Coaker's Walk and Kodai Lake
Kodaikanal · 6 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹3000 for the whole vehicle, up to 7 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹3000 for the vehicle.
- 7 seater: For a larger group on a full hill day. ₹4000 for the vehicle.
The town half of Kodaikanal, in the order the mist allows
Kodaikanal's most famous walk is a one-kilometre path cut into a cliff in the 1870s, and it is entirely at the mercy of the hour. Before nine, Coaker's Walk looks down two thousand metres to the plains. By late morning, most days of the year, it looks into a wall of cloud that has climbed up to meet you.
That single fact is why this day starts at half past seven and why it goes to the path before anything else. After that the order relaxes: Bryant Park at the same end of town, the kurinji temple and its view three kilometres out, the shola walk in to Bear Shola Falls, and the lake for the long afternoon.
You book the vehicle and driver for the day, so the price is flat whether there are two of you or seven, and the parking at each stop is in it. Kodaikanal's town centre is a one-way grid with paid parking at every gate, which is exactly the sort of thing you should not be solving on holiday.
Your day, stop by stop
1. Coaker's Walk
A one-kilometre paved path cut into the cliff edge in the 1870s, looking straight down to the plains. Go at eight and you get the valley. Go at eleven and you get the inside of a cloud.
Path entry ticket, and the telescope house if you want it
2. Bryant Park
Twenty acres of terraced beds at the lake end of Coaker's Walk, planted in 1908 by the forest officer it is named after. The glasshouse and the old eucalyptus are the parts worth slowing down for.
Park entry ticket
3. Kurinji Andavar Temple
A hill temple three kilometres out, named for the kurinji flower that blooms once every twelve years. The view from behind it takes in the Palani hills and half the plain.
4. Bear Shola Falls
A short walk in through shola forest to a fall that is a torrent after rain and a trickle in March. Nobody will pretend otherwise, and it is still the coolest ten minutes of the morning.
Entry ticket at the gate
5. Kodaikanal Lake
The star-shaped lake the town was built around, five kilometres of shore with pedal boats, rowing boats and cycles for hire. The best hour is late afternoon on the far bank.
Boat or cycle hire at the lakeside counters
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the day
- Pickup and drop at your stay in Kodaikanal
- Fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking at every stop
- Route ordered around the morning mist
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Entry tickets at the path, park and falls
- Boating and cycle hire at the lake
- Meals
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Entry tickets at Coaker's Walk, Bryant Park and Bear Shola Falls
- The telescope house on Coaker's Walk, if you want it
- Boat or cycle hire at Kodaikanal Lake
- Lunch and anything personal
Who this suits
Everyone. Coaker's Walk is paved and flat, Bryant Park is gentle, and only the short path at Bear Shola is uneven. Good with small children and with grandparents. The sedan seats four and the larger vehicle seats seven, each at one flat price for the car.
What to bring
A warm layer for the early start, it is genuinely cold at half past seven. Walking shoes, sun protection for later, and cash for the ticket counters.
Mist is the local condition
Cloud on Coaker's Walk is normal and is not a cancellation; it is the reason the day starts when it does. The route runs in rain. If the town roads close after heavy weather you get a full refund or a free reschedule.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund, or reschedule free once
- No show: No refund
Safety and the operator
Run by a licensed local ground operator, one driver per vehicle, commercially registered and insured. Coaker's Walk is railed along its length but the drop below it is sheer; keep children on the inside. Bathing is not allowed at Bear Shola Falls.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. It is one price for the whole vehicle for the day. Eight of you in the Tata Sumo pay ₹3,490 between you, not each.
Why so early?
Because Coaker's Walk is a valley view for about two hours a day and a cloud for the rest of it. Everything else here can wait; the path cannot.
Will Bear Shola Falls be flowing?
Strongly from June to December and weakly in the dry months, sometimes almost not at all in March and April. The walk in is worth it either way and we will not tell you the falls are guaranteed.
Can we stay on at the lake instead of being dropped back?
Yes, plenty of people do. Tell your driver in the morning and he will leave you at the boathouse end instead.