By road
~65 km from Pollachi
South India · Tamil Nadu
Valparai, Tamil Nadu
Tea estates and rainforest in the Anamalai Hills · ~65 km from Pollachi
Getting there
By rail
Pollachi, ~65km
By air
Coimbatore International, ~105km
Best time to visit
September to May — clear days on the estates
Don't miss
Aliyar Dam
Nallamudi viewpoint
Sholayar Dam
The Anamalai Tiger Reserve
Things to do
Wildlife spotting
Tea-estate walks
Viewpoint drives
Waterfall visits
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Kkdi63 · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Rain jacket, binoculars, walking shoes
A quieter corner
Lion-tailed macaques along the forest roads
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Valparai?
September to May — clear days on the estates. What to pack: Rain jacket, binoculars, walking shoes.
How do I get to Valparai?
The nearest airport is Coimbatore International, ~105km. The nearest railway station is Pollachi, ~65km.
What is there to do in Valparai?
Wildlife spotting, tea-estate walks, viewpoint drives, waterfall visits. A quieter find: Lion-tailed macaques along the forest roads.
What should I eat in Valparai?
South Indian meals and estate tea.
About Valparai
- Hills
- Forest
Where it is
Valparai is a town and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India, high in the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats, surrounded by tea estates and the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.
History
The Anamalai plateau was cleared for tea and coffee estates by British planters from the late 19th century, and the town grew as the centre of the estates, reached by a long ghat road of hairpin bends.
People
Valparai's people speak Tamil, and many are estate families who came to work the tea gardens generations ago; the town is small, and life follows the estates' rhythms.
Known for
- Tea estates on the Anamalai plateau
- Rare lion-tailed macaques
- A ghat road of forty hairpin bends
- Rainforest and dams
Did you know?
The road up to Valparai climbs the Anamalai Hills through forty numbered hairpin bends.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.