Top Things to do and Places to Visit in Conoor - Weekend Trip from Bangalore

Conoor, the second largest hill station in the Nilgiri mountains, is often overlooked for its more popular counterparts – Coorg, Wayanad, Sakleshpur and Chikamagalur. Coupled with Ooty, merely 19 kms away, Conoor makes for the perfect long weekend road trip from Bangalore. Across from the Bandipur and Mudumalai forests, as you drive past the undulating hills, tea plantations and conifer trees, Conoor welcomes you with misty mornings and a whiff of fresh tea leaves in the air.

A two day itinerary featuring Conoor’s top things to do and places to visit will sufficiently acquaint you with enchanting remnants of its Tamil and British colonial heritage. Here’s a list of things you can plan for an unhurried, slow paced trip in Conoor.

Top Things to Do in Conoor

Cafes

Shops

Moddy's Chocolates

Best Places to Visit

Where to Stay

Cafes in Conoor

First things first: when in Conoor, start off every meal with a freshly brewed cup of tea or coffee. Conoor’s cafes are steeped in the timeless charm of European food with cakes, cookies, pizzas, sandwiches and the ubiquitous cold coffee. My top two recommendations are Le Café at Little Earth Square and Birdhouse Café at Church Hill road.

Le Café is housed in a square that also has a bar, an organic shop and two other cafes in a sunny, alfresco European style setting. Almost everyone makes a stop at Little Earth to soak in some of the mellow Conoor sun but there are plenty of tables so you won’t go back disappointed.

Birdhouse café is a charming little café with a few tables to accommodate, I suspect, the rather small number tourists who end up discovering it. But I’m not complaining because this makes it one of those rare finds which makes it possible to enjoy a moment in the mountains without the maddening crowds. Evoking a French bistro, the main counter opens up into a charming window which also doubles up as a hand-written menu. Every cookie, cake and tart in the glass display vies for your attention and hypnotises one into believing that holiday calories do not count. Order yourself a sweet something, bring out one of the board games and treat yourself to a meal worth remembering.

Explore the Shops

Conoor’s artisanal sustained shops showcasing contemporary Indian styles are the discerning art curator’s delight. Red Earth is the place to go for home décor and memorabilia hand-crafted by the Todas, a local tribal community of Conoor, in their signature motifs. For eclectic collectibles like repurposed bookends, urlis and sculptures rooted in the regions of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, stop at Gottacombai.  Spend an afternoon browsing and pick up a small treasure to add a piece of Conoor to your home.

Moddy’s Chocolates

A trip to Conoor is incomplete without the customary stop at Moddy’s, a beloved chocolate shop located at the Garden Road, in the heart of Ooty.  Famed for its selection on locally made couverture chocolates, fudges and butter fingers, Moddy’s is now also a mini department store with snacks, baked goodies and products from the Nilgiri region. I’m partial to chocolates with nuts, so I took home several bars of the dark hazelnut variety. The staff at Moddy’s is sweet and friendly, and not at all averse to offering samples of the various chocolates for tasting.

Best Places to Visit in Conoor

Nilgiris view from Conoor

 Ooty Lake

Surrounded by eucalyptus trees, the shimmering waters of Ooty Lake are a popular spot in the evenings. You can explore the locale by renting a bicycle or get straight into the water (no, swimming is not permitted) in one of the many boats parked at the Boat House. You can rent a boat with a boatman or pedal away like we did – life jackets are compulsory and are provided with every booking.

Dolphin’s Nose and Catherine Falls

Like many other hill stations with creatively named viewpoints, Conoor keeps up the tradition with Dolphin’s Nose. From this vantage point, the uninterrupted views of the blue Nilgiri mountains are awe-inspiring, evoking a feeling that the clouds are gently descending upon you. On clear days, you can even catch a glimpse of the double cascading Catherine Falls, tumbling down from a height of 250 feet.

Ralliah Dam

Bearing a resemblance to Europe’s bridges, Ralliah Dam features an extended walkway over a shimmering water body, which serves as Conoor's primary water source. A short trek through a dense canopy of trees, a medley of birdsong and orange hues of sunshine lead you to the entrance of the dam - ideal for a visit during sunset or sunrise. Once inside, you can cross the long bridge and watch the water reflect myriad shades of blue. It’s also common to spot squirrels, monkeys, and the occasional bison in the surrounding forest, making it a perfect location for a peaceful retreat.

Where to Stay

In Conoor, we stayed at the Eden Bnb, the charming family home of Uncle Jose and Aunty Sidhu. Having lived here for many years, they have now transformed it into a beautiful Airbnb since their children have moved out. The first thing that draws you in is the garden, one can sprawl on the grass all day and dream of the life their children would have had growing up in the mountains. The warm smiles, excellent recommendations and spotlessly clean rooms and bathrooms have earned it consistently great reviews on Airbnb. You can read more about the stay here.

Plan a trip to Conoor to revel in the slow, unhurried life of the mountains! Conoor and Ooty offer small cafes, shops and enviable viewpoints to keep you away from the city atleast for a weekend. If you’re the proverbial ‘mountains’ person, Conoor’s charms may even have you daydreaming about a place of your own.