We all wait for weekend and if you want to relax and enjoy the weekend in a hill station within 200 km from Bangalore, Yelagiri Hills is the place you can consider. I have visited twice, first time in 2013 for a day out and recently this year (2019) for 2 days and both the times it was a great fun over there.
About the Place
Yelagiri is a hill station in Vellore district of Tamilnadu, 160 km from Bangalore. This is one of the popular hill stations where many people visit from Bangalore, Chennai and nearby places in the weekends.
The road trip from Bangalore to Yelagiri Hills is awesome through Bangalore-Chennai highway, exit to Kethandapatti Road and then Yelagiri Road. Except 3-4 KM the road is in excellent condition.
Yelagiri is very good place for both family trip or a trip with friends. Though there are not too many places to visit, however it has enough attraction for enjoying and relaxing for a weekend.
Place to Visit
Fundera Park
This is mainly a bird park. It has several varieties of birds from different part of the world. There are some places where you can feed them and the birds actually come and sit on the hand, which is a great experience. Apart from the birds it has small zoo with some domestic animals. Surrounding this park there are several activity camps. The place has dedicated parking area.
Yelagiri Nature Park
This is a small park with lots of greenery, kids play area and place where you can just sit and relax. It has one artificial waterfall which looks very good. There are aquariums with varieties of fishes however it is maintained very badly. It has dedicated parking area.
Punganoor Lake Park
This is one of the main attractions of Yelagiri. I found it crowded both the times. The lake is very beautiful. People are also coming for picnic here. It has boating. It has dedicated parking area. Surrounding the park there are several activity areas mainly for kids and there are several fruit stalls where you can get different types of local fruits.
Swamimalai Hills
This is popular for group trekking. The hill top has a great view. Usually it takes 1 hr to reach the hill top.
Jalagamparai Waterfalls
The waterfall is around 35 km away from Yelagiri, however many people visit the place when they plan for Yelagiri Hill trip. I did not get a chance to visit the place, however will try next time.
City Center
It is small hill station, however I found it has developed a lot in last 5 years. Roads are on very good condition and wide. There are several shops. You can roam around and do some shopping.
Place to Stay
There are several hotels in Yealagiri. Few famous hotels/resorts are Sterling Yelagiri, TGI Kairos, Hotel Kumaraaja Place, Cloud 9 Resorts and many other. I have stayed in TGI Kairos. It is bit away from the city center, a great place to relax. The staffs and the foods were very good.
I would say if you are staying in Bangalore please plan visiting this hill station in any of the weekend and I can say you it will not disappoint you.
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Happy Travelling!!