Top 15 Attractions in & around Ooty

Top 15 Attractions in & around Ooty:

15. Kamraj Sagar Dam or Sandynalla:

This is the first attraction from Ooty on your way to Pykara. It is worth a short stopover, as it is on the highway.

Kamraj Sagar Dam or Sandynalla

14. St Stephens Church:

St Stephens Church was built in 1831, is located very near to Charring cross.

St Stephens Church

13. Rose Garden:

It is located in the heart of the Ooty city, best visited during evening hours. Sit back and enjoy the amazing slopes of the Ooty city.

Rose Garden

Splendid views from the Rose Garden

12. Highfield Tea Factory:

The tea estate and factory is located near Coonoor town. At the factory visitors are taken on a short guided tour where they get to witness the tea-making process, right from growing to brewing, before ending with tasting one of the flavors. Your desired flavor can be later purchased from their outlet.

11. Ooty Lake and Boat house:

Ooty Lake is located at the heart of the Ooty town is one of the most popular tourist attraction of Ooty. Considering its accessibility it is more popular among tourists than Pykara Lake, although Pykara Lake is much larger, beautiful, clean and more suitable for boating. If you have Pykara Lake in your itinerary, then this can be skipped.

Pedal Boating at Ooty Lake

10. Avalanche Eco-tourism and Upper Bhavani Lake:

The eco-tourism is run by the Ooty eco-tourism group, and starts from the Avalanche Forest Reserve office. The eco-tourism includes a mini-bus or jeep ride into the forest reserve taking you till the gorgeous Upper Bhavani Lake. Upper Bhavani Lake is one of the highest rated tourist attractions of Ooty.

9. Kodanadu view point:

At a distance of 48km, this is one of the longest and beautiful excursions from Ooty. It is Situated 16 kms from Kotagiri on the eastern edges of the Nilgiris. On your way to the Kodanadu view point, panoramic views of tea estates can be seen on either sides of the road.

8. Doddabetta Peak:

Doddabetta is a picturesque place with panoramic views of Ooty at an altitude of 2,637 metres, which is the highest mountain in the Nilgiri Hills. It’s about 10km from the Ooty town, lots of buses ply from Ooty bus station to Doddabetta. Best visited early mornings on a clear sky.

Birds eye view of Ooty city from Doddabetta

7. Government Botanical Garden:

This 22 Acre Botanical Garden is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Ooty. The park has lower and upper gardens, can be covered in less than an hour. Do visit to experience some beautiful landscapes.

Lower gardens

Upper gardens

6. Needle rock view point:

This is a must see if your heading on the Ooty-Gudalur route, about 41km from Ooty town. The place is maintained by the forest department; a 500m trek from the highway takes you to the needle rock view point, and also has a well paved pathway. The view from the needle point is amazing with a 360 degree panoramic vision. At the Karnataka side is the forest view at lower flat grounds and on the TN side is the view of higher Nilgiri hills, which makes it special. Also Gudalur can be spotted from here. The views stretch across Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Mudumalai National Park and Bandipur National park, giving a vision of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states from the viewpoint.

View of the valley from Needle rock view point

5. Nilgiri Mountain Railways:

This is part of the Mountain Railways of India and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It also runs from Ooty to Mettupalyam via Coonoor twice daily, but runs from Ooty to Coonoor and back multiple times a day. The ride from Ooty to Coonoor or Coonoor to Ooty can be a good 60-90 mins experience. This should be experienced at least once while you are in Nilgiris. Tickets can be pre-booked from irctc.co.in.

Toy train

4. Pykara Lake and Pykara Falls:

At a distance of 22km from Ooty is the Pykara falls, and on the other side of the highway is the Pykara Lake boating, which is 2.5km from the waterfalls. This is a small waterfalls but beautiful, worth visiting only during monsoons and post monsoons. 

Pykara lake on the other side can be visited your round, and is maintained by the forest department. Boating facility is available here with 4, 6, 8 and 12 seater boat variants.

Pykara WaterFalls

Pykara Lake and Boating

3. Shooting medu/spot 6th mile and 9th mile Wenlock downs:

Wenlock Downs are one of the most picturesque places and easily accessible from the Highway towards Gudalur. These shooting spots with breathtaking views are at a distance of 9 mile and 6 mile from Ooty, and hence the name.

6th mile shooting spot

Wenlock downs at 9th mile shooting spot

2. Avalanche Lake and Emerald Lake:

An excursion 21km away from Ooty city, worth every single bit of effort driving this long. Last few kilometers of road after Emerald Bazaar is in a pretty bad condition. The lakes can be best viewed at the bridge between the two beautiful lakes Avalanche and Emerald. This place can be completed deserted over weekdays and offseason, so plan accordingly. This is a must visit for nature enthusiasts.

Emerald Lake

Avalanche Lake

1. Dolphin's Nose/Catherine Falls and Lamb's Rock:

About ten kilometers away from Coonoor is Dolphin’s nose view point. It can also be reached from Ooty via the scenic route through Kattabettu. Catherine falls can be spotted from the dolphins nose view point. The route to the dolphins point is equally amazing as the dolphins nose view point itself. This must be a must see in your list of places to see in Ooty. On your way one can have a stopover at Lambs rock.

Tea estates on the Dolphins nose road

View from Dolphins nose viewpoint

Ooty Road Trip Route and road conditions