Kotagiri - A charming hill station in the Nilgiris

Bengaluru is getting hotter every summer. I miss the old times when the weather was pleasant throughout the year. Sigh! To get some respite from the scorching sun, Hubby and I planned a weekend trip to Kotagiri.

Kotagiri is a charming hill station in the Nilgiris - a perfect getaway to spend a weekend in the lap of nature, relax and rejuvenate. Compared to it's sister hill stations like Ooty and Coonoor, Kotagiri is still pretty much out of the public eye.

The Nilgiris

We started Saturday morning at around 6:00 AM and drove along the NICE road - Mysore - Bandipur - Ooty - Kotagiri route. The drive was a pleasure thanks to well maintained roads. By about 9:30 AM we stopped for breakfast at Hotel Upachar, Nanjangud on the Mysore-Ooty highway. In another hour, we entered Bandipur. The forest area looked drier than usual, some patches with no greenery at all. This immediately doused any hopes of seeing wild animals. Nevertheless, I was ready with my camera the whole time and captured plenty of deer on the road. No elephants or tigers unfortunately.

Through Bandipura-Madhumalai

By 12:15 PM, we had reached Ooty - the queen of hills​ after surviving the 36 hairpin bends. Just as we entered Ooty, I spotted nungu (in Tamil), tati-lingu (in Kannada). I absolutely love this fruit. After gobbling dozens of tatilingus, we started towards Kotagiri and reached by 1:15 PM.

Tatilingu-Slurrpp!

After a quick lunch at restaurant Apple Breeze, we checked into a hotel we had booked online - Marsh villa luxury home stay, a colonial 5-BHK villa in midst of tea plantation. We were pretty exhausted after the long drive and decided to take a quick nap which turned into a 2 hours sleep. We finally started for the Kodanad view point - one of the main attractions of Kotagiri.

Marsh Villa

The kodanad view point is about 18-20km from the Kotagiri centre and takes roughly about 30min to drive. One can see huge estates of Late Chief minister Jayalalithaa all along the way. I believe once upon a time, long, long ago, the estates we open to the public. Not anymore. After a lot of undulating curves, we reached the peak.

Evening colors at the Kodanad View Point

There is ample parking space and fee is ₹20 for a car. The first thing that one notices is how neatly the place is maintained. No trash anywhere. There is also a shop selling beverages, chips etc. The view point offers panoramic view of the Nilgiris. The Ranganatha peak is visible. This is a great to place to enjoy solitude and peace. Dusk had fallen and we decided to go back to our hotel.

View of Ranghanatha Peak at Kodanad view point

TripAdvisor lists 2 falls, Catherine and Elk, Longwood Shola. Our plan was to visit these the next morning. When we enquired our hotel manager, we were told that it wasn't really worth going in summer Longwood Shola requires special permission from the authorities which takes at least 2 days to obtain. We decided to drop the idea.

Frankly, except for a couple of view points, there aren't many tourist attractions, at least, during summer season. Now, I am someone who believes in choosing a place with lots to explore and cover as many places as possible. This usually irks my hubby whose idea of a vacation is to spend the whole time in a resort sipping beer. Kotagiri perfectly fits his definition. Surprisingly I did not mind it either. It was a welcome change - to be able to stop and feel the soothing breeze, listen to the chirping of birds, view the heavenly sights of acres and acres of tea estates.

Vast tea estates of Kotagiri

Oh oh before I sign off, I have to talk about the stuff that you can take back from Kotagiri. You can buy some lovely home made chocolates that you get at Kotagiri, sometimes cheaper than the.ones at Ooty. Do try local savories like varkey and butter bun. Friend's Bake is one place that I recommend. It's also a good idea to buy eucalyptus oil and other aromatic oils. How can one forget the tea powder from the land of tea plantations? You get plenty of varieties, ranging from plain and masala tea to more fancy chocolate and vanilla teas. I usually stick to the safe plain and masala teas.

Have you been to Kotagiri? Share your experience in the comments below.

Trip Stats :

Visited on :

25 and 26 March 2017

Places visited :

Kotagiri, Kodanad view point

Nature of trip :

Hill station

Route :

NICE road - Mysore - Bandipur - Ooty - Kotagiri

Total distance :

~400Kms X 2