Start with Coaker's Walk in the morning, then the forest road: Green Valley View, Pillar Rocks, Guna Caves, the Pine Forest and Moir Point. After lunch, the Rose Garden, Bryant Park and a boat on Kodaikanal Lake. That is about 27 km by cab. A second day goes west to Poombarai and Mannavanur Lake, and a third to Dolphin's Nose and Berijam Lake, which needs a forest permit and is closed on Tuesdays.
Each plan is a real route by cab, timed against opening hours.
Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks, Guna Caves and the lake
10 places · 27 km by cab
See the plan →Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks, Guna Caves and the lake · Kurinji Andavar, Poombarai and Mannavanur
14 places · 100 km by cab
See the plan →Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks, Guna Caves and the lake · Kurinji Andavar, Poombarai and Mannavanur · Dolphin's Nose, Berijam Lake and Silver Cascade
18 places · 166 km by cab
See the plan →Call or message a local Kodaikanal operator with this plan. Tell them your hotel and dates, and they send a price for the car and driver.
We are still listing Kodaikanal operators. Write to [email protected] and we will put you in touch.
With the best time to go and how long to stay.
| Place | Open | Best time | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coaker's Walk | 07:00 to 19:00; small ticket | Early morning, before the clouds rise from the valley. | 45 min |
| Green Valley View | Open in daylight? | Morning, when the valley is clearest. | 30 min |
| Pillar Rocks | 09:00 to 16:00; forest department ticket | Morning, before the mist hides the rocks. | 30 min |
| Guna Caves | About 09:00 to 16:30; forest department ticket? | Late morning. | 40 min |
| Pine Forest | Open in daylight; free? | Late morning, when light comes through the trees. | 30 min |
| Moir Point | About 09:00 to 16:30 (some listings say 10:00 to 17:00); small ticket? | Late morning. | 30 min |
| Upper Lake View | Roadside, open in daylight? | Any time on a clear day. | 20 min |
| Rose Garden | 09:00 to 17:00; ticket, camera extra? | Morning or afternoon in the flowering months, about March to June. | 45 min |
| Bryant Park | 09:00 to 18:00; small ticket | Afternoon. In May it holds the summer flower show. | 45 min |
| Kodaikanal Lake | Lake open about 06:00 to 17:00; boats about 09:00 to 17:30? | Late afternoon, before the boats stop. | 1 h |
A paved path about 1 km long along the edge of a steep drop on the south side of town, laid out in 1872 by a British officer, Lt Coaker. On a clear morning you look down over the plains towards Periyakulam, and there is a small telescope house halfway along.
In the 1-day plan
A railed viewpoint over a deep green valley, with the Vaigai dam far below on a clear day. It used to be called Suicide Point. The path in is lined with stalls selling tea, corn and homemade chocolate.
In the 1-day plan
Three tall granite pillars, about 120 m high, standing side by side across a gorge. The viewpoint is a small fenced garden run by the forest department, about 7 km from the lake.
In the 1-day plan
Deep cracks in the rock between tall pine-covered cliffs, once called the Devil's Kitchen. They took their name from the 1991 Tamil film Guna, and the 2024 film Manjummel Boys made them famous again. The caves themselves are closed: you walk a short forest path and look in from behind a railing.
In the 1-day plan
Rows of tall straight pines on a slope by the road, planted about a hundred years ago. Many Tamil and Malayalam films have been shot here. You can walk down among the trees on soft needles.
In the 1-day plan
A viewpoint at the end of the town's forest road, named after Sir Thomas Moir, who built the road on towards Berijam. A memorial stone stands by the railing, with a view west over the shola forest. The forest checkpost for Berijam Lake is here.
In the 1-day plan
A roadside view from the hill above town, looking down on the star-shaped lake with the town round it. It is the best place to see the whole shape of the lake.
In the 1-day planA big terraced garden of roses run by the state horticulture department, on the slope below the Observatory Road. Paths wind down past beds of many hundreds of varieties, with a view over the valley at the bottom.
In the 1-day plan
A botanical garden on the east side of the lake, laid out in 1908 by a forest officer, H D Bryant. It has lawns, flower beds, a glasshouse and old trees, and hosts the flower show in Kodaikanal's summer festival.
In the 1-day plan
The star-shaped lake at the heart of town, made in 1863. You can hire a rowing boat, pedal boat or a boat with a boatman, and the 5 km road round the shore is good for a walk, a hired bicycle or a pony ride.
In the 1-day plan
A Murugan temple on the hill north of town, built in 1936 and named after the kurinji flower, which covers these hills in blue once every twelve years. From the temple you look out over the plains towards Palani and the Vaigai dam.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
The Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, on the highest point of town, has watched the sun since 1899 and holds one of the longest daily records of sunspots in the world. Its small museum shows old telescopes, sun photographs and how the observatory works.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
A natural history museum at Sacred Heart College, a Jesuit college founded in 1895, on the road down the ghat. It has hundreds of stuffed birds, animals and insects of the Palani hills, and an orchid house.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
A quiet reservoir deep in the forest, about 21 km west of town past Moir Point. The forest road stops at Silent Valley View, Mathikettan Shola view and the Caps Fly Valley on the way, and gaur and deer are often seen. The lake supplies water to Periyakulam in the plains.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
A roadside view over Poombarai, a hill village of stepped vegetable terraces about 18 km west of town. Down in the village is the old Kuzhanthai Velappar temple to Murugan, a short walk from the road.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
A lake in open grassland at about 2,000 m, 35 km west of town. The grassland round it belongs to a government sheep and rabbit research farm, and the forest department runs an eco-tourism site at the lakeside with walks and a watchtower.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
A waterfall that drops about 55 m beside the ghat road, about 7 km below town. Its water comes from the overflow of Kodaikanal Lake. Most people stop here on the drive up from Madurai or Batlagundu.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
A seasonal waterfall in a patch of shola forest about 2 km from the lake, named for the bears that once came to drink here. A short forest path leads to the foot of the falls.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
A flat rock that juts out over a sheer drop of hundreds of metres, below the village of Vattakanal south of town. The walk down from the road takes about 30 to 45 minutes each way through forest, past the small Vattakanal falls.
Day 3 of the 3-day planTwo days for most visitors: one for Coaker's Walk, the forest viewpoints and the lake, one for Poombarai and Mannavanur Lake to the west. A third day adds Dolphin's Nose and Berijam Lake.
Yes. Every outside vehicle coming into Kodaikanal needs a Tamil Nadu e-pass from epass.tnega.org, and in summer 2025 the Madras High Court also capped the number of vehicles a day. Your cab operator usually applies for it with the cab's number. The rules change from season to season, so check before you go.
The caves themselves are closed. You walk a short forest path from the road and look into the gorge from behind a railing. It is open from about 09:00 to 16:30 with a small forest department ticket.
October to June. April to June is the busy summer season, with the flower show at Bryant Park in May, so book early and expect traffic. The monsoon months bring mist that hides the viewpoints, but the waterfalls are at their best just after.
Yes. The classic town and forest road day is only about 27 km, and the Mannavanur and Berijam days are about 70 km. Hill roads are slow, so a day takes the full 8 hours even at those distances. Check the hours and kilometre limit with the operator before you book.
About 115 km and three and a half to four hours by road, up the ghat from Batlagundu. Silver Cascade Falls is on the way up, about 7 km below town, so many people stop there on arrival.
Yes, as a separate day: the Palani Murugan temple is about 65 km each way down the hill, so it is an outstation trip, not part of these plans.
The neelakurinji covers the Palani hills in blue about once every twelve years. The last big bloom was in 2018, so the next is expected around 2030.
