Munnar

Overview

Munnar takes its name from the Malayalam words for three rivers, and the town sits where the Muthirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundala streams meet in Idukki district. Most Munnar tourist places are scattered over the surrounding slopes rather than packed into the town, so a stay here is mostly a string of short drives between lakes, viewpoints and plantation roads. The land lies above 1,500 metres, which is why mist and cool air are part of the routine.

Commercial tea planting began here in the 1880s, and the estates still shape what you see: neat green terraces, narrow estate lanes and small factories tucked into folds of hillside. The British once treated these hills as a summer retreat. Today a tea museum gives the industry's story some context, and a walk or slow drive through an estate road shows how closely the plantations hug the contours.

The wildest corner is Eravikulam National Park, roughly 97 square kilometres of open grassland and shola forest. It shelters the Nilgiri tahr, a mountain goat of the southern Western Ghats, and Anamudi, at about 2,695 metres the highest peak in South India, belongs to the same high landscape. Tourists use only the Rajamala section. The park closes for around two months in February and March so the tahr can calve in peace, so check its status before building a day around it.

Another local story is the neelakurinji, a shrub that flowers once in roughly twelve years and washes the slopes blue-violet. Between blooms, other pleasures fill the time: pedal boats on the Mattupetty reservoir, the outlook from Top Station, waterfalls and short forest trails.

Munnar has no railway station of its own, so nearly everyone arrives by road from the Kochi side. Plan the climb for daylight, and expect slippery stretches during the heavy rains of June to August.

Known for

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