Ooty

Udhagamandalam sits at about 2,240 metres in the Nilgiris and became the summer seat of the Madras Presidency, which left it with a botanical garden laid out in 1848, a boating lake, St Stephen's church built with timber from Tipu Sultan's palace, and a stock of stone bungalows. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, opened in 1908 and inscribed by UNESCO, climbs from Mettupalayam using a rack and pinion system on the steepest sections, the only such line in India, taking around five hours for forty-six kilometres. Tea covers the slopes around, and Doddabetta, the highest Nilgiri peak, is a short drive.

History

The earliest reference to the Nilgiri Mountains is in the Tamil epic Silappathikaram of the 5th or 6th century, and the region was home to the Badagas, Todas, Kotas, Irulas and Kurumbas; the name grew from the Toda orrai-kal manru, "single stone village", into Udagamandalam, anglicised as Ootacamund. In 1818 J. C. Whish and N. W. Kindersley, assistants to John Sullivan, collector of Coimbatore, reported on the region as a summer retreat, and Sullivan built his residence here and opened a road from Sirumugai, finished in May 1823 (Wikipedia, Ooty).

What you'll find

• The mountain railway - a rack and pinion climb from the plains, unique in India.
• The botanical garden - the 1848 layout with a fossil tree trunk.
• St Stephen's church - built with timber taken from Tipu's palace.
• Doddabetta - the highest Nilgiri peak, with a viewpoint.

When to go

October to June; the summer season from April to June is peak and extremely crowded, with the flower show in May. The monsoon brings fog and landslides on the ghat roads.

What to expect

Peak-season traffic and crowds are severe, with hours-long jams on the ghat roads. Railway tickets sell out weeks ahead. The town has grown far beyond its old core and much of it is congested.

Nearby

Coonoor lies below on the railway; Mudumalai is north.