Ooty Botanical Garden

One of the must visit place in Ooty is the botanical garden. It is the most famous among the tourists visiting Ooty and this can easily be understood from the fact that the botanical remain crowded through out the day and through out the year. I prefer to visit this place during winters as the crowd is still less in winters compared to that in summers. Spread over 55 acres this botanical garden was built in the year 1847 by the Marquis of Tweedale. Every year in the month of May, the flower show is organized at the Ooty botanical garden that exhibits various flowers along with rare plant species. The botanical Garden is maintained by the Horticulture Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Click here for list of tourist place in Ooty

Ooty tourist spots- Places to visit in Ooty

Ooty Tourist Spots

Botanical Garden Ooty Lake Rose Garden Doddabetta Peak Pykara Lake Coonoor Dolphin's Nose Lamb's Rock Kotagiri Sim's Park Wellington Mudumalai Just like any other hill station there are a lot of scenic view points in Ooty and each one of them have been converted into a good tourist attraction. Below I'll put the list of all the tourist attractions in Ooty and around Ooty.You will need a atleast 2 days to visit the place inside Ooty. If you can venture out slightly, I would suggest you to visit Conoor, Wellington and Kotagiri.

Botanical Garden - Ooty

Located inside the limits of Ooty, it is the most famous tourist attraction in Ooty. This garden was laid out in 1848 and is currently maintained by the Horticulture department of Tamil Nadu. There is a beautiful green lawn where one can realx with friends and family. There are trees collected from different parts of the world. Shrubs and hedges are cut to resemble animals and look really beautiful. During the month of May, there is an annual summer festival inside the Garden where there are flower shows and various cultural programs that showcase the talent of the locals people. I have been to this place during summer and winter and I found the place beautiful in both the seasons but it was very crowded during summers and there was too much of noise inside the garden, which you hardly expect in such a place.

Ooty Lake

This 2 KMs long OOty lake has become another major tourist attraction. One can go for boat riding, both pedal and motor boats and it starts from morning 8 and is there till 6 in the evening. During the month of May there are boat races that have become a major crowd puller. Adjacent to lake there are a lot of the other places of interest for tourist that have come up. To mention few - Toy train ride, 3-D shows, Tora-tora ride, Car rides (something similar to go-carting). Outside lake there are ponnies available for rides. The Ooty Lake is located behind the railway station ( 1-2KMs from the station). Best thing to do would be park the car in the railway station, though parking is available near the lake) and walk to the lake ( along the lake) and enjoy the view and on the way back take a ponny ride till the parking.

Centenary Rose Garden

2KMs from the main crossing of the Ooty, the Charring Cross, is this 10acres of land on the hill slop that has been converted into Rose garden. It has more than 1000 varieties of roses ranging from Yellow to Pink to Red. Locals say that they have seen black rose also but I could not find one. May be because I went there during the off-season ( December).

Doddabetta Peak

At a height of 2623 meters above sea level, the Dodabetta Peak is the highest peak of Nilgiris hills. Doddabetta means the big mountain the native language and is the highest peak in the south India. It lies at the junction of Western adn Eastern Ghats. Some Details:- Height- 8640 Feets above sea level Rainfall - 125 cms/Year Temperature - Max- 19C / Min 0C Doddabetta is around 10KMs from Ooty and is on the Ooty Kotagiri route .

Pykara Lake, Pykara Falls

Pykara Lake and Pykara Falls are around 19KMs from the town but the road is in very bad shape. You can't drive at more than 10KMpH. I would suggest take a taxi or better take a bus to this place as I would not suggest you missing out on this another beautiful place. A word of caution :- Near the fall the rocks ar every slippery and be very careful there as I saw a major mishap happening in front of my eyes.

Coonoor

Second largest hill station in Nilgiris . There are a lot of view points around Coonoor as well. Read more about Coonoor

Kotagiri

It is a hill station near Ooty. I find this place more beautiful and serene than Ooty. It is 31 KMs from Ooty. Doddabetta View point is present on the route from Ooty to Kotagiri. The same route also goes to Coonoor and the roads are in much better shape than the usual Ooty Coonoor route. Even the scenic beaty is much more on this route.

Lamb's Rock

Near Coonoor, Lamb's Rock is another lovely view point and is ideal for all type of photographers. It is around 9kms from Coonoor.

Dolphin's Nose

Another view point near Coonoor. The road is not is a very good shape but the construction was going on when I went last year so it must be good now. The view is breathtaking from this place. People say that the tip of the peak resembles like a Dolphin Nose and so the name. There will be telescopes over there and you can see the Catherine falls, Black Thunder in Mettupalayam, and tribal huts. Another place for people with love for photography.

Sim's park

The Sim's Park is spread over an area of more than 13 hectares. It is on the way to Dolphin Nose from Coonoor. There are more than 1000 plant species. Every year in the month of May, the fruit and vegetable show is organized in this park.

Wellington

Very few people visit this beautiful place near Coonoor as it is under Army. I was lucky last time that I got a chance to stay here. It is a very scenic and serene place. The golf course ( 18Hole gollf course) is one of the most beautiful golf course I have seen. ( I have not seen many though) . If you have more time with you, you can visit the Madumalai National forest and go for camping and safari. There are vast variety of animals and birds in this forest. Bandipur national forest and Madumalai National Forest are the same forest except that they are in different states.