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India » Coonoor
 City Guide
 
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Charming, pretty Coonoor is an uncrowded little hill station in the Nilgiris. The green hills of Coonoor are radiant with tea plantations, gardens and flowers.
The whole hill station has an unpolluted, unhurried grace, making it quite the place for a peaceful sojourn. Though the town has traditionally been over shadowed by big brother and popular neighbour Ooty, Coonoor is definitely less commercialized and has a more predictable climate.
The drive to Coonoor is breath-taking and winds around a dozen hairpin bends. The market and commercial heart of the town is in Lower Coonoor and the residences are clustered in Upper Coonoor. Most of the bungalows are old-fashioned with lattice windows, red tiled roofs, manicured lawns and rose bushes. Sim s Park in Upper Coonoor is a beautifully landscaped garden in the middle of a ravine. A profusion of trees, flowers, shrubs and ferns pepper the woods, right down to the lake at the bottom of the ravine.
Coonoor has many panoramic lookout points along the hillside. From Lamb s Rock, a pretty picnic spot 6 km out of Coonoor, there is a breath-taking view of the gaping Burliyar ravine and the green ghats rising out of the Mettupalayam plains. A little further is Lady Canning s Seat, the lookout point favoured by the viceroy s wife, and Dolphin s Nose, an interesting rocky outcrop. A series of falls - St. Catherine s Falls, Law s Falls and Kateri Falls - gush over cliffs and canyons, carving deep chasms in the rock face. The ruins of Droog fortress is a wonderful summit for bird-watchers and you have a truly spectacular view of the plains all around.
So come to Coonoor and get one step closer to heaven.
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Coonoor is 300 km from Bangalore, 110 km from Coimbatore and 18 km from Ooty. The nearest airport is at Coimbatore, from where you can drive up to Coonoor in about 2 hours. Lower Coonoor is connected by mountain rail and bus to Ooty. While the train journey is scenic, the buses are crowded and a little unpredictable.
Within Coonoor you can hire cycles or take auto-rickshaws. |
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Best time to visit Coonoor
Though Coonoor is a year round destination, the best time to come here is in winter - October to March, after the monsoons are over. The winters see cool days and chilly nights, but the summer can be warm and rainy.
STD Code
0423 |
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 Coonoor provides the traveler with the panoramic view of the lush green Nilgiri hills, with its ravines, valleys, and waterfalls. Bird watching is a popular pastime in Coonoor, as the area boasts of a large variety of species like cormorants, pipits, thrushes, parakeets, skylarks, Nilgiri verditer, etc. The Sim s Park is an important place to visit in Coonoor. It is a 12-hectare park, having a collection of over 1,000 plant species, which include magnolia, pines, tree ferns, and camellia. Travelers can take a walk through the tea gardens. There are number of trekking and hiking trails around Coonoor. Travelers can enjoy the exhilarating and unique ride on the toy train that connects Coonoor with Mettupalayam and Ooty. The trip provides some breathtaking views of the Nilgiri hills in all its natural glory. |
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 The Dolphin s Nose viewpoint, which is 10 km from Coonoor, is an important place to visit. It not only provides a panoramic view of the vast expanse of the Nilgiri hills but also of the famous Catherine Falls. En route to Dolphin s Nose, and about 5½ km from Coonoor, lies Lamb s Rock, another vantage point to view the spectacular landscape. The famous hill station of Ooty is 19 km northwest of Coonoor. Ooty is popularly known as the queen of the southern Indian hill stations and is an immensely popular tourist destination. Like Coonoor, Ooty is also set amongst the green settings of the Nilgiri hills and is famous for its lake, gardens, and colonial architecture. Travelers can enjoy a number of outdoor activities like horse riding, trekking, hiking, and boating in Ooty. |
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