Ooty/ Coonoor/Coorg...8days...suggestions please!

mandrake

Hi All,

After going through almost all possible threads on the subject, we still have some questions

I along with my wife and two year old baby are planning a travel to the Nilgiris- Ooty/ Coonoor/Kotagiri and Coorg.
We would appreciate your suggestions on any of these sectors..

_ Possible itinerary anyone?

- Is it really worth staying in Ooty or would it be better to base ourselves at Coonoor/Kotagiri and hop over to Ooty for a daytrip?

- Seeing the posts about 'jungle retreat', find ourselves really tempted...any tips?

- My wife wants to visit Coimbatore as a day trip...must sees there and/ must-eat-here?

- In COORG- staying options?

_ VERY IMPORTANTLY- possibilities of hiring a vehicle from Bangalore (where we land) for the duration of our trip?

- We plan to go mid-end August, good/bad/beautiful?

Finally any other suggestions or tips on staying options/eating options (especially as our two year old is not used to eating spicy food) would be extremely helpful!

Thanks in advance


Mandrake

zoltan

I spent 3 days in Ooty a couple of years back and hated it. The place was almost sterile in terms of activity and things to see/do.

By all means, pass through but as for staying, well that's your call. There are the tribal shops who retail tribal manufactured textiles but the quality and assortment is limited.

The chance of hiring a vehicle from Bangalore is not going to be a problem. B/lore is a large city and there will be lots of places with hire car facilities.

End of August should be a good time - not too hot & just getting towards the end of the monsoons.

There are many guest houses and no-star hotels where you can get a good (but inexpensive) room for the night. It would help if you can narrow down your requirements for this one.

Food in the South, generally tends to be spicier than the North but can be made less so if you ask before placing orders.

Cheers
Zoltan

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pmvelu

Hmmmm, Let Me try ..


From Bangalore if you hire a taxi,

Day 1 :-

Bangalore , Shrirangapatna, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary - Mysore (Stay)

Day 2:-

Mysore Local Sight seeing + Visit to Tibetan Monastery followed by Cauvery nishadharma followed by Madikeri(coorg) - Hotel Mayura Valley view (Karnataka toursism hotel)

Day 3:-
Abbey falls, Talacauvery, Bhagamandala-Virajapet-Iruppu falls(Night Stay)OR continue to Nagarhole NP-Kutta (Night atay) OR further continue to Gundlupet-Bandipur NP (Night Stay)

Day 4:-

Elephant safari at Bandipur Or Mudumalai Or Theppekadu followed by drive to Ooty - You could stay at Hotel TTDC (Goevernment hotel,Budget , Nice Location , secluded but in the city)

Day 5:-
ooty Local sightseeing(This included, Doddabetta, Pykara,Cinema Shooting spot,Lake etc etc) followed by a visit to Coonoor and back to ooty and night stay

Day 6:-
Take toy train to Mettupalaiyam and ask the driver to wait in Mettupalaiyam station. From Mettupalaiyam drive to coimbatore (1 hour). Visit marudhamalai, Isha Yoga centre (Nr Velliangiri Hills) and the exceptional food at Annapurna hotel (Near Gandhipuram -Coimbatore bus stand). Night Stay

Day 7:-
From Coimbatore, you could drive back to BAngalore via Mettur-Dharmapuri OR

If you still have time and energy, try out coimbatore - Erode- Mettur (MEttur DaM - Nice place)-Kolathur- MM Hills (Maha madheswara betta- Kannada / Madheswaran Malai- Tamil)(Once a hiding place of Veerappan & a very very famous Shiva Temple is there )-Bangalore OR

Coimbatore -Erode-Mettur-Dharmapuri-Hogenakkal Falls( Nice Place)- Bangalore OR

Coimbatore - Bannari Dam(Nice Place)- Bannari Temple (Very famous )- Nice Ghat road- Followed by poor road-Chamaraja nagara- Nanjanagud (Very Famous Shiva Temple)-Mysore- Bangalore

Hope this helps !

mandrake

Thnx pmvelu, for ur time and effort...your itin sounds fun and packed...except with our two year old...we will have to take things at a more relaxed pace and be a little more selective:-)

WE still need some refrence/recommendation for the care hire in Bangalore!

pmvelu

NP Mandrake ...

Have a Great Great Trip..

subabu2002

hi mandrek,

here is my suggestion,

for 8 days along with child,cab would be ideal and best to explore the places and also dont rush so many places with your 2 yrs child,it will harm both of you.try 2 places per day.that will ideal.

for 8 days,you can easily add wayanad area for a day or 2.

day:1: from bangalore - madikeri(coorg).stay in capitol village,surrounded by coffee estate,5 kms from madikeri.
it is very beautiful place to stay.price is around 1250-1500 per day.

if this budget will not suit,stay in any of hotels in madikeri town.choose your self directly.it will easy.

day.2: tour around madikeri, places like dubare elephant camp(go before 9am.)abby falls,nisargadhama,bylekuppe buddhist monestary. if time permits,go to thalacauvery.if not,ignore it.again stay in coorg.there were other lot of tour spots,but those were enough.

day:3.go to irpu falls and nagarhole santuary on the way to wayanad(kalpetta,vythiri,sulth an bathery) and ooty.if possible stay in kutta near by those places. in kutta,there were some home stays available.search and try any one of them. if it will not possible,go to kalpetta.here some hotels available.if time permits,go to thirunelly temple around 30 kms from irupu falls(note: if only time permits).

day:4. from kutta(karnataka) or kalpetta(kerala), you will go to kuruva island on the way from kutta to kalpetta.from kutta it would take around 30-40kms and from kalpetta 45 kms.for kuruva island visit,from kutta is best way. but i am not sure, in august,kuruva island will open or close due to rain.

if time permits,go to pookote lake nearby kalpetta,some falls around kalpetta area.

i would recommend one home stay nearby kuruva island, VARNAM HOMESTAY. it is located in village.if you like to explore village area,this place is definitely worth. i paid rs.1800 per day with all veg and non veg meals. if you will not like village area,stay in kalpetta, or your preferable places nearby area.

day.5: morning earlierly go to EDAKKAL caves,on the way to ooty from kalpetta.it is around 25 kms from kalpetta. it is a place that carvings of stone age people on big stone in big cave. you will definietly love this place.i dont know how will you manage with your child.

from edakkal caves, you will drive upto around 60 kms to mudhumalai on the way to ooty road. here you can go inside the jungle by bus arranged by santuary.
evening go to ooty(around 40 kms).

in ooty, i would recommend INDHU NIVAS(around rs.600 per day) near by indu photo factory, on the way of mudhumalai. it is good place.they also prepared food. but no tv.

day:6: on the mudhumalai road,try this places,6th mile,pykara lake,pykara dam.(worth).

ooty botonical garden(nice),rose garden(average)located in ooty town

day:7:dottabetta peak,kothagiri(nothing special),coonoor dophin nose(good place),sims park(nothing special).and then reach to coimbatore via mettupalayam.

day:8:from coimbatore,go to ISHA YOGA CENTRE.(35kms).its very very nice place.dont miss it.the famous dyanalingam is very worth to see.dont miss it.

search for train timings from coimbatore to bangalore intercity express for last day.best option.

in my opinion,kothagiri is not a special place.so avoid it.

if u wish mysore,avoid any one of those places. do you really need to visit mysore?

if any other queries,dont hesitate to ask me..

-suresh babu

mandrake

Have just seen a strange thing...an hour ago there was another post by PMVELU...Now it's disappeared...

subabu2002

yep, i also read it. now it disappeared.. i have his reply in my mail box.waiting for his valuable reply..

-suresh babu

pmvelu

Hey Mandrake,

I added the Kilometres/ day in my itenary (As you already read it you might know What I tried to convey) and also got quite surprised on Suresh's itenary (Which as per my knowledge is more rushing / More KMs a day) and somehow i thought it might contradict with suresh and I don't want to get into any kind of arguments (In Case ) and hence deleted and I have given the appropriate comments When I deleted my post too ...

Mandrake If that's helpful for you I could post on Monday (AS that's lying in Office PC)

Suresh if you have my post,Could you please post that !!


Happy Travelling .....

mandrake

Hey PMVELU and S Babu,

Thnx for ur inputs!

It's quite remarkable that complete strangers come here to help each other out on this site.
And of course, everyone has their own experiences and opinions. It's only better to have more inputs and decide the best option for ones own self.
So PMV pls do post the km again if you can.

thanx to all

pmvelu

Hey Mandrake,
This is what I added to the sample itenary for Better Readabiility .. I mentioned quite a lot of places in my first post which are Just VIA / Enroute Places which will definitely confuse anybody...Sorry about that !

From Bangalore if you hire a taxi,

Day 1 :- (Total Distance to be covered for the day 135 kms and all the Places I have mentioned are enroute Bangalore - Mysore Highway SH 17 - road is Excellent)

Bangalore , Shrirangapatna, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary - Mysore -Mysore Palace, KRS Dam(Night Stay)

Day 2:- (Total Distance for the day is 121 kms and Tibetan Monastery & Cauvery Nishadharma are Just on the way of Mysore - Madikeri Highway . Road ie Excellent upto Kushal Nagara (85th Km from Mysore) and there are Bits of Bad Patches until Madikeri city)

Mysore Local Sight seeing + Visit to Tibetan Monastery followed by Cauvery nishadharma followed by Madikeri(coorg) - Hotel Mayura Valley view (Karnataka toursism hotel)

Day 3:- (This day involves 120 kms and you could just visit Talacauvery and back to Madikeri and it's really a worth and a Very sacred place and so scenic)
Abbey falls (8 kms from Madikeri), Talacauvery (62 kms from Madikeri)

Day 4:-(This Day involves 150 kms or so )

Elephant safari at Bandipur Or Mudumalai Or Theppekadu followed by drive to Ooty - You could stay at Hotel TTDC (Goevernment hotel,Budget , Nice Location , secluded but in the city)

Day 5:- (Hardly 50 kms for the day)
ooty Local sightseeing(This includes Doddabetta, Pykara,Cinema Shooting spot,Lake etc etc) followed by a visit to Coonoor and back to ooty and night stay

Day 6:- ( HArdly 100 kms in Cab for the day)
Take toy train to Mettupalaiyam and ask the driver to wait in Mettupalaiyam station. From Mettupalaiyam drive to coimbatore (1 hour). Visit marudhamalai, Isha Yoga centre (Nr Velliangiri Hills) and the exceptional food at Annapurna hotel (Near Gandhipuram -Coimbatore bus stand). Night Stay

Day 7:- (This is 340 kms+ )
From Coimbatore, you could drive back to BAngalore via Mettur-Dharmapuri OR

You could back track to Bangalore Via Mysore
Hope this helps !

mandrake

Dear PMV,

Thnx once again...for ur effort...and everyone else who put in their bits as well...will certainly keep everyone posted!

rangshri

Hi everybody

This is Shrirang, staying in Mumbai...

I am getting married this Dec 2008 and planning to Visit Kodai + Ooty + Coorg + Mysore and Banglore...I have total 15 days...

Can anybody suggest me the proper route and nice places to stay..

Waiting for reply

Shrirang