get there and around
Coonoor is well-connected by road with Mettupalayam. The road that connects with Ooty is one of the Nilgiri Ghat Roads, and is also one of the main access routes for the entire district. Alternatively, there is another route that links Coonoor to Kotagiri via Bandishola and Bettati Tollgate, this road connects with State Highway 15 (SH15) that leads to Kotagiri from Ooty.
There are regular buses from Bangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore, Calicut, Kanyakumari, Tanjavur, Tirupati and Cochin. Mettupalayam is the nearest railhead, which is 46 km away. The major railway junction is at Coimbatore (80 km). Also, the nearest airport is in Coimbatore.
Nilgiri Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one of the oldest mountain railways in India. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was declared by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in July 2005. This railway links Coonoor to the town of Mettupalayam at the foot of the hills. The Nilagiri Passenger train provides a convenient connection to the Nilgiri Express train to the state capital, Chennai via Coimbatore. Coonoor was the original termination point of the NMR in the hills, before the line was extended to Ooty.
The arduous task of constructing the mountain railways from Mettupalayam to Ooty, was undertaken by Rao Bahadhur Bellie Gowder, the then local community leader and a Badaga, who hailed from the Hubbathalai Village. He was awarded the title of "Rao Bahadhur" and "Rao Sahib" from the British Raj. He was also known as the uncrowned king of the Nilgiris. This fantastic world heritige mountain railway still stands testimony to great things of the past.
Road
Coonoor is also linked by road to Mettupalayam. The road which continues on to Ooty is one of the Nilgiri Ghat Roads and is one of the main access routes for the entire district. Another major road links Coonoor to Kotagiri via Bandishola and Bettati Tollgate and then this road links to State Highway 15 (going from Ooty to Kotagiri). There are also several other minor roads passing through Coonoor leading to outlying Tea estates.
Air
The nearest airport is located approximately 80 km away by road in Coimbatore (IATA code CJB). Coimbatore serves several national destinations as well as having a few international routes to Colombo, Singapore and Sharjah.
