Coonoor viewpoints and market
Coonoor · 6 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹4300 for the whole vehicle, up to 4 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹4300 for the vehicle.
The Nilgiris without the Ooty crowd
Coonoor is twenty kilometres below Ooty and about a tenth as busy. Its four lookouts sit on a single tea road running south-east out of town, and they arrive in an order that matters: Lamb's Rock, then Lady Canning's Seat, then the drop at Dolphin's Nose with Catherine Falls on the opposite wall.
The whole run is about 40 km and the road is single-lane for most of it, through working estate with tea lorries coming the other way. That, plus a valley that fills with cloud most days by about eleven, is the case for starting at half past eight and having someone else drive.
This is the day in the sequence that keeps you ahead of the cloud: the shola gully at Sim's Park while it is still cool, the three lookouts on the way out, Ketti valley on the way back, and the market at the end. You book the car for the day, so the price is the same whether there is one of you or four.
Why book the day here
The cloud sets the timetable
Dolphin's Nose is a gorge view until the valley fills, usually late morning. The day is built to reach it before that, not after.
It is one road, and it is narrow
The viewpoint road is single-lane through estate with tea lorries on it. A local driver who does it daily is worth more here than a map.
Lady Canning's Seat, which nobody stops at
It sits between the two famous lookouts, faces a different way and is usually empty. Drivers who work this road know to pull in.
Where you'll go
1. Sim's Park
Twelve hectares laid out along a natural shola gully in 1874, so it grows down a slope rather than across a lawn. Around a thousand plant species, and the tree ferns are the reason to go.
Park entry ticket
2. Lamb's Rock
The first stop up the Dolphin's Nose road, on a cliff above the Coimbatore plains with tea running to the edge. Named after the collector who cut the path to it.
3. Lady Canning's Seat
A small platform between the two famous lookouts that most cars drive straight past. It faces a different way, it is usually empty, and it is our favourite of the four.
4. Dolphin's Nose
The end of the road: a rock ledge above a gorge with Catherine Falls on the far wall. Come before eleven, because after that you are usually looking at cloud.
5. Ketti valley view
On the Ooty road out of town, a shoulder looking down one of the widest valleys in Asia, with the military camp and the toy train line somewhere in the floor of it.
6. Coonoor market
Hill vegetables, eucalyptus oil and estate tea sold by people who grade it for a living. Twenty minutes, and better value than any counter in Ooty.
How you get there
About 40 km, one road, one car
The circuit is short in kilometres and slow in hours, because the viewpoint road is narrow and the stops are the point. The vehicle, driver, fuel, tolls and parking are one flat price for the car. Entry tickets are bought at the gates.
- Pickup: Your stay in Coonoor, or Coonoor railway station
- Vehicle: Swift Dzire, up to 4 people, with driver
- Drive: About 40 km, mostly single-lane estate road
- Walking: Sim's Park is a slope, the lookouts are short walks from the parking
- Drop: Back at your stay, or the bus stand, by about 2:30 pm
The morning, stop by stop
8:30 am: Pickup
From your stay or Coonoor station.
8:45 am: Sim's Park
The shola gully and the tree ferns while it is still cool. About an hour.
10:00 am: Lamb's Rock
The plains view, first of the three on the road out.
10:40 am: Lady Canning's Seat
The quiet one in between. About 20 minutes.
11:15 am: Dolphin's Nose
The gorge and Catherine Falls opposite, before the cloud. About an hour.
12:45 pm: Ketti valley view
On the way back through town, with lunch after.
2:30 pm: Market and drop
Twenty minutes in the market, then back at your stay.
In your price
- Private car with driver for the day
- Pickup and drop at your stay or Coonoor railway station
- Fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking
- Route timed around the cloud in the valley
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Sim's Park entry
- Meals
- Anything you buy
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Sim's Park entry ticket
- Camera charges where a viewpoint collects them
- Anything you buy at the market
- Lunch and anything personal
Who this suits
Everyone, including older travellers. Sim's Park is a real slope and the lookouts are short walks on uneven rock, but nothing here is a trek. The car seats four and the price is the same however many of you ride in it. Message us before booking if there are more than four.
What to bring
A warm layer, the lookouts are exposed and windy. Walking shoes, sun protection and a little cash for the park gate and the market.
Cloud is normal here
The valley fills with cloud most afternoons and sometimes by mid-morning, which is why this day starts early and goes to the far lookout first. Cloud alone is not a cancellation. If the estate road is closed by a landslip 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. The ledges at Dolphin's Nose and Lamb's Rock are railed but the drops are real; keep children in hand and stay behind the railings.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. ₹4,300 is for the car and driver for the whole day, whether there is one of you or four.
We are staying in Ooty. Can we do this from there?
Yes, Coonoor is about 20 km down the hill. Tell us your stay at checkout and we will confirm the pickup and the slightly earlier start on WhatsApp.
Will we see Catherine Falls from Dolphin's Nose?
On a clear morning, yes, on the far wall of the gorge. In the monsoon it is fuller and the cloud is thicker, so it is a coin toss either way.
Is this the same as the Ooty gardens day?
No. Ooty is gardens and a peak inside one town. This is four lookouts down one estate road, and the two do not overlap at any stop.