Ooty is a town and hill station in the Indian state of Tamilnadu The name “Ooty” is short for Ootacamund (officially Udhagamandalam). Ooty is located in the Nilgiris, or Blue Mountains, a mountain district. Ooty stands at about 7,500 feet above sea level.

The town of Ooty is tucked in the heart of the Nilgiris, making it a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Owing to its perfect geographical location on the hills, it has remained an all-time favorite retreat for travelers.The lush green landscape covered with tea estates, valleys, and forested lands on one hand and the classic vibes of the good old days make this hill station the perfect place to escape. The expansive greenery, the pleasant weather, and the endless adventure options are what Ooty is famous for.The quaint and quiet hill station is one of the most popular mountain destinations in South India. Ooty is the headquarters of the Nilgiris district, with Doddabetta as the highest point. It is located 86 km from Coimbatore and 128 km from Mysore.Ooty enjoys a pleasant weather all through the year and is also the most popular destination in South India.

Few interesting facts:

1. When the East India Company formed the Madras Presidency, Ooty served as its summer capital. The officers of the company would retire to this hill-station to evade the blazing summer of south India.
2. Ooty has a small-scale industry based on oil extracted from eucalyptus trees. These huge timbers grow in abundance across the Nilgiri Mountains.
3. The Dodabetta Peak, about 10 kilometres from Ooty, is the highest peak of south India at 2,623 metres from the sea level.
4. The famous Botanical Garden of Ooty has a preserved fossil of a tree-trunk which is approximately 20 million years old.
5. The Ooty Lake is actually an artificial lake. It is one of the very few artificial lakes of India situated at an altitude of 2,000 metres or above.
6. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is UNESCO world heritage site and has one of the last few working steam engines in the world: 
7. Nilgiri Mountain Railway mountain route has  16 tunnels,  250 bridges, 205 sharp curves and extraordinary natural scenery of the Nilgiri Hills visible all along the way.
8. Due to this amazing experience with nature UNESCO announced this in World Heritage List as Mountain Railways in India in 2008.
9. Home of the largest squirrel (The Malabar squirrel), the tallest wild cattle (The Indian Bison), Nilgiri thar and a huge host of other Flora and fauna Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
10. No plastic Zone ,Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in the field of banning single-use plastic altogether.This preserves the beauty and the biosphere of the place.

Most popular tourist places:

1. Ooty Lake
2. Nilgiri Mountain Railway.
3. Pykara Lake.
4. Pykara Falls.
5. Doddabetta Peak.
6. Avalanche Lake.
7. Mudumalai National Park.
8. Government Rose Garden.
9. Tea plantation,tea factory , Chocolate factory.

I recently visited the place and to my surprise found it to be the cleanest and greenest Hill station I have ever seen ,it lured me by its calm and quaint atmosphere.

We started early morning from Bangalore around 6 am and reached Ooty by 3 pm noon.The road was good and Quiet scenic.The route which we took was: Bangalore – Mandya – Mysore – Gundlupet – Bandipur – Mudhumalai – Masinagudi – Ooty.

Crossing The National park was a cherry on my Cake.We had a chance to discover the nature in depth.Though we could not spot a Tiger but were lucky enough to see the group of deer and fawns,Elephants and Peacocks.Once we crossed the National park then was the turn to climb 36 Hairpin Bends,the curvy road to Ooty.As we were crossing the Bends the ambience was getting more cleaner and brighter .Once you are on the Hills you can feel the magical spell it offers.

Things to Shop:

1. Ooty’s famous Tea .
2. Do not forget to buy the home made Ooty Chocolates with ample choices.
3. Mouth melting Ooty cookies known as Varkey.
4. Spices
5. Eucalyptus Oil

Thankyou