Coorg Attractions
Coorg or Madikari is one of the most visited hill station in Karnataka. This part of Western Ghats will surely amaze you by its lush green forest and hills. Coorg is known as Scotland of India, so people who are still saving for their Scotland tour (like me!!), can definitely visit this part of India. In this post I will tell you about Coorg Attractions. Places like Raja’s Seat, Omkareshwara Temple, Abby Falls, Bylakuppe and Mandapatti were our Coorg destinations in December 2015.
How to Reach Coorg:
By Air:
The nearest airport from Coorg is Mangalore International Airport (175 Km). From there you can take cab to reach Madikari/ Coorg.
By Train:
The nearest railway station from Coorg is Mysore (108 Km). We took a train from Chennai to Mysore, spend a day there (saw beautiful Mysore Palace) and next day hired a Cab for the next 3 days and proceed towards Coorg. This is one of the best option of reaching Coorg in a comfortable way. The people who wants to do Coorg trip from Bangalore can try this way too.
By personal Car/ Zoom Car:
This is another option to reach Coorg. From Bangalore to Coorg, the distance is approx. 270 Km, so it is one of the most popular weekend gateways from Bangalore. Via NH75 you can reach in 5-6 hours, as the road condition is good.
Best time to Visit Coorg/ Madikari:
The best time to visit Coorg is October- March. The weather will be comfortable (25 degree in day and 18-20 degree in night).
Where to stay in Coorg:
There are lot of option available for hotels, however I would suggest to stay in homestay instead of hotels. There are lot of homestay available in Coorg where you will get home made food.
I generally preferred home stays over hotel (if not it is too much costlier than hotels). In home stay we get good homemade food which is better for my daughter and sometime she gets even her play mate there (kids at Owner’s place).
We stayed in Ginger home stay which was very good. The food was awesome and the host were also good. Owner has a big coffee garden and there are lot of spice trees, orange trees inside the large area.
Coorg attraction/ Places to Visit in Madikari:
There are many places to see in Coorg. However we planned our trip for 2 days in Coorg so I chose some of the selected places which is kids friendly. Here are the Coorg itinerary for 2-3 days.
Note: There are many places to hike, however we went with our 10 months old daughter, so avoided those places and selected the places which can be reachable by car. If you love to trek, Brahmagiri Hill, Thadiyandamol Hills, Pushpagiri Hills are good options, where you will get a splendid view of Western Ghat.
Coorg white water rafting is another good option which we could not explore. If you are adventurous kind of person, then this is also a must do thing.
Also read : Nandi Hills, A weekend gateways from Bangalore
Coorg Tourist Attractions: Day 1-
We started at 7am from Mysore after having our complimentary breakfast.
Bylakappe/ Namdrolling Monastery:
Namdrolling Monastery (popularly known as Golden temple) was our first destination while going from Mysore towards Coorg. It is almost 34 Km away from Coorg.
Bylakappe is the second largest Tibetan settlement in India after Dharamshala. In1961 Lugsum Samdupling established this monastery and it is now a home to over 5000 monks and nuns.
The Golden temple/ Namdrolling Monastery complex is huge and the main temple is highly decorated. There is a school for all the monks and nuns and it is considered one of the largest teaching center of Nyingmapa, a lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, in the world.
Nisargadhama:
Our second stop was Nisargadhama forest park. It is 7 Km from Bylakappe and 29 Km from Madikari. This island was developed by forest department in 1988 and it is spread across 66 acres of land.
The entry fees for adults are 10 rupees and for children 5 Rupees. You need to pay extra if you want Elephant Ride or Boating facilities in the Kaveri River. This place is connected through a hanging bridge which is also a part of attractions of Nisargadhama.
There are rabbit and deer park inside the campus and also some forest quarters where you can stay. There is also a restaurant where we took out lunch. The menu was simple but good. You will get noodles/fried rice with cold drinks/tea.
Omkareshwar temple:
Omkareshwar temple was our third destination among Coorg attractions. Before reaching there we checked in to our home stay which was 10 km far away from the market. We were happy to see that as the main market was very crowded place.
After check in and quick fresh up, we proceed towards the Omkareshwar temple. The temple was 1 km from market (almost inside the main market area).
We reached there by 4 pm and came to know that the temple timing is 6.30 am- 12noon and 5 pm-8 pm, so we waited for some time there and visited after opening the place.
There is a (funny!!) story behind the construction of temple. In 18th century, King Lingarajendra II killed some Brahmin for some personal yet unknown reason and after that the King started to have nightmare and to get free from the nightmare some other Brahmins advised him to establish this temple. The King brought A Shiva Lingam from Kashi and constructed this temple. The temple looks unique as the domes are looking like Mosque form far.
Read about Ooty, a top destinationation in Tamilnadu.
Raja’s Seat:
After visiting Omkareshwar temple, we moved towards Raja’s seat. The distance is 1 km from the temple. As the name suggest this is a place where King used to sit. There is a structure at the center of the place and in addition to that there are ample place to seat and relax. This place is well maintained with various flowers and is one of best place to see the sun set in Coorg. From there you can see the whole valley of Coorg.
The entry fee was 5 per person and additionally you have to pay 10 per head for the toy train if you want to ride. For the ride, you may have to stand in a queue. There is a musical fountain (light and sound) show. Timings: 7 PM on weekdays, 6. 45 PM – 7. 20 PM on weekends. Don’t miss the show, it was awesome. My daughter enjoyed it very much.
With this, our day 1 trip was ended. We went back to our home stay. The weather was superb and that day was full moon. After dinner I and my husband were sitting quietly under the moon light. We will never forget that magical night.
Coorg Tourist Attractions: Day 2-
After having scrumptious breakfast of Idly, Dosai, Puri -sabji (yes I ate all!!) we started for our day 2 Coorg destinations.
Abbey Falls:
Abbey or Abbi falls was our first destination in day 2 Coorg itinerary. This is the best water falls in Coorg area. This place is 8 km from the market. You have to walk for about 500 meters after the car parking area. Carrying our daughter for 500 meter was little tough but the prize came as the view of the Abbey falls. It is situated amidst the coffee and spice plantations.
There is a hanging bridge from where you will get best view of the falls.
Mandalapatti:
After Abbey falls we proceeded towards our second destination Mandapatti. After doing lot of research on the best trekking route which also can be reached by Car, I came to know about this place. Though it is not the top most peak in Coorg but this place is one of the best hiking place.
From Abbey falls, Mandalapatti is about 20 km away. For reaching there you have to hire local jeep from the base point, which is approx. 10 km from peak. The road condition is very bad, so any other private car is not a safe option to reach there. However you can walk or take personal two wheeler. By walking it will take 1-2 hours to reach one way.
We hired a Jeep. The bargaining started from Rs.3500 and settled down at Rs.2700. The jeep drivers formed a cartel and it is very difficult to negotiate. It is obviously very high compare to the distance but we didn’t want to miss the experience.
Mandapatti is best seen at the time of Sunset but as this place is remote so we visited at day. For my daughter we took that decision, otherwise it is totally safe to witness the sunset, and I am sure that experience will be amazing.
It took almost 30-40 min to reach at the top. You have to walk 300 approx. meters to get the panoramic view of the Pushpagiri range of Western Ghat. The weather was super cool and heavy wind was flowing. The view was spectacular. I must say that your Coorg trip is incomplete if you don’t see that view.
Please note that there is no shop at the height so carry necessary water/ food with you.
Talacauvery:
After this memorable experience of Mandalapatti, we proceed towards our final destination Talacauvery. It is 44 Km from Madikari and situated at the slope of Brahmagiri mountain range (1273 Meter). We reached there at around 4.30 pm.
This is the birth place of Kavari River. There is a small square tank which is considered the sacred place from where the river generated. People can take bath in that place.
The place has also breathtaking view of Brahmagiri mountain range and a stair case which leads to the summit of Brahmagiri hills.
Day 3:
Hose hectic 2 days, at day 3 we decided to relax and explore the coffee and spice garden of our home stay owner. The area was huge (how much area I forgot).We moved around the garden, saw how they take out the coffee beans, how it is being dried up).
This day you can try white water rafting or hiking to any other hills I mentioned above.
At around 11 after taking breakfast, we started for Mysore and took our train to Chennai from Mysore at 2.15 pm (Shatabdi Express). People who wants to do Coorg trip from Bangalore, can also take this train.
Tell me about your Coorg experience if you have already been to these places. If you have any quarry, please comment below. Pin the below image for future reference and share with your friends and family.
Read : Interesting things to do in Mysore
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