Things you should know before visiting Ooty

Ooty is one of the travel destinations for all age groups. Each and every time you visit , you will get

the Fresh feel as if you are visiting for the very first time. This is why it's called "Queen of Hills". It is also a budget friendly destination who wants to take a break from regular work and blend with mother nature.

Quick Facts

Quick Facts about Ooty

How to Explore:

How to explore Ooty

Here is itinerary for 3 days of visit

Day 1: Day of Arrival

On the day of arrival, you can plan for the Ooty Hill Toy Train journey either from Mettupalayam
or from Ooty to Coonoor. This is such a mesmerizing journey through mountain tunnels and edge
of mountain

You can also explore ooty bazaar road or commercial street. It has variety of shops.

Day 2: Ooty to Mudhumalai

Depending on your budget you can choose private or public or shared group transport.

1) Rose Garden

You can start your journey from here and an Entry ticket for this is around 40 rupees.
They asked for aadhar and our vaccine certificate. You can spend around 1 hour.
Good place for photo shoots. During season time, you will be able to see garden with full of roses.

2) Pine forest

It's such a nice place to visit. You need to descend down while working through Pine Trees.
It's also Good photo shoot place. When you go down, you can see a beautiful lake,
the scenery is literally awesome.

3) 6th mile /9th mile(Wenlock Down)

It's a very famous Film shooting spot. Many films were shot here. When it's green,really you need thousands eyes to enjoy the scene

4) Pykara Waterfalls/ boating 

 For pykara waterfalls, you need to walk around 1 km from the parking area. You can see the waterfalls which come like steps. Pykara boating is a really cool thing you need to travel to another place and this pykara boating lake is a natural lake.You will have a beautiful view when you go boating. There are normal boats with 10 people, 8 people are there which cost around 1200 and 1000 rupees respectively. There is also speed boat for 2 person it would cost around 1000 rupees

5) Needle Rock Viewpoint

The entry fee for this around 10 rupees per person.You need to walk around 500 meter to for the view point. I would highly recommend to go to this view point. The scenery was literally mesmerizing. You will see beautiful landscape of whole mountain. You will get a feel of how beautiful the world is. Literally worth to visit

6) Mudumalai Wildlife sanctuary 

 The mudumalai wildlife sanctuary is preserved by the government of Tamilnadu. You can see some animals as you go on the road. If you are lucky enough you can also see some elephants, wild pig, bison, deer, peacock. The forest department also organizes jungle safari for 1 hour of duration. It would cost around 350 rupees per person. But I would suggest you to go for Masinakudi Jungle safari which is 7km away from Mudumalai. It costs 300 rupees per person and they also take you to one dam view point and one hill view point. It's definitely worth it. Even if you didn't see any animals, you won't feel bad as the viewpoints are so good.

And you can start back to Ooty once you complete all these. You will reach back to Ooty by 8pm , if you start around 9.30 am for the Day 2 trip.

Day 3: Ooty to Coonoor

1)Ooty lake

This lake is a man made lake. The water supply for the entire Ooty is supplied from here after purifying water. There is a child play area like we have in the mall and boating. Few more shops are also there. You can spend good time to relax with family
Entry ticket for adult: 40 rupees per person

2) Botanical garden

This is a very greenish place which is good for photo shooting. You can also see a variety of plants in their display. People used to roam here and sit in the lawn to take pictures.
Entry ticket price : 40 rupees per person

3) Ketti valley view point

This is one of the sightseeing points on the way to Doddabetta or tea garden. You can see beautiful view of entire Ketti village. Here you can also take a hut house which is located at the side of a mountain cliff.

4) Tea garden estate

The tea garden estate is almost the same as the tea garden at other places. But one difference is that the way we go is quite thrilling and covered with full mist. The tea garden is also a very good place for photo shoots. If you want to get some original tea, you can also go for a tea factory tour. They offer a different variety of teas and chocolate. If you like, you can purchase it there.

5) Doddabetta Peak

This is one of the highest peak points in India. But unfortunately, the road to the peak point was closed when I visited.

6) Dolphin nose point: 

This could be your last stop for your day trip. You need to walk around 500 meters to get to the viewpoint. The scenic view from this point is really mesmerizing. You can definitely love the view. You can also see the sleeping lady mountain range from here.
Entry fee: 10 rupees per person

Stay

The recommended place to stay is near the lower bazaar or bus stand, if you don't have your own vehicle. If you have your own vehicle, you can choose your place with a good view.
Room price starts minimum: 400 rupees

Food

You will find a good variety of food options at Ooty bazaar street. The price will be affordable. There is KFC, pizza hut, Domino's at upper bazaar street which is 1.5km from bus stand. Moreover, the swiggy and zomato services are also available

Some Itineraries to cover Ooty and other places

Some contact Details

Please note that all below contacts are not promoted. These are all I have collected before and during my trip. Some of them I have personally used too. Kindly do your own research before using these contacts

1) Shared group trip bus:
You can call and check if the shared group trip is available or not during your visit "0936 010 1031". They also have an app on Google play store "Budget Ooty Tours". They also offer private cab service. You can find full details in that app. I have used a shared group trip from them. You call and confirm before you make your bookings

2) Toy train Ticket booking

You can book toy train ticket from IRCTC website or irctc app

Personal tips:

1. Create a google sheet to track your budget and actual expenses . It can also be shared with all people with whom you are traveling.
2. Create the travel checklist in google sheet not to forget the things required
3. Do all your shopping at Ooty itself.
4. Take winter gears before you visit.
5. Plan your visit during the non-season period, because it will be less crowd and everything will be less expensive.
6. Check local holidays of Ooty or Tamil Nadu before you visit (Because you may not find much restaurant or travels opened for ex: Diwali Leave, Pongal Leave)
7. Try to keep enough buffer between one travel to another travel just to avoiding missing bus,train or flight
8. Note down all emergency number in shared google sheet
9. Create whatsapp group and keep add all important docs, itinerary planning sheet, emergency contact

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