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| Making tracks
Coonoor is 300 km from Bangalore, 110 km
from Coimbatore and 18 km from Ooty. The nearest airport is at Coimbatore, from where you
can drive up to Connoor in about 2 hours. Lower Coonoor is connected by mountain rail and
bus to Ooty. While the train journey is scenic, the buses are crowded and a little
unpredictable.
Within Coonoor you can hire cycles or take auto-rickshaws.
Best time to go
Though Coonoor is a year round destination,
the best time to come here is in winter - October to March, after the monsoons are over.
The winters see cool days and chilly nights, but the summer can be warm and rainy.
Room with a view
There are a few hotels, tourist lodges and
the Club where you can find decent accommodation. If you are lucky enough to be invited,
most tea estates have private guesthouses that make wonderful retreats.
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From Bangalore
Charming,
pretty Coonoor is an uncrowded little hill station in the Nilgiris. The green hills of
Coonoor are radiant with tea plantations, gardens and flowers. The whole hill station has
an unpolluted, unhurried grace, making it quite the place for a peaceful sojourn. Though
the town has traditionally been over shadowed by big brother and popular neighbour Ooty,
Coonoor is definitely less commercialised and has a more predictable climate.
The drive to Coonoor is breath-taking and winds around a dozen hairpin bends. The market
and commercial heart of the town is in Lower Coonoor and the residences are clustered in
Upper Coonoor. Most of the bungalows are old-fashioned with lattice windows, red tiled
roofs, manicured lawns and rose bushes. Sim's Park in Upper Coonoor is a beautifully
landscaped garden in the middle of a ravine. A profusion of trees, flowers, shrubs and
ferns pepper the woods, right down to the lake at the bottom of the ravine.
Coonoor has many panoramic lookout points along the hillside. From Lamb's Rock, a pretty
picnic spot 6 km out of Coonoor, there is a breath-taking view of the gaping Burliyar
ravine, and the green ghats rising out of the Mettupalayam plains. A little further is
Lady Canning's Seat, the lookout point favoured by the viceroy's wife, and Dolphin's Nose,
an interesting rocky outcrop. A series of falls - St. Catherine's Falls, Law's Falls and
Kateri Falls - gush over cliffs and canyons, carving deep chasms in the rock face. The
ruins of Droog fortress is a wonderful summit for bird-watchers and you have a truly
spectacular view of the plains all around. So come to Coonoor and get one step closer to
heaven... |
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