Way To Arrive - Bangalore To Ooty

By Author: Rashmiranjan Patil
Total Articles: 261
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Bangalore, capital of Karnataka, is situated in Deccan Plateau. The city is known by several nicknames like 'Pensioner's Paradise’ and 'City of Gardens'. Now Bangalore is a major centre of information technology and is known as 'Silicon Valley of India'.

Bangalore has a lot to offer to the travellers. Among the historical monuments are Bangalore Palace and Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace. Vidhan Soudha, built in 1956, is an imposing granite building. Popular places of worship in the city included Bull Temple, Shri Nimishamba Devi Temple, ISKCON temple, Infant Jesus Church, St. Mary's Basilica, Tawakkal Masjid, Jumma Masjid, Masjid-e-Khadrik and Dargah Hazarat.

Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens, Cubbon Park, Ulsoor Lake, Hesaraghatta Lake, Nagavara Lake, Hebbal Lake, Film City, Gandhi Bhawan, Ravindra Kalakshetra and the famous Indian Institute of Science are the other places of interest in Bangalore.

Ooty, a popular hill station in Tamil Nadu, is about 290 km from Bangalore. The nearest airport is Peelamedu Airport in Coimbatore, which is 104 km from Ooty. Travellers from Bangalore to Ooty by air will ...
... have to get down at Coimbatore and take bus or cab to reach the hill station. A ride by taxi from Coimbatore to Ooty will cost about Rs.2500. There are also regular bus services to Ooty.

The main broad gauge railway station to reach Ooty is Mettupalayam, a small town at the foothills of the Nilgiri. There are regular train services from Coimbatore to Mettupalayam. From here the tourists can hire taxi or board a bus to reach Ooty. The trains coming from Bangalore to Kochi and Mangalore pass through Coimbatore. The 'Nilgiri toy train' connects Mettupalayam to Ooty.

The toy train covers 46 km from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam (Ooty) in four hours and 30 minutes. There are nine stations between Mettupalayam and Ooty - Kallar, Adderely, Hill Grove, Runnymede Kateri, Wellington, Aruvakkadu, Ketti, and Lovedale. The train passes through steep curves, long tunnel, long and deep ravines full of green vegetation, streams and tea gardens.

The train is hauled uphill by steam engines, designed and built by the Swiss Locomotive Works. Twelve of such locomotive engines survive even today. There are regular bus services and overnight Volvo buses from Bangalore to Ooty.

Ooty has beautiful landscapes, dense forests, national parks, tea plantations and monuments. Ooty is situated at an average altitude of 2284 metres above sea level. Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had once described Ooty as the "Queen of Hill Stations".

Among the major tourist attractions in Ooty are Government Botanical Gardens, Ooty Rose Gardens, Dodabetta Peak (highest peak), Annamalai Temple, Lord Muruga temple, Ooty Lake and tea and spice gardens.

There is no dearth of accommodation in Ooty. Accommodations are not very expensive compared to other cities in India.