Overview of the destinationKodaikanal one of the popular hillstations in TamilNadu is a quiet nice place and has a whole lot to offer for four or five days.The tourist spots can be fully covered over a weekend but it is the serenity and tranquility and greenery and the weather that make it special,so it can be best enjoyed if you stay for four to five days,relax, let go of all your steam and come back refreshed. Great place be it just a couple or a big gang of youngsters or a big family.
Food, sight-seeing and shopping
Sightseeing:
Kodaikanal has a whole lot of scenic view points, a huge star shaped lake, few parks, few waterfalls, forest area. The kind of places you would want to go depends on the age group as well as the kind of activities you would want to do.Lazy morning walks, and spending time around the lake in the evenings are heavenly.So don?t spend the whole day visiting places. Green Valley View, Pillar Rock, Guna Caves, Pine Forest, Shanti Valley View, Upper Lake View, 500 year old tree are on the same route and can be covered in a day in around 4 to 5 hours.One day you could visit nearby picnic spots like Berijam Lake or mannavanur. Bryant park, Chettiar Park, Lake(boating), Bear Shola Falls, Kurinji Andavar Temple, churches, can be clubbed in a day. Dolphins Nose/Echo Point, Lion Cave/Pambhar Falls are places that would need a good deal of trekking.So do consider the age/health of everyone when planning to visit these. Also make sure you are wearing the right kind of apparel and footwear.And plan these treks on the first or second day of your stay as it can be really tiring. The hotel or resort folks can help with information based on the type of activity you are interested in. The local taxi drivers can take you for a ride by offering packages with a whole lot of names on them. These might be places easily accessible by walk or those that are literally next to each other. So make sure you do enough research before deciding upon the cabs.
Food: Now that can be a bit problematic or rather repetitive.The food offered at resorts or hotels are usually not very satisfactory taste wise. Astoria, Meenakshi Bhawan and Hill Top are few popular restaurants for veggies like me and these provide pretty good food at budget rates. There are a couple of star rated hotels like Carlton or Kodai International for those particular about class. There are also a couple of dhabhas like Rasoi, Tava. Some of these close pretty early though. In all tourist spots and along the lake you get hot yummy corn, steamed ground nut salad, mangoes and best of all steaming cups of masala tea that can really pep up your senses.
Shopping: Home Made Chocolates, spices and oils.These are available in almost every other shop but the taxi drivers or hotel guys can help deciding where to buy good quality stuff. These chocolates are really delicious and so put off all your calorie considerations and do relish their taste while on this trip.Some nice varieties of fruits like lychees, star fruits, plums are also available
Activities & things to do
Lazy Walks in the city wearing warm overcoats in the chillness of the weather
Cycling along the lake(You get bicycles for hire)
Trekking
Boating in the lake
Enjoying nature and greenery
Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc.
It is easily accessible by road from Kodai Road, Dindigul and Madurai railway stations in increasing order of distance. Kodai Road is the nearest railway station and so if you are traveling by train make sure that it stops there. The hotels and resorts usually offer pick ups from these stations. On your return you could book a cab that is on its way back after dropping tourists in Kodai and it would work out cheaper. If you own a car and would not mind driving along the hairpin bends and hilly terrain and would be comfortable doing so that?s the best option especially considering the exorbitant rates of cabs and taxis. But if your car is a new one and you would not want a single scratch on it then better drop that whole idea.
.gif){kind=small}
