Kodaikanal review first time guide & Itinerary . Review on Kodaikanal

This write up is guide for first time visitor to Kodaikanal. Will try to give as much information as possible to make your holiday much easier.

Introduction:Kodaikanal is one of the most popular hill resorts in India. It is a charming hill station, stands amidst sylvan beauty on the southern crest of the upper Palani Hills near Madurai in Tamil Nadu. With its rocks, woods, lovely lake and bracing air, Kodaikanal is an ideal hill resort for the tourists.Kodai is situated at an altitude of about 2, 133-m high and covers an area of 21.45-sq-km

RainFall:  165cms(average)

Temperature Summer - 19.80°C Winter - 17.30°C

Best Season: April to June, and September to October, but can be visited throughout the year.

Cloth: Light woolen in the evening during summer and heavy woolens during winter.

*How to get there:

The Airport to Madurai is 135 kms, Coimbatore 170Kms and Trichy 195 Kms.

*Many Passenger trains pass through Kodaikanal road. Road Station is nearly 80 kms.

Kodaikanal is connected by Road with all important towns. Regular bus services are available from Kodaikanal.

*Itinerary:

*Day 1:

From Chennai we boarded Pandian express from Chennai Egmore Railway Station at 9:40 PM. in Pandian express. There is no direct train to Kodaikanal. We need to get down in Kodai Road and travel by road to Kodaikanal for around 85 Kms. It cost us Rs.223 per head in sleeper class .

*Day 2:

*Reached Kodai Road at 6 AM. The station is very badly maintained and construction is going on. Outside the railway station bus was readily available. It cost Rs. 28 per person which is really cheap. If you plan to go by taxi please don't pay above Rs. 750. The journey to Kodaikanal itself was amazing. It was 3 hours journey on Ghat section. Suggest you to take anti vomit tablet in case you are not used to ghat sections. Scenery was amazing on the way with mountains and big water fall on the way. It took us 3 hrs to reach Kodaikanal bus station. Every bus has DVD video playing tamil songs or movie. As soon as we got down from bus, lots of touts  surrounded us. We were double minded, whether to opt tour package from Bus station or Hotel. The offer at the bus station sounded quite good so we sealed deal for Rs. 750 per couple for 2 days. You could also opt for tour organized from the hotel where you will be staying. We had booked for 3days/2nights package at Sterling Green Valley Resorts which is 6 kms away from the main town. The resort is one of the best in Kodai with 160 rooms. True to its name it is surrounded by green mountatins all around and gave panoramic view of the mountains which was very mesmerizing. The view from my room was awesome. The rooms were clean with independent hot water heater, room heater, TV. The room service was very prompt and staff were very courteous.

We started our tour from 3 pm instead of 2 pm as scheduled. We were picked up from resort and were taken to Vatalkanal Falls which was quite small. From there we trekked for around 15 mins and reached Gundar Neptune falls. The way to get there is steep and slippery. It is recommend to wear trekking shoes. On the way we saw lion cave(without lion:-) and rock formation. Then we were taken to one of the most scenic place I have ever seen - Mountain Valley view for which we walked steep downhill for almost 30 mins. But it is worth the effort. The view is simply mesmerizing. Then we went to Dolphin nose which was quite scary to go to the rock at the edge of the mountain. It was awesome feeling which I thoroughly enjoyed. Further down was Echo rock, from where you hear the reflection of your voice. The climb back was quite tough as it was steep one.

We went to Tibetan Brothers Restaurant for dinner. You should try this.Try Momos and Noodle soup.We finished our meal for Rs. 150.

*Day 3:

We had breakfast in the resort itself. You can find many hotels in Kodai like Astoria, Hilltop, Silver Inn, Hotel Punjab, Pastry Corner etc for food. Today the weather was very cold and foggy. It was raining occasionally as well. First we were taken to famous **Coaker's Walk. Due to misty cloud we couldn't enjoy the view from Coaker's walk. Next stop was La Salath Church which is 1000 years old. Nothing exciting except the historic value. Then we covered upper lake view from where we can have kodai lake view. It was good sight. Then we went to Pine forest which was amazing sight. Next stop was green valley view which is also renowned as Suicide point which has more than 750 ft drop from there. Quite scary. We couldn't see much of the things as it was totally enveloped in fog. Then we went to see Devil's Kitchen popularly known as Guna Caves(made famous by tamil movie Guna). Nearby that was pillar rock which was quite huge. Lots of monkeys around the way. Please don't carry any food on your hand and be careful of your belongings. They are infamous for snatching them.

Then we were taken to four pillar rock which was quite amazing to see rocks standing almost 400 ft. We were taken togolf course and Sheep farm which were average view. We were taken to shopping where we bought lots of chocolates which are really good.  Eucalyptus oil is quite famous over this part as well. After shopping we were dropped at the kodai lake.We went to have food at The new Punjabi Hotel near lake. The food was awful. Wouldn't recommend anybody to go there.  We went to Bryant park after we were dropped. Its average type of park which can be easily missed. After the park we went to resort and retired for the day.

*Day 4:

*It was sunny today at early morning 6:30 AM. Clicked lots of photos around the resort. We had to check out at 10 AM so packed the luggage and headed to town. Since our train was at 9:40 PM we had whole day to roam around. We kept our luggage at tour office and went to Coaker's walk again since it was sunny morning. But unfortunately within no time cloud and fog enveloped Coakers walk area and were not able to see supposedly beautiful view. Then we headed for lake where we hired bicycles(Rs 10/hr) and went 6km around the lake. This was one of the most memorable moment in my life. What a view of the lake and surrounding. Then went for boating for 30 mins(Rs. 40 for 2 seater paddle boat). By 2 pm we finished our activity at the lake.

We went to The Royal Tibetan Restaurant for lunch where the momos and Noodle soup were simply awesome. We in fact packed some for dinner. We caught 4:20 PM bus from Kodai and headed to Kodai road to catch our train back to Chennai, Pandian express at 9:40 PM. All through the way I watched one Tamil movie played on the bus and thoroughly enjoyed it. As we were descending towards plane the humidity and temperature started raising. We reached Kodai Road at 7:30 PM. Don't miss to buy some fruits like Sitafal which is delicious. Train came at scheduled time and we finally headed back to Chennai with wonderful memories of Kodaikanal along with us.

You can shop for winter clothes at Tibetan market near lake

Have a nice holiday!