Ooty was developed as a hill station by the British in the early part of the 19th century, in the Nilgiris or the Blue Mountains. These are known as the Blue mountains because of the blue haze that envelops them. Ooty is also known as the queen of the blue mountains or Udhagamandalam (the Tamil version of the original name) or Ootacamund. Ooty is situated in Nilgiri Mountains near trijunction of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It is one of the most popular hill resort in south India. This beautiful hill station lies at an altitude of 2200 feet above sea level. Ooty sprawls along a beautiful plateau where the the Eastern Ghats meets the

Western Ghats. The Eastern Ghats are mighty and attractive while the Western ghats have wooded loveliness. Ooty was described as the queen of hill stations by the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Today, even there is a British influence on the life styles which can be seen in its little cottages, colourful gardens, winding lanes, old churches, Botanical gardens and the lake surrounded by groves of eucalyptus. There are various places in Ooty which reminds of the British influence like the Club where snooker was invented by a subaltern named Neville Chamberlain, the Nilgiri Library with its rare and valuable collection of books on Udhagamandalam and St. Stephen's Church which was Udhagamandalam's first church.

The first inhabitants in the Ooty were a tribe called Todas who had been living here long before the British came in the early nineteenth century. But the credit for modernizing Udhagamandalam and making it accessible goes to the British who constructed the first railway line in the area and made it the summer capital of the Madras Presidency. The first British came to Ooty in 1812. He was followed by a few hundred European missionaries, educationist and civil servants. Mr. John Sullivan discovered Ooty in 1820. He built a permanent house at Nilgiri Hill. Later several other British officers, Indian kings or Maharajas and industrialists built their summer houses, palaces and mansions in Ooty.

The major tourist attractions in Ooty are the Ooty Lake, the famous Botanical Gardens and Dodabetta Peak. The beautiful Ooty lake is a favorite tourist place in Ooty. There are facilities for boating on the lake and pony rides for children around it. The most famous and beautiful Botanical gardens covers an area of about 22 acres. This beautiful garden, planted with various exotic trees, ornamental plants and undulating lawns was laid out in 1847. Dodabetta Peak is the highest peak in the Nilgiris.

Botanical Garden

Thread Garden
This unique garden full of colorful flowers made from threads is perhaps one of the most amazing sites one could come across. The plants and flowers are entirely woven by hand without any help from machines, even needles have not been used in creating these wonders.

Government Museum
It is located on the Mysore Road exhibiting varioustribal objects, representative sculptural arts and crafts of Tamil Nadu and the ecological details of the Nilgiri district.

Raj Bhawan
It lies on the Dodabetta Ridge, near the famous Botanical Garden. The majestic building was built in 1877, by the Duke of Buckingham and is now used only for official entertaining, while the grounds are open to visitors.

Ooty Club
This exquisite relic of the colonial past was built in the 1820’s. the architecture and lush lawns are quite impressive. The club still sticks on to the rules and regulations set during the British era.

Kandal Cross
The Roman Catholic church is believed to enshrine a relic of the ‘True cross’ on which Jesus Chirst was crucified. It is said to have been brought to India by anApostle’s delegate. Special Novena Prayers and Holy Masses are held here on every Friday and an annual feast is organized on May 3rd.

Rose Garden
This largest Rose Garden of India is perched on the lower slopes of Elk Hill at Vijayanagaram Farms. It was designed to commemorate the centenary flower festival covering an area of 6 hectares with over 5 terraces. The intial collection of 17526 rose plants from 1919 varieties include – floribundas, hybrid teas, polyanthas, miniatures and creepers. It is planned to increase the varieties to 5000 by introducing new strains from different centres in and abroad. Recently, it has become the first rose garden in the country to be recognized as a ‘Garden of Excellence’,by the World Federation of Rose Societies.

Stone House
This first bungalow of Ooty was built by John Sullivan and was called as ‘Kal Bangla’ by the tribals (kal means stone in Tamil). Today, it is the official residence for the principal of the Govt. Art College.

Dodabetta Peak
Dodabetta Peak is the highest peak in the Nilgiris. It is famous tourist attraction in Ooty . Many of the national and international tourist visit  this place every year.

The tourists can also have one day excursion around Ooty at several places like Kalhatti Falls, Glenmorgan, Pykara, Avalanchi and Mukurthi Peak.

By Air:
The nearest airport is located at Coimbatore which is about 100 kms.

By Rail:
An interesting little hill train links Ooty and Coonoor to Mettupalayam which is connected in turn on the broad gauge route to Coimbatore and Chennai. 

By Road:
Ooty is well connected with various cities of South India like Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mysore and various other cities.

To know the distances from Ooty click here.