General Information about Ooty

From Mumbai: Can catch the Kurla-Coimbatore Express (1013), leaving daily from Kurla station on the Central Railway in Mumbai.

From Bangalore: The Bangalore Kanyakumari Express (6526) leaves daily. For early risers, the Bangalore-Coimbatore Inter-City Express, another daily train, is a good bet.

From Chennai: The Chennai-Coimbatore-Kovai Express (2675) leaves daily.
Chennai-Mangalore West Coast Express (6627) also has a daily service. Chennai-Coimbatore Shatabdi Express (2023) leaves daily except on Wednesdays. This one's a chair car. Another daily is the Chennai-Mettupalayam Nilgiri Express (6605).

From Kochi: The Cochin-Guwahati Express (5623), which leaves on Tuesdays. A more frequent option is the Cochin Barauni Rapti Sagar Express (5011) which leaves every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

By Road: Ooty is well connected by good roads. It is 535 km from Chennai (via Salem), 89 km from Coimbatore, 18 km from Coonoor (via Gudalur), 155 km from Mysore, 187 km from Calicut, 290 km from Bangalore, 281 km from Kochi (via Coimbatore and Palakkad), 236 km from Kodaikanal (via Coimbatore and Palani).

There is a regular bus service from Bangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore, Calicut, Kanyakumari, Tanjavur, Tirupati and Cochin. Buses ply regularly to Mudhumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Kotagiri, Coonoor and Doddabeta.

Local Transport: Ooty has taxis, three wheeler scooter rickshaws, local buses, and during the season, guided tours to take you around the city. Fixed prices for standard tourist sights are listed at Charring Cross taxi stand.

Landmarks

Mini Garden
At about one kilometre distance from the bus stand is the mini garden (Children's Lake Garden), which is on the way to Boat House. A children's amusement park is housed here. A snack bar is also available. It is maintained by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation Limited.

Lalith kala Academy
It is situated about 2 km., from Udhagamandalam on the main Mysore road. It has various collections of contemporary paintings and sculptures all over from India.

Rose Garden
It is located just 3/4 km away from Charring Cross. It lies with 10 acres of land with 1919 variety of roses.

Botanical Garden
Established in 1848, by the Marquis of Tweeddale, the gardens lie on the lower slopes of Dodabetta peak, the highest point in Ooty. The gardens are formally laid out with lily ponds, and there are clipped bushes in the form of elephants, with raised trunks. Here, a thousand different species of plants including some thirty types of eucalyptus are to be found. There is a fossil three trunk 20 million years old in the midst of the garden. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, recently enlarged, can be seen on the road from Charing Cross to the Botanical Gardens. The botanical gardens are the venue of an annual Flower Show every May
Lake
This artificial lake was constructed in 1824 by Mr. John Sullivan,  the then Collector of Coimbatore. The lake covers an area of one and a half square miles, with a railway running along one bank. The large graveyard of St. Thomas's church, built in 1870, overlooks the lake. It has the tallest memorial of Ooty, a huge pillar surmounted by a cross, over the grave of William Patrick Adam, the Governor of Madras Presidency, who died in Ooty in 1881. Paddleboats or rowing boats are available for boating enthusiasts. The lake garden and toy train are other attractions.

Government Museum
The Government Museum, Mysore Road, Udhagamandalam has tribal objects, the district's ecological details and representative sculptural arts and crafts of Tamil Nadu.

The Mukurthi Peak & Mukurthi National Park
Mukurthi Peak is about 40 km from Ooty. The Mukurthi National park is located on the South Eastern corner of the Nilgiris plateau. The area contains a viable population of Nilfiti Thar (Hamitragus hilocrius). The Silent Valley is located on the Western side of these ranges. Fascinating feature of the Mukurthi Sanctuary is its endemism and relationship with Himalayan flora and fauna.

Ketty Valley View
Located en route to Coonoor, this idyllic spot is a cluster of tiny villages that extend to the plains of Coimbatore and Mysore plateau.

Pykara (21 km)
Situated on the Ooty Mysore Road it boasts of fenced Shola and Toda settlements, undisturbed grassy meadows and also a good wildlife habitat. The Pyakara Dam and the reservoir attract many tourists.

Glenmorgan (17 km)
An Electricity Board van carries staff from Glenmorgan viewpoint to the power house at Singara. All the four km of the winch track pass through undisturbed Sholas and wildlife habitat. Prior permission of E. B. authorities should be obtained to enter the viewpoint zone.

Upper Bhavani
10 km from Korakundah and about 20 km from Avalanche. From Bangithappal via Sispara one can trek to the Silent Valley.
 

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