The former summer capital of British India is a favourite getaway of honeymooning couples and a popular location for many romantic Bollywood, Tamil and regional Indian films.
The British ‘discovered’ the hill station in the 1820s and fell in love with it. They built their homes here and even furnished the destination with all the facilities that they loved and reminded them of home – golf club, race course, hunt club, gardens and parks, etc. Though much has changed since then, Ooty still remains one of the more popular holiday destinations in India. Popular must- see sights here are:
Botanical garden
This garden, laid out in 1847, covers an area of 22 hectares. The numbers here are mind boggling: over 1,000 species of trees and 20,000 species that bloom in the rose garden which is the largest of its kind in India.
Doddabetta Peak
Standing tall at 2,623 m or about 7,250 ft, this is the highest peak in the Nilgiris.
Boating on Ooty Lake
Undoubtedly, this is Ooty’s most popular attraction! The area outside the boat club is a virtual mela of souvenir and food stalls jostling with horsemen to keep people entertained while they wait for their boat ride.
Guests who do not have their own car/vehicle need to hire a car. Our Help Desk will make the necessary arrangements.Coonoor market tour (6km by car)Get lost in the tiny, quaint market of Coonoor, with narrow winding lanes, typical of a hill town.
Duck into minuscule shops and browse colourful stalls piled high with fruits, vegetables, groceries, fabrics, leather items, Toda embroideries and natural oils like eucalyptus.
Walk into traditional, fragrant bakeries that brim with delicious home-made chocolates, melt-in-the-mouth cookies and biscuits. Try varkies, a local snack typical of Ooty and Coonoor.
Varkies have been stocked and displayed for decades in vintage glass jars in every tiny village shop worth its salt! If you grew up in this area, or went to school in Ooty or Coonoor, varkies will bring back fond memories.A market tour is a charming experience, travelling back in time to another era when everything was fresh, organic and pleasing to the eye!Incidentally, parts of the market are shut on Fridays.Guests who do not have their own car/vehicle need to hire a car.
Our Help Desk will make the necessary arrangements
