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• Duration: 2 to 5 days; most travellers take 2.
• Price: from ₹5,599 per person on a fixed-date group departure, travel from Bangalore included.
• Places: the star-shaped lake and its cycle path, Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks, Bryant Park, Dolphin's Nose and Silver Cascade falls.
• Travel: Kodaikanal is about 460 km from Bangalore, eight to nine hours by road through Salem and Dindigul, so the group departures travel overnight on Friday. Trains reach Kodai Road station, 80 km away, with a two-hour drive up the ghat.
• Stay: a lake-view hotel in town or a quieter cottage stay towards Pillar Rocks.
• Best time: October to March is clear and cold, down to 8°C in December and January, and the best time for the viewpoints.
• Weather: Kodaikanal is at 2,130 m: 8 to 17°C in December and January, 11 to 20°C from March to June, and mist and rain from July to September when the viewpoints are often closed in..
• Trip type: 1 fixed-date group departure and private trips on your own dates.

2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore2D/1N · ₹5,5994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss4D/3N · ₹11,9994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore4D/3N · ₹11,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape5D/4N · ₹14,999

Two nights covers the lake, Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks and Bryant Park. Three nights adds Dolphin's Nose, Berijam lake on a permit, or the drive across to Ooty.

2 days / 1 night from Bangalore, from ₹5,599 per person: 2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore (2D/1N, from ₹5,599).

4 days / 3 nights from Bangalore, from ₹11,999 per person: 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss (4D/3N, from ₹11,999); 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore (4D/3N, from ₹11,999).

5 days / 4 nights from Bangalore, from ₹14,999 per person: 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape (5D/4N, from ₹14,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss (5D/4N, from ₹14,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Escape from Coimbatore (5D/4N, from ₹14,999).

2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore2D/1N · ₹5,5994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss4D/3N · ₹11,9994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore4D/3N · ₹11,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape5D/4N · ₹14,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss5D/4N · ₹14,999

4 days / 3 nights from ₹11,999 per person. Two nights covers the lake, Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks and Bryant Park. Three nights adds Dolphin's Nose, Berijam lake on a permit, or the drive across to Ooty.

2 plans: 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss (4D/3N, from ₹11,999); 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore (4D/3N, from ₹11,999).

4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss4D/3N · ₹11,9994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore4D/3N · ₹11,999

5 days / 4 nights from ₹14,999 per person. Two nights covers the lake, Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks and Bryant Park. Three nights adds Dolphin's Nose, Berijam lake on a permit, or the drive across to Ooty.

3 plans: 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape (5D/4N, from ₹14,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss (5D/4N, from ₹14,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Escape from Coimbatore (5D/4N, from ₹14,999).

5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape5D/4N · ₹14,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss5D/4N · ₹14,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Escape from Coimbatore5D/4N · ₹14,999

These are the places Kodaikanal trips are built from. Each trip page lists exactly which of them it covers, and a private trip can swap one for another.

• Kodai Lake: The star-shaped lake of 1863; hire a cycle for the 5 km path or a pedal boat.
• Coaker's Walk: A 1 km paved path along the cliff edge with a telescope house; the valley clears best at dawn.
• Pillar Rocks: Three 400-foot granite pillars with a garden viewpoint, 8 km from town.
• Bryant Park: A 20-acre terraced garden beside the lake, with a glasshouse and an annual flower show in May.
• Dolphin's Nose: A 1.5 km walk to a flat rock hanging over a 6,600-foot drop, with Echo Rock on the way.
• Silver Cascade Falls: A 180-foot fall on the ghat road as you drive up from Batlagundu.
• Berijam Lake: A reserved-forest lake 21 km out; a forest permit is issued in limited numbers each morning.
• Guna Caves and Moir Point: The pillar-rock caves and the viewpoint on the same circuit.

A private trip runs the same plan at your own pace; a group departure follows it to the minute.

• Day 1: drive up past Silver Cascade, check in, cycle the lake and walk Coaker's Walk at sunset.
• Day 2: Pillar Rocks, Guna caves, Moir point and Dolphin's Nose in the morning, Bryant Park and the market in the afternoon.
• Day 3: Berijam lake with a permit or a walk to Pambar falls, then the drive down.

Kodaikanal packages from Bangalore start at ₹5,599 per person: ₹5,599 for 2 days, ₹11,999 for 4 days and ₹14,999 for 5 days. On a group departure that is the seat, the overnight travel from Bangalore both ways, the stays on twin or triple sharing, the meals the trip page lists, the activities named on it and a Travloger trip captain for the whole trip.

What moves the price is the room category, the season and the group size. Weekends, long weekends and the December fortnight cost more than a mid-week date, and a group of four to six brings the per-person price down because the car and the rooms are shared. Entry tickets and anything not named on the trip page stay out of the fare, so the number you see is the number you pay.

Ooty is six hours north across the Nilgiris, and the two hill stations together make the classic four to six day Tamil Nadu circuit.

5 trips on this page, from ₹11,999 per person: 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss (4D/3N, from ₹11,999); 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore (4D/3N, from ₹11,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape (5D/4N, from ₹14,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss (5D/4N, from ₹14,999).

4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss4D/3N · ₹11,9994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore4D/3N · ₹11,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Escape5D/4N · ₹14,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss5D/4N · ₹14,999

The Isha Yoga Centre and the Adiyogi statue sit near Coimbatore, between Kodaikanal and Ooty, and slot into the drive between the two.

3 trips on this page, from ₹11,999 per person: 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore (4D/3N, from ₹11,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss (5D/4N, from ₹14,999); 5 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Escape from Coimbatore (5D/4N, from ₹14,999).

4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore4D/3N · ₹11,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Isha Bliss5D/4N · ₹14,9995 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Escape from Coimbatore5D/4N · ₹14,999

Friends and solo travellers: 1 fixed-date group trip from ₹5,599, travel and trip captain included, rooms shared by gender: 2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore (2D/1N, from ₹5,599).

Families and couples take the private trips: the same places at your own pace, with the room category and the car chosen for your group.

2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore2D/1N · ₹5,599

1 fixed-date group departure from Bangalore on this page, from ₹5,599 per person: 2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore (2D/1N, from ₹5,599). The price is a seat on the trip: the travel from Bangalore both ways, the stays on twin or triple sharing, the meals the trip page lists, the activities named on it and a trip captain from the first evening to the last.

Next departures: 2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore on 2 Oct, 9 Oct, 16 Oct, 23 Oct, 30 Oct and 6 Nov. A seat is confirmed with an advance and the balance is paid before the trip.

Kodaikanal is about 460 km from Bangalore, eight to nine hours by road through Salem and Dindigul, so the group departures travel overnight on Friday. Trains reach Kodai Road station, 80 km away, with a two-hour drive up the ghat.

A private Kodaikanal trip from Bangalore is the other way to do it: your own car and driver, your own dates and your own pace, from ₹11,999 per person.

2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore2D/1N · ₹5,599

The three lowest prices on this page, per person: 2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore at ₹5,599 for 2D/1N; 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss at ₹11,999 for 4D/3N; 4 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore at ₹11,999 for 4D/3N. A group seat includes the travel from Bangalore; a private trip's price is the land package and the journey is quoted with it. Weekends, long weekends and the December fortnight cost more than a mid-week date, and the monsoon months cost least.

2 Days Kodaikanal Weekend Getaway from Bangalore2D/1N · ₹5,5994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Twin Hills Bliss4D/3N · ₹11,9994 Days Ooty Kodaikanal Bliss from Coimbatore4D/3N · ₹11,999

Travloger plans from its Hyderabad and Bengaluru offices, and the Bangalore group departures are run by the Bengaluru team. The planner who quotes your Kodaikanal trip answers on WhatsApp from 9 am to 9 pm every day and stays your one contact from the first message to the last day.

Best time

October to March is clear and cold, down to 8°C in December and January, and the best time for the viewpoints. April to June is the summer season when the plains escape the heat. July to September is misty with heavy rain, when the valley views disappear for days at a time.

• October to March, 8 to 20°C: Clear and cold, the best months for the viewpoints and the lake.
• April to June, 11 to 22°C: The summer season; Bryant Park’s flower show is in May and rates peak.
• July to September, 10 to 18°C: Mist and heavy rain, valleys closed in for days, the cheapest time to go.

What to pack

Woollens from December to February, when mornings sit at 8°C, and a jacket the rest of the year. Shoes with grip for Coaker’s Walk and Dolphin’s Nose, a rain shell from July to September, and a torch, because the town loses power on stormy evenings.

Bangalore to Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal is about 460 km from Bangalore, eight to nine hours by road through Salem and Dindigul, so the group departures travel overnight on Friday. Trains reach Kodai Road station, 80 km away, with a two-hour drive up the ghat.

Kodaikanal or Ooty? Kodaikanal is the quieter of the two, walkable around one lake, with fewer crowds and a shorter list of sights. Ooty is bigger, colder and has the toy train and the tea estates. Kodai is the better choice for a slow two nights; Ooty for a family that wants something planned every day.

Longer reads on Kodaikanal: day-by-day plans, what to see and how it compares with the places people weigh it against.

Every destination we plan from Bangalore, each on its own page with how to reach it from the city, what it costs and the trips that run there.