Mattupetty, Echo Point and Top Station
Munnar · 8 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹2500 for the whole vehicle, up to 6 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹2500 for the vehicle.
- Innova or Ertiga: The comfortable one on a long hill day. ₹3500 for the vehicle.
- Jeep: For the estate tracks a sedan cannot take. ₹4000 for the vehicle.
One road, five stops, and the timing that decides all of them
Almost every Munnar itinerary is the same road: out past Photo Point to Mattupetty Dam, along the water to Echo Point, up through tea to Kundala, and on to Top Station where Kerala runs out and Tamil Nadu starts. It is 32 km one way and it is genuinely worth doing.
What separates a good version from a bad one is entirely the clock. Echo Point at 8:30 is a lake and a hillside answering you back. At 11:30 it is a car park with a line of coaches and a hundred people shouting at once. Top Station is the reverse: the cloud sitting in the gap usually lifts and drops through the middle of the day, so arriving at a fixed time and leaving in ten minutes is how most people never see the view at all.
This is the road done in the right order, with a driver who has watched the cloud on this ridge for years and will hold ten more minutes at Top Station if it is about to open. You book the vehicle for your group rather than a seat, so the price is the same for two of you or six, and the only things you pay for on the day are boat tickets if you want to go out on the water, and lunch.
Why book the road instead of flagging something down
The order is the product
Echo Point early, Top Station in the window when the cloud lifts, Kundala on the way back rather than the way out. Doing the same five stops in the usual order gives you the crowds at every one of them.
One price for the vehicle, all day
The car, the driver, the fuel, the parking at every stop and the waiting time are settled now, for the whole vehicle. Nobody is renegotiating at Top Station because the cloud made you late.
A driver who reads this ridge
The Top Station gap opens and shuts within minutes. Local drivers know the pattern for the season and will wait rather than shrug and turn around.
Where you'll go
1. Photo Point
The first pull-in on the Mattupetty road, where the tea comes right up to the tarmac and the valley opens on your left. Five minutes, and it is the picture you will actually keep.
2. Mattupetty Dam
A concrete arch across the Muthirapuzha with a reservoir stacked behind it and shola forest on the far bank. Boats run from the jetty below. Your driver knows which side of the water the light is on.
Speedboat or pedal boat tickets at the jetty, if you want to go out on the water
3. Echo Point
A neck of land where the road narrows between two arms of the lake and the hills throw your voice back. Loud and cheerful by eleven, which is exactly why this day starts at eight.
4. Kundala Dam
Asia's first arch dam, in a bowl of tea 20 km out. The shikara boats here are quieter than Mattupetty's and the cherry blossom road around the lake is the reason people stay longer than they planned.
Shikara or pedal boat hire at the Kundala jetty
5. Top Station
The end of the road at 1,700 m, on the Kerala and Tamil Nadu line, looking down into the Theni plains. Cloud fills the gap most afternoons and clears in minutes. Waiting it out is part of the visit.
How you get there
About 70 km of hill road, out and back
Top Station is 32 km from Munnar town on a climbing single-lane road, and the round trip with stops fills a full day. You book the whole vehicle: it collects you from your stay, waits at each stop for as long as you want to be there, and brings you back. The rate is flat for the car, not per head.
- Pickup: Your stay in Munnar town, Chithirapuram or Pallivasal
- Vehicle: Swift Dzire up to 4, Innova or Ertiga up to 6, or a jeep up to 6, with driver
- Drive: About 70 km round trip, 90 minutes each way with stops
- Walking: Short walks at each stop, steps down to the Kundala jetty
- Drop: Back at your stay by about 4:00 pm
The day, stop by stop
8:00 am: Pickup
Out of town on the Mattupetty road while it is still cold. Carry a layer.
8:30 am: Photo Point and Mattupetty Dam
The tea slopes, then the dam and the jetty. About an hour.
9:45 am: Echo Point
Before the coaches arrive, which is the whole reason for the early start.
11:00 am: Kundala Dam
The arch dam and the lake road. Boats if you want them.
12:30 pm: Top Station
The end of the road and the view into Tamil Nadu, with time to let the cloud move.
2:00 pm: Lunch on the way down
At a place your driver would eat at, billed to you.
4:00 pm: Drop
Back at your stay.
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the full day
- Pickup and drop at your stay
- Parking and toll charges at every stop
- Waiting time at each stop, unrushed
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Boat tickets at the dams
- Lunch and refreshments
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Boat tickets at Mattupetty or Kundala, charged at the jetty by the boat operator
- Entry tickets where a viewpoint charges one
- Lunch and tea along the road
- Personal expenses
Who this suits
Everyone, including grandparents and small children. Nothing on this route needs a walk of more than a few minutes, except the steps to the Kundala jetty which you can skip. The vehicle seats four or six depending on which you pick, at one flat price either way.
What to bring
A warm layer for the morning and for Top Station, sun protection for the middle of the day, and cash for boat tickets and lunch. Mobile signal is patchy past Kundala.
Cloud is not bad weather here
Mist at Top Station is normal and often lifts while you wait, so the day runs in it. Heavy monsoon rain occasionally closes the upper road, and if that happens you choose 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 we have travelled with ourselves. The road above Kundala is single lane with blind bends and no barrier in places; drivers on this route are hill-tested and the vehicles are inspected annually. A GoExplorer number is on your confirmation for the whole day.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. It is ₹2,500 for a Dzire for the whole day, whether one of you rides in it or four. Six of you in an Ertiga pay ₹3,500 between you, not each.
Will we see anything at Top Station, or just cloud?
Honestly, it depends on the hour and the season. The gap opens and shuts through the day, which is why we arrive in the window when it usually lifts and why your driver will wait rather than turn around.
Is there an elephant ride at Mattupetty?
There is a ride operating near the dam and we do not book or recommend it. The dam, the reservoir and the boats are the reason to stop there.
Can we add Attukad falls to this day?
It is the other direction out of town and it would make an already full day rushed. Attukad has its own day, on the Chinnakanal road experience.