroute. You can encounter experience of tea leaves being processed through various stages and being packed right in front of your eyes and at the end of visit being served with a cuppa chai. There is even a factory outlet from when you can purchase tea leaves if desired.

While trip to Doddabetta will only take half day, rest of the day can be spent by exploring

#1. Ooty Botanical Gardens : Where one can find around thousand variety of flora.

#2. Deer Park

#3. Rose Garden

#4. Emerald Lake

#5. Ooty Museum

#6. Ooty Lake

Since it was our last day in Ooty and we didn't visit Boat house we took a walk to it.

Ooty boat house otherwise known as Ooty lake is the centre point of access in Ooty. Water flowing from the mountain streams in Ooty valley dammed into the lake. However due to environmental changes lake shrunk its size. Lake is surrounded by Eucalyptus tree and it offers boating.

Psst.. If you are in Ooty and craving for Chinese food Shinkow's Chinese Restaurant is a must visit.

For shopping in Ooty one can visit Main bazzar where you can find variety of stuff ranging from Woolen sweaters, Spices, Chocolates, Eucalyptus oil, varkeey, Antique Toda jewels, Nilgiris tea, honey, Cinchone etc..