Tours to Ootacamund

It was a British Collector of Coimbatore, John Sullivan who, in 1819, first hacked his way on behalf of the East India Company through the surrounding ravines and jungles to this high plateau in the Nilgiris. Sullivan was quick to recognize the potential of the area’s “unusually temperate and healthy” climate, recommending it as a “resort for Invalids”. By the middle of century, “Snooty Ooty” had grown into a fully fledged hill station, complete with clubhouse and race course. One of the best places to savour the faded Raj atmosphere is the Savoy Hotel, which has changed little in 150 years. Trips to tea plantations, aboriginal Toda villages and, of course, the splendid steam railway line linking Ooty with the plains, are the other main attractions.