Places To Visit In Ooty
Ooty Botanical Garden
Botanical garden is the most visited and most popular tourist attraction in Ooty.
Spread over 22 hectares, Ooty botanical Garden is a beautifully landscaped, well-maintained, lovely green garden showcasing tremendous variety of flowers, many rare plant species and trees from different parts of the world.
Laid out in 1847 AD by Marquis of Tweedale, the then Governor of Madras, the garden today is maintained by the Horticulture Department of Tamil Nadu.
Botanical Garden, Ooty has a terraced layout and is divided into six prominent sections – Lower garden, New Garden, Italian Garden, Conservatory, Fountain Terrace and Nurseries.
The lower and the new garden consist of various exotic tree species, numerous species of ferns and a large number of flowerbeds.
The Italian Garden was laid out by Italian prisoners of World War I and consists of a number of colourful annual and perennial flowers laid out in Italian fashion.
The conservatory was constructed with the aim of grouping flowering plants and the nurseries consist of eight glasshouses & a series of terraces for introduction and breeding of exotic plants.
At the top of the Botanical garden, there is a small Toda settlement with a Toda temple and a house. Tribals residing there allow tourists to get a glimpse into their lifestyle for a nominal fee.
One can carry food or snacks and have a nice picnic with family and friends in the beautiful green environs. For the shopaholics, there is a small outlet at the entrance of the garden, from where one can pick Toda shawls and jewellery.
Entry Fee: INR 30 per person
Camera Fee: INR 50
Note: Parking can be a problem during peak tourist season.
Doddabetta Peak
(9 Km on Ooty Kotagiri road)
Doddabetta peak in Ooty is a viewpoint and lures hordes of tourists throughout the year for the magnificent views it offers.
Standing tall at 8650 Ft, Doddabetta peak is the highest vantage point Ooty and the second highest peak in the Nilgiri hills after Anamudi in Kerala.
Located at the junction of Eastern and Western Ghats, the peak offers amazing views of the lush green carpeted valley and mesmerising sunrise and sunset views.
On clear days, one can get a glimpse of Chamundi hills and bird’s eye view of Coimbatore and adjoining regions.
9 km uphill drive or invigorating walk is simply worth it for the cool breeze and the heady aroma of the eucalyptus in the air with birds singing in the background make it a memorable experience for the visitors.
The summit is surprisingly flat and offers perfect base for capturing picture-perfect views.
To add to the tourists’ experience, Tamil Nadu Tourist Development Corporation maintains a small restaurant and a Telescope house here with a couple of telescopes where tourists make a bee line to get a closer view of the surroundings.
When Not to Visit: Monsoons are best avoided.
Rose Garden, Ooty
Rose Garden is one of the prime attractions in Ooty. Sprawling across 10 acres, Rose garden, Ooty, is the largest rose garden in India.
Maintained by Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department, this beautiful garden pulls hordes of tourists throughout the year.
The garden was initially laid out with 1919 varieties of roses and today it is home to more than 20000 varieties today including many exotic and rare ones like miniature roses, ramblers, hybrid tea roses etc.
Rose Garden, Ooty, is one of the 35 gardens in world to have won Garden of Excellence Award from The World Federation of Rose Societies in May 2006.
A particular spot in the garden popular as ‘Nila maadam’ offers a bird’s eye-view of the entire garden.
Situated on Elk hill close to Charring Cross at Vijyanagaram, Rose Garden is well-connected by road.
Thread Garden
Thread Garden in Ooty is a garden of its own kind!
Located on the same road as boat house, Thread Garden, as the name indicates, is a garden of artificial plants and flowers.
All plants and flowers in this interesting and beautiful garden are innovatively hand woven by thread.
Masterminded by a Keralite, Antony Joseph, this garden is the result of hard work of 50 women artists who worked laboriously for 12 years to shape the garden to what it is today.
What is even more interesting is that one can even buy these beautifully threaded flower arrangements from here and carry those back home as souvenirs or gifts. However, one must keep in mind while buying that these need to be kept and preserved well.
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