Travelogue - Yercaud

Yercaud is a calm-quiet picturesque hill station located on Shervaroys hill ranges, with lots of coffee estates, eucalyptus and silver-oak trees.

LOCATION :
Yercaud is located in Tamil Nadu at around 4000-5000 feet above sea level. Its around 180 kms from Bangalore. It is around 30 kms from Salem and takes around 90 minutes drive from Salem. There are regular buses to Yercaud from Salem new bus junction. The nearest airports are either Bangalore (180 Kms) or Chennai (215 kms). The nearest Railway Station is Salem Railway Station.

CLIMATE :
The weather in Yercaud is pleasant. Summers (April-June) are mild, while winters (November-February) are cool.

ACCOMODATION :

• Budget Hotels : TNTDC, Star Hotel, and various cottages
• High End : Sterling Resorts, Shervaroys , Sterling Holiday Cottage(pref.)

FOOD :
TNTDC Hotel : This one has a decent vegetarian hotel, and the other veg hotels are one at Udupi hotel near the Yercuad bus stand and one at Shervaroys.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS :

• Yercaud Lake : Located right at the center of the hill-station, it has both pedal and row boats, maintained by TNTDC.
• Shervaroys Temple : Located at the top most point of the hills. The main dieties are Cauvery amman and Shervaroyappan. The priest maintains that there is a tunnel behind the dieties, that goes all the way to Thalacauvery temple in Coorg.
• Botanical garden : This one is open during the weekends, mainly used by botanical students. This garden has a wide variety of herbs. A delight for those who have an in interest in botany.
• Ladies Seat : This one gives a panaromic view of Salem Town. The name came after this view was frequented by a English lady during pre-independence days.
• Gents Seat : Yercaud;s menfolk, wanted a seat of their own, so they made one for their own.
• Rose Garden : This one has a wide variety of roses.
• Estates: The whole hill station is filled with private estates. The estates generally grow Coffee, Silver-oak, Eucalyptus, Black pepper, "Kamla" Orange. For those who like "Narasus" coffee, the coffee comes from Yercaud, they have their own estate here.
• Garden right across the Lake : This one has a Japanese style garden, don't miss this one.
• Montfort School : A convent school, which has students from all over Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES/TRAVEL TIPS : For those who would like to unwind themselves during the weekend, this is a perfect spot. Moving around yercaud is so easy with all directions everywhere well placed.

The good part of going to Yercaud from Bangalore is Driving. As I like driving very much, it was fun driving on cool 4 laned Highway(thanks to Atalji) .Upto Krishnagiri(230 kms) you can go very fast(evg of 65 kms/hour). Just be careful of people crossing. The Ghat to Yercaud after Salem is about 22 kms, its good drive, but need to be careful about vehicles coming from opposite direction while going up, as they come very fast.

The season here is during April/May, other months are off-season. Please bring in Cameras & Binoculars and a woolen shawl/sweater during winters. Enjoy the morning walks and treks. Just like any other hill-station, you can get variety of scents, lotions, honey etc, etc, be careful where you buy the stuff. Even if you buy stuff, buy in small quantities.

I will compile some photo's soon !!