[dwarakv]

Hi,

I have to attend a wedding in CBE on 26th May. I was wondering which might be a better place to go for 2-3 days. I will be travelling with my wife, and 2 kids (5 yr old and 5 month old) and I will be driving my 2006 Baleno.

Tentative plan

25th May - leave chennai, reach CBE in the evening.
26th May - attend wedding, leave for ooty/munnar by noon, reach by evening
27th-29th - Rest and Relax, roam around
30th May - Leave for chennai, reach chennai by evening.

Suggestions/Ideas welcome.

Thanks in advance.

[ampere]

I guess you should chose one of the places. Ooty is in one direction while Munnar is in another. Then plan accordingly.

[MX6]

@ampere. that's exactly what dwarakv wants help in. chosing the place.

I'd suggest munnar. But stay away from that agraharam resort. Ooty would be more crowded I guess.

[ampere]

From a drive point of view:

CBE-Munnar:

- We are talking about 150Km via Pollachi and Udumalpet.
- Assign 3 hours for Udumalpet to Munnar (90Km ghat sections).
- And another one to one-and-a-half for CBE-Pollachi-Udumapet
- It would be easily 5 hours of drive.

You don't want to do this in the evening time, when the light fades.
If you want to go to Munnar, start latest by noon, else it can get late and you will have to drive in dark.
(That is not advisable.) Roads though not difficult, but still not worth driving in the night.

You also miss out on the stunning views.

Munnar-Chennai

There are three routes.

1. Munnar-Udumalpet-Dharapuram-Kangeyam-Perindurai-Salem-Krishnagiri-Chennai (Good roads all the way. Perindurai-Chennai is GQ)
2. Munnar-Udumalpet-Dharapuram-Karur-Trichy-Tinidivanam-Chennai. (This would be via NH45). (Take the state highway from Karur to Trichy via Musiri)
3. Munnar-Theni-Madurai-Trichy-Tindivanam-Chennai (Nh49/NH45B/NH45)

All distances would be about 600Km. You can chose according to your liking and comfort zone.


CBE-Ooty

- Hardly 75Km. Route via Mettupalayam. Lots of traffic on the ghats as compared to Munnar. Others can comment.
- You can decide when you want to leave from CBE.
- A bit later is also fine I guess (Say about 2PM?)

Ooty-Chennai
Two routes
1. Ooty-Metupalyam-Avinashi-Salem-Krishnagiri-Chennai (Get the best GQ NH47/NH7/NH46)
2. Go via Mettur and enjoy the dam.

- Ooty-Conoor-Metupalayam-Satyamangalam-Athani-Anthiyur-Mettur-Thoppur-Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri-Chennai.

You get GQ from Thoppur.


Based on at what time you get to start from CBE, I think you should decide your destination.
Or based on where you want to go, you should decide when to start from CBE.

[Pr_007]

I would definitely suggest Munnar. I have been there once and I just loved the place. Ooty is good but it has become crowded these days and with the number of vans and cars plying around it does not hold that freshness anymore.

Try munnar you would really love it. The air in Munnar has got that herbal smell all around and it is very good. Lot of mountains, waterfalls, tea plantations and much more.


But check if this is the right time, as I went in the month of September.

My opinion Munnar is the best.

[dwarakv]

Thanks MX6 and ampere.

Which would be a more kid friendly place? Also are there any pediatricians incase I need one for either of my kids, mainly for the younger one. What about the vegetarian food options?

What are the things that I could do in the 3 days with the kids? I do not want to keep running from one place to another. I would like to enjoy the beauty and also recharge myself for the grind ahead. I have done enough trips of rushing from one place to another.

If I was do munnar, I do plan on visiting the Tirukoshtiyur and the Tirumeyyam temples on the way back. Please help on the best routes to get to these temples? Would I be able to get to these places before 10 am if I left munnar by 6 am? Or is it advisable to have a night halt at Madurai?

[ampere]

- What do you mean by kid friendly? Munnar is definitely worth lazing around.
- I am not sure of doctors. You need to check at the resort.

- You should have food at the resort itself. No point driving out and having. At least I have not seen many restaurants. (Others can comment)

- You can do sightseeing for one day. Walk around the tea estates and really laze around that area for the rest of the two days.
- Nothing much to do but watch the stunning scenery.

- If you do Munnar, the way back through these temples would be: Theni-Madurai-Sivagangai-Thirupathur-Pudukottai-Trichy-Chennai. A total of 650 Km.

- Tirukoshtiyur is about 200 Km from Munnar and Tirumeyyam is another 30km on the same road.
- If you start at six you should be able to reach, but there are two main deterrents.
- One is the ghat section on NH49 from Munnar to Bodhi and second the Madurai bypass from NH49 to Sivagangai road.
- Not sure how much time it would add up to the delay.

- Also I am not aware of the status of NH226/NH210, which you need to take till you reach Trichy.
- Please check with others on the same. Then its GQ all the way.

- If you think its too hectic (which I would say so, as there are two kids involved) start late from Munnar and halt at Madurai for the night.

[NutsNBolts]

If you want to laze around, Munnar is the better option. Ooty has become too crowded and denuded of greenery.

Number of resorts have doctors on call.

Eating out in Munnar as well as Ooty can be a problem as I found only one decent restaurant in both places. Others might have found more. Best option is utilise resort kitchen.

Like ampere said, Munnar will be a longer drive but will offer more scenic pleasure with lesser traffic. You do need to start early to avoid driving in fading light and also to enjoy vistas. In Munnar, everything to see around can be covered in one day, without getting fatigued. In ooty you will need more time. I had stayed at RTI in Ooty and one old English gentleman who was manager there had given me a hand drawn map of Ooty explaining every spot and roads to take to get there. It had taken me two days to see all those. I don't have that map now.

[ampere]

I stayed for three nights in Munnar with sight-seeing only for a day.
The rest 2 days, we just went around the place without doing anything!

[spadix]

I haven't been to Ooty but was in Munnar and Thekkady recently (less than a month ago).

We (wife and I) absolutely loved the trip. There are a few places to see but it won't keep you busy for more than a full day - maybe a day-and-a-half at best. We managed Eravikulam park, the tea factory tour, the horticulture garden, photo point and an ayurvedic message all in one day. The stops weren't brief or hurried either. It was raining hard so boating at the Mattupetty Dam was out. That's why I think half a day more should suffice. It all depends on how long the queue is at the Eravikulam Park entrance (we spent ~2 hours in the queue).

Just make sure you don't climb into the tea estates without prior permission. Some of them are under private ownership and visitors (even for a quick 2-minute photo job) aren't exactly welcome.

The whole place is just incredibly scenic, but I'm sure that's the case with Ooty too.

Thekkady is another brilliant 1/2-day option if you ask me. It's reasonably close to Coimbatore as well.

Regards,
Spadix

[arindamray]

Ooty is much more commercialized than Munnar. However if you pick-up the right kind of resort, both the places will be enjoyable.

Ooty being more commercialized I would guess have better probability of finding pediatrician (I wish you won't need him/her) and vegeterian restaurants.

You may check out Sherlock in Ooty, heard from a fellow BHPian.

[dwarakv]

Thanks Arindamray, nutsnbolts, ampere, spadix. Munnar it is.

Now for accomodation. I have checked out the Accomodation thread and called some of them too. They seem a little too pricey. Any good suggestions , budget < Rs 2K/day. Since it is almost the end of the season (most of them state June 1 as start of off-season), would I get rooms if I walk in?

[spadix]

Hi dwarakv,

There is a range of accommodation available at Munnar and I'm sure you'll find something for under 2k/day. I think it's best to reserve in advance. For instance we had the entire trip planned, booked and paid for before we even set out for the trip. We enlisted the services of a Govt. recognized travel/tour operator and were very happy with the entire process.

You probably don't want to be in a position where you end up in Munnar and have to run around for accommodation. That happened to me once in Madikeri, but luckily we were a bunch of guys so could adjust easily. That kind of thing is not ideal with kid(s) in tow.

Regards,
Spadix

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by dwarakv

Thanks Arindamray, nutsnbolts, ampere, spadix. Munnar it is.

Now for accomodation. I have checked out the Accomodation thread and called some of them too. They seem a little too pricey. Any good suggestions , budget < Rs 2K/day. Since it is almost the end of the season (most of them state June 1 as start of off-season), would I get rooms if I walk in?

Check this thread for hotel infos.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ry-munnar.html

I stayed in green view. Decent hotel. Not big, but good enough for family.

Yes you can walk in. If you walk in, you get a better rates. But again, do you really want to take the risk for those 300-400rs saved?

[MX6]

With 2 kids, walk in option is not worth for saving a mere 500 bucks. Book in advance and go with peace of mind.
Walk in option gives a big advantage though. You get to see how the room or resort is before paying up. I do the walk in everytime in normal cities and towns. But I don't resort to it in hill stations in peak summer unless I'm the lone traveller or travel with guys.