Ooty - The Epitome Of A Weekend Getaway Destination

Undoubtedly one of the most talked about and sought after tourist destinations in India, Ooty is a beautiful hill station in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is one such place people from far and near flock in to to have a perfect quiet holiday. It also lies close to Chennai and Coimbatore making it a perfect weekend getaway for the city folks. The landscape is marked with dense lush vegetations, smaller hills and plateaus covered with beautiful long stretches of tea gardens and eucalyptus trees.

Ooty is a rich town. Tourism is a big contributor towards the economy of Ooty, but it is not the sole contributor. Ooty earns a huge chunk of its economy from it agricultural produce and tea production as well. It enjoys a nice temperate climate all throughout the year which makes for a perfect climate for agriculture and mainly tea plantations. Ooty also has beautiful hotels and resorts built in old British colonial style. Some Ooty hotels like Hotel Savoy and King's Cliffe hotel are perfect examples. Both these hotels possess the old English charm offering colonial style cottages spread along a huge plot of land. The small multi coloured cottages are quiet, relaxing and a whole new experience. You could sit in the front yard of the cottage and sip sitting some of the finest tea.

Ooty also offers a various outdoor activities. You could try a hand during your stay there are hiking, trekking or horseback riding. Ooty has a 125 year old tradition of horseback riding and racing. A visit to the race course is definitely worth it. You could also simply walk around the woods and explore Ooty. There are many sweetspots you could go up to and get the beautiful view of the whole hill station. Although many portions of the hills are preserved as natural reserve forests and special permits will be needed to cap in the non-campsites. Ooty and Nilgiris are well known for a variety of local products like tea, eucalyptus oil, chocolates, spices and gourmet cheese. A visit to the tea plantations is definitely recommended. You could get the first hand experience to the process of tea cultivation which in itself is a craft and later on visit a tea factory where you could witness the actual process that goes into the manufacture of tea. The locally made chocolates from Ooty are also widely famous. Be sure to get the authentic stuff with no added flavours or sugar.

The best way to get into Ooty is by road. The fun joy ride with your back packers or family members gets more beautiful and scenic as you approach the hill station town. You could also take the train, which is also a unique experience as to get here you would have to catch the Nilgiri Mountain Railway(NMR) which was declared as one of the World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2005. The NMR is a small train which starts at Mettupalayam and stops at Ooty. Since only 30 tickets are issued the queue is a long wait so the best option is to book it online. You could place an online enquiry through the IRCTC train enquiry for more details like timings of the trains and availability.