It is a beautiful hill station in the state of Kerala, famous for its serene views, amazing weather, tea gardens and spices.
The nearest airport is Cochin International Airport (Kochi) from where you can hire a private vehicle to reach Munnar. Although it is a 4-hour drive from Kochi to Munnar, it stretches to 7 hours because of site seeing on the way which includes 3 waterfalls and any one of many spice gardens.
Cheerayappara and Valara waterfalls lie on the way to Munnar while Attukad waterfall requires a small deviation.
Cheerayappara Waterfalls
Valara Waterfalls
Attukad Waterfalls
As mentioned earlier there are many spice gardens on the way. They offer a small tour through the different plantations of fruits and spices which grow in Kerala, simultaneously explaining the processes involved in their extraction. Entry fee is Rs 100/- per person. There is no additional charge for the camera. Towards the end of this guided trip you will be taken through a shop which claims of selling authentic spices and other ointments.
Arebica Coffee
Black Pepper
Cocoa
Stone Banana
Turmeric
You will only have a few hours of day light left on reaching Munnar. In case you have energy left, you can visit the Tata Tea Museum. The museum remains open from 10am – 4am on all days except Monday (closed). However, if you have seen a tea museum before, you may skip it.
After the Tea Museum you will still have time for sunset. There is no sunset point as such. Although, some sources on the internet mention ‘Pothamedu View Point’ in their travel itinerary, it is just a regular place with a view of the tea gardens. It is not exactly a sunset point. To enjoy the beautiful view of the sunset, one has to travel a few kilometers towards Kochi on Kochi-Munnar Highway while keeping an eye on the setting sun. You will come across many points on the south facing roads from where you can enjoy the sunset.
Eravikulam (Rajamalai) National Park
It is located around 10 km from Munnar and is known for its diversity of flora and fauna apart from having Anamudi (2,695 m), the highest peak in India, south of the Himalayas.
Although the National Park is open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, it is advisable to reach early to beat the rush and the heat. It is also advisable to make reservation from Munnar itself from a booking window located near PWD Guest House to avoid a big queue at the National Park. On reaching the National Park, there are separate counters for those with advance reservation from where you will have to buy the tickets including one for your camera. Despite reservation you will have to wait for your turn to board the bus which will take you to a point inside the National Park. Beyond this point you will have to travel on foot.
Tahr which is a kind of mountain goat can easily be spotted inside the national park. We also spotted a bison from the bus.
Anamudi Peak
Tahr
Bison
Top Station
Located around 35km from Munnar, Top Station is 1.5-hour drive from Munnar. Many other tourist spots around Munnar are located on this route.
This place is so named because it was the topmost station used to transport tea via ropeway from Munnar to Bodinayakkanur from where there was rail connectivity. There are also places called middle station and lower station.
We had our lunch at ‘New Guru’s Restaurant’, which was tasty and economical.
While searching online we came across many sources which described Top Station as a place where one is above the clouds. However, we did not have any such experience. Rather we found the place a little foggy thereby hampering our view. This place is nothing but a viewing point. Its altitude is also not very high, so it is difficult to imagine being above the clouds. Over all we didn’t feel that the experience was worth the drive.
Mattupetty dam, Kundale dam & Eco point
You will cross two dams on your way to Top Station. Echo point is located between the two dams nearer to Mattupetty Dam. Echoes here are not very prominent, so you will have to shout loudly to experience the effect.
The most fascinating thing about these dams is that they are made on the same river. No where else are there so many dams on the same river.
Neelakurinji Trail
Nilkurinji is a flower which blossoms once every 12 years, next being September this year. It changes the view of the landscape. Its distinctive blue color enhances the beautiful view even further.
PS: This picture has been taken from google images.
Where to eat
Sarvana Bhawan is the best option for vegetarians. In case you are a non-vegetarian then you can also explore the street food market in the evening.
Where to stay
There are many good options of hotels and resorts which can easily be booked online.
What/Where to shop
Munnar is famous for its spices and home-made chocolates. Although there are a lot of shops in Munnar, we purchased spices from ‘Krishna Spices’ which is located near the taxi stand. We went there because of its good word of mouth and were not disappointed. But while we purchased spices from this shop we did not purchase chocolates from here because we found these less tasty as well as a little costlier as compared to other shops in the market.
Happy Journey Holiday 