Nilgiris- The Blue Mountains

The Nilgiris are called the Blue Mountains for a reason that is more extraordinary than most visitors expect. The hills do not merely look blue from a distance. They actually are blue. The Strobilanthes flower that blooms across the hillsides every twelve years and the aromatic oils released by the eucalyptus forests both scatter light in a way that wraps the entire mountain range in a visible blue atmospheric haze. Standing at a viewpoint above Coonoor at dawn and watching the Blue Mountains live up to their name is one of those travel moments that stays permanently in the memory. Our Nilgiris Blue Mountains tour from Bangalore delivers four extraordinary days across the most dramatic landscapes in South India. On Day 1 you enter one of India's most celebrated tiger reserves at Bandipur, staying overnight in an eco lodge inside the forest and experiencing a two-and-a-half hour jeep safari through the same forests where the Maharajas of Mysore once hunted. On Day 2 you drive up into the Blue Mountains themselves, arriving at Coonoor at over 6000 feet of elevation for an evening tea plantation walk and tasting session in one of the most famous tea-growing landscapes on earth. On Day 3 you visit a living Toda tribal village, meeting the most ancient and most extraordinary indigenous community of the Nilgiris, and ride the UNESCO World Heritage Nilgiri Mountain Railway through the tea-covered hillsides. And on Day 4 you descend to Mysore for a guided visit to the magnificent Mysore Palace before your return to Bangalore. This tour is designed for international travellers from the USA, UK, Australia and beyond who want to experience the complete range of what makes South India extraordinary in a single four-day journey from Bangalore.