Bangalore to Ooty by train

Family Delight

Hi we want to enjoy the toy train ride to Ooty and would be in Bangalore on June 1st. Please suggest the best Itinerary.

ebby

There is no direct train. You could travel to coimbatore by train , then to Mettupalayam and from there take the blue mountain express to ooty. Alternatively take the road to mettupalayam and catch the BM express.

Family Delight

Thanks!!

Shall we take a taxi to Mettupalayam and then the toy train and return the same way.

Also we want to visit Mysore and Kodaikanal as well. Somebody suggested to break the tour into two parts :1)Taxi from Bangalore to Mysore - Hassan - Kodaikanal- Bangalore. 2) Bangalore to ooty and back to bangalore. Is that a good option. A taxi for the entire tour is not working out as we need to break at ooty for the toy train ride.

Please suggest

machadinha

Wouldn't it make more sense then to go B'lore-Hassan-Mysore-Kodai-Ooty (send taxi home, or have it wait for you, whichever works out better), then find your own way back by whatever transport from Ooty to BLR? A bus should take around eight hours I believe.

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ebby

Bangalore - Mysore by train - Plenty of trains available, Mysore - ooty either Taxi or Bus, OOty - Mettupalayam - Train and back to ooty by Bus or taxi should be a good option !

Family Delight

We are missing Kodaikanal this way

machadinha

Oh, you could work it all out by public transport. Since you mentioned doing it by taxi though, I was just thinking of what seems to me to be the most direct and logical route, and minimizing the costs of sending the cab home.

It's just one suggestion. You want to include Hassan right? I see no reason to hop down to Mysore first, then up there and further back down to Kodai. What makes less sense this way is you end up with two hill stations in a row, it just seemed the most logical sequence to me. Mudumalai is accessible from Ooty right? I'd try and include that. Well, I suppose it can be visited from either Hassan, Mysore or Bangalore as well, so you could fit it in anywhere along those lines really.

Family Delight

Thanks machadinha/ebby. Your suggestions are really helping us finalizing the tour. Have never been to southern India so don't know which place to visit first.

Just want to make the best of it and least hectic as have two kids below three years.

Please suggest one final shot for the best route -economical and minimal hectic.

machadinha

Yes, I just added above buses Ooty-Bangalore seem to take around 8 hours, possibly less today. So with two young kids, maybe my idea doesn't look so bad -- you could do it all by car, then either have it wait for you (depends how long you want to stay in Ooty I guess, or you could send the car up there while you just take the toy train from Mettupalayam for your own good fun), then do the last leg by bus -- or by your car, then. I'm not sure what the costs would be of sending the car home from Ooty to Bangalore, but it can't be all that much I think. But anyway, why not have the driver take the car up with you then, it doesn't have to be either/or (unless it's off-limits to private vehicles up there, but I don't think so. I've not visited Ooty. If so, again, consider having it wait for you down below, but you'd just have to weigh the costs of keeping him on in either case.)

You'd need to check if there could be a logistical reason (state of the roads) to go Mysore-Hassan-Kodai, but otherwise I'd do it Hassan-Mysore, it just makes more sense that way. I don't know how much time you'll have; if you press on just a little after Hassan, you could visit Madikeri in Coorg region, very pretty area. Then continue on to Mysore, this should be doable I'm quite sure. (Checking: Yes, it's on the main road from there. Should be around 3 hours by road, or by bus at least.)

From Hassan btw, you'd be mad not to visit Belur & Halebid, famous for their Hoysala art & architecture. Nearby Sravanabelagola is a major and famous Jain pilgrimage site, said to have the largest monolithic stone statue in the world, of a Jain saint, at nearly 17.5 meters. I think the latter would actually be best visited en route from Bangalore to Hassan, or you'd be backtracking.

Oh, and welcome to IndiaMike btw -- we never even said hi yet

pmvelu

If you do not want to hire Taxi for the entire trip , then :
From Bangalore, Catch a bus to Hassan (numerous Buses in this route). (4 Hours) (You could visit Belur / Halebeedu / Shravanbelagola)

From Hassan,Catch a bus to Mysore (Again, Numerous buses) (3 Hours)

From Mysore, catch a Bus to ooty (App.Hourly once around 10 - 3pm in Day time) (3 1/2 hours) (Bus takes Bandipur, Mudumalai,Gudalur route)

From ooty , catch the toy train to Mettupalaiyam. (as it's in June the crowd might be manageable compared to April, May months atleast.(4 Hours+ in toy train & 2 1/2 hours in bus)

From Mettupalaiyam, again "N' number of buses are there to Coimbatore.(Max 1 hour)

From Coimbatore, there are 2 routes to Kodaikanal (And there are very very few direct buses from Coimbatore to Kodaikanal) & hence hiring a Taxi is a better option OR else take Madurai bus (Again in Coimbatore- Madurai route hourly buses are available).
You could get down at palani and get the Kodaikanal bus ( frequency is once in 2 hours,Ghat Road is Average to poor & Narrow ) Or else you could continue the journey and get down at Dindugal and board the Kodaikanal bus (Bus frequency is better and the road is wide, Scenic and Safer compared to the Palani - Kodaikanal Ghat road) - (Palani has a very famous Murugan Temple)

And in all the above stated routes, buses are more and you could always get a seat and it's perfectly doable if you prefer to use public transportation.

For BNG-HAS-MYS-OOTY , you could refer www.ksrtc.in for timings /Bus types.

Hope this helps.

P.S:-Hmmmm, I posted before you added "Kids" Part !! & Cross-posted with Mach post

machadinha

It's an excellent description of how to do it by public transport though PMVelu

Family, can you tell us how many days total you'll have, including landing in and departing from Bangalore? Might help us helping you finalize.

Family Delight

Thanks machadinha!! And yes really forgot the Hi part !!

Family Delight

Thanks a lot pmvelu. You definitely have a good command over public transport system. I mean the "knowledge of public transport system"

Family Delight

machadinha,
We have 7-8 days (including stay at Bangalore). Don't want to make a hectic tour but would like to see everything possible (that's why the toy train craze)We already planned to book a taxi for the entire tour but then didn't know which place to visit first. Were also confused because couldn't include train ride if go by taxi everywhere.

pmvelu

Glad to know our(ebby,Mach) suggestions helped !...


Have a great great trip !