Ooty Blue Hills Getaway

2 Nights 3 Days Ooty tour package from Bangalore

2N / 3D Ooty (2N)

690 km

by road

17.5 h

driving

places

nights

meals

Pick the hotels that suit your budget

Private car with driver from Bengaluru

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Overview

A 3 day trip from Bengaluru to Ooty for families, couples and first timers. Your private car and driver pick you up at home, drive through the Bandipur and Mudumalai forests, and stay with you the whole trip. You stay 2 nights in Ooty with breakfast. Day 2 is the best day: the UNESCO listed toy train from Ooty to Coonoor, then the tea country viewpoints, a tea factory and Doddabetta, the highest peak in the Nilgiris. Best from December to May. Honest caveat: the first and last days are long (7 to 9 hours on the road), and Ooty gets very crowded on long weekends and in April and May.

Your route

Real road route from Google. Tap a day to zoom in. Numbers match the places in each day below.

Is this trip for you?

Moderate

Day 1 and Day 3 have about 8 hours in the car, with hill roads near Ooty. Walks are short and easy.

Great for

Families with kids who love trains and boats
Couples on a long weekend
First trip to Ooty

Think twice if

You get car sick on ghat roads (the Gudalur climb has many bends)
You want to travel on a long weekend in April or May, when e-pass limits and traffic jams are worst
You need a short, easy last day: Day 3 ends at about 9 PM

Day by day

Day 1

Bengaluru to Ooty through Bandipur, Mudumalai and Pykara

313 km 7 h 22 min driving 4 places

6:00 AM
Pickup from your home
Your driver calls 30 minutes before. An early start gets us through the forest in good light and up the ghat before the afternoon traffic.
1 h 33 min · 84 km
7:30 AM
Breakfast stop at Maddur
Idli, dosa and the famous crisp Maddur vada at a highway eatery. Pay as you eat.
2 h 42 min · 141 km
10:45 AM
1
Drive through Bandipur and Mudumalai
1 h here
About 35 km of forest road between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Watch for deer, peacocks and elephants. Stopping, getting out or feeding animals is not allowed inside the forest. The road closes to traffic from 9 PM to 6 AM.
1 h 11 min · 35 km
1:00 PM
Lunch in Gudalur
Kerala and Tamil style meals on a banana leaf. Your Nilgiris e-pass is checked near here, we arrange it before the trip.
1 h 3 min · 30 km
3:00 PM
2
Pykara Falls
45 min here
A short walk through shola forest to a series of rocky falls. Fullest after the monsoon, from August to November.
12 min · 3 km
4:00 PM
3
Boat ride on Pykara Lake
1 h here
A quiet reservoir ringed by forest. Motor boat ride included. Life jackets are given.
25 min · 15 km
5:30 PM
4
Pine Forest
30 min here
Tall pines on a slope above Kamaraj Sagar lake. Lovely in the late afternoon light, and the air is already cool.
16 min · 8 km
6:30 PM
Check in at your hotel
Ooty evenings are cold, about 8 to 12 degrees in winter. Dinner at the hotel or around Charring Cross.

Day 2

Toy train to Coonoor, tea country viewpoints and Doddabetta

71 km 3 h 1 min driving 6 places

7:30 AM
Breakfast at the hotel
9:15 AM
1
Toy train from Ooty to Coonoor
1 h 5 min here
Train 56139 leaves Ooty at 9:15 AM and reaches Coonoor at about 10:20 AM, through Lovedale and Wellington. Be at the station by 8:45 AM. We book First Class seats on IRCTC as soon as booking opens, 60 days ahead. Seats sell out fast in season. If we cannot get seats, we tell you before you pay and you drive to Coonoor instead.
54 min · 23 km
11:15 AM
2
Sim's Park
50 min here
A garden on the slopes of a ravine with rare trees from around the world. Your driver meets you at Coonoor station.
20 min · 7 km
12:30 PM
3
Lamb's Rock
40 min here
A short walk to a cliff edge looking over tea estates and down to the Coimbatore plains.
7 min · 3 km
1:30 PM
4
Dolphin's Nose
40 min here
A rock ledge shaped like a dolphin's snout, with Catherine Falls across the valley on a clear day.
13 min · 5 km
2:30 PM
Lunch in Coonoor
46 min · 20 km
4:30 PM
5
Tea Factory and Tea Museum
40 min here
Walk through a working tea factory and taste a fresh cup. Good place to buy tea.
12 min · 5 km
5:30 PM
6
Doddabetta Peak
45 min here
At 2,637 m, the highest point in the Nilgiris. Clouds roll in fast, so carry a jacket.
25 min · 9 km
6:45 PM
Back to your hotel
A free evening. Charring Cross and the Upper Bazaar are good for homemade chocolates, eucalyptus oil and woollens.

Day 3

Botanical Garden, Ooty Lake and home

306 km 7 h 5 min driving 2 places

7:00 AM
Breakfast and check out
8 min · 3 km
7:45 AM
1
Government Botanical Garden
1 h here
Terraced lawns, old trees and a 20 million year old fossil tree trunk. Quiet in the early morning before the crowds.
12 min · 4 km
9:00 AM
2
Boat ride on Ooty Lake
45 min here
A paddle or row boat ride on the old lake built in 1824. Weekends have queues, so we go late in the day.
1 h 30 min · 50 km
12:00 PM
Lunch in Gudalur
2 h 42 min · 108 km
3:30 PM
Tea break near Mysuru
Filter coffee and a snack before the expressway.
2 h 33 min · 142 km
6:30 PM
Drop at your home
A long day, home by about 9 PM. We cross the forest well before it closes at 9 PM.

Hotels

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What to pack

A warm jacket or sweater. Ooty nights drop to about 5 to 10 degrees from December to February.
Comfortable walking shoes for gardens, falls and the Doddabetta steps.
An umbrella or light rain jacket, mist and drizzle can come any time.
Photo ID for each traveller for the toy train, and some cash for small purchases and tea stalls.

Included

2 nights in Ooty in the hotel option you pick (or one of the same star rating if it is full, we tell you before you pay)
Breakfast on Day 2 and Day 3
Private car with driver for all 3 days, sized to your group, home pickup and drop in Bengaluru
Fuel, tolls, Nilgiris entry charge, parking, driver allowance and driver stay
Nilgiris e-pass for the car, applied by us before the trip
Entry tickets for Pykara Falls, Pine Forest, Doddabetta, the Tea Museum, the Botanical Garden, Sim's Park, Lamb's Rock and Dolphin's Nose
Boat rides on Pykara Lake and Ooty Lake
First Class toy train tickets from Ooty to Coonoor, subject to availability on IRCTC
GST

Not included

Lunch and dinner
Avalanche forest ride (it takes half a day; ask us and we swap it in for the Coonoor day)
Camera fees at gardens and parks, tips and personal shopping
Extra toy train legs, such as Coonoor to Mettupalayam
Anything not listed above

Plans change, we understand. Read our cancellation policy to see how changes and refunds work.

Ooty Blue Hills Getaway

Overview

Your route

Is this trip for you?

Day by day

Pickup from your home

Breakfast stop at Maddur

Drive through Bandipur and Mudumalai

Lunch in Gudalur

Pykara Falls

Boat ride on Pykara Lake

Pine Forest

Check in at your hotel

Breakfast at the hotel

Toy train from Ooty to Coonoor

Sim's Park

Lamb's Rock

Dolphin's Nose

Lunch in Coonoor

Tea Factory and Tea Museum

Doddabetta Peak

Back to your hotel

Breakfast and check out

Government Botanical Garden

Boat ride on Ooty Lake