Hi,
Had recently visited Yercaud on a 3 day trip from Bangalore. (22nd-24oct ’04, to be precise).
The drive from Bangalore was great. The roads upto Krishnagiri on NH-7 was excellent. After that watch-out for unexpected potholes. You could easily bend your wheels.
Once you reach Salem, its a 30 km drive to Yercaud. The road to the hills is decent, and very scenic.
The moment you enter you should notice coffee plantations. (they are quite insignificant though..need to look well to find those.. dark leaves and shrubs). And there was a very nice fragrance in the air.
STAY:
We stayed in a cottage (it was my uncles cottage , so didnt have to pay for it.)
But, we inquired and found that a decent 2 bed deluxe non-ac comes to 520 bucks per night. or for a family you could take a suite for 850 bucks (6 can stay).[This was a place called Star Holidays, quite recent and well maintained] I would say this is real cheap for a hill station
WEATHER:
I have visited yercaud during summer. Its not that great. The best time would be Oct-Jan. When its chilly and misty. And it rains in the afternoon.
You could do all the outing in the mornings, and rest the afternoons.
The mist was very nice. The moment it rains, the air is filled with smells of herbs..
PLACE;
Calm and peaceful. (except for those chai-shops blarring loud FM radio. that was realy annoying. but for 2.5 Rs they give excellent tea, so cant complain)
Not many tourists. that means, you dont have to push a few people to see the ’view’. you could just go to some place, sit quietly, read or chat.. and get back... no hurry...
The Shevaroy temple, (its inside a cave) is very nice. The location of the temple is in the tallest point. So one can spend 3-4 hours there.. You can plan to have lunch/picnic there (but, PLEASE, PLEASE please dont leave the garbage there. please take your own garbage collector and ring back the garbage and dispose it in a proper way)
There are some more places to see (all are mentioned in the reviews in mouthshut).
Be careful when you go to Kiliyur falls. Its a 4 km dangerous trek downhill. not recommended.
and also the road to the falls is very very narrow (only 1 car can go) and it ends in a private property (MRL ltd). They collect 15Rs to let you inside so you can manage to turn your vehicle.
If you ever end up there, reverse your car for 500 m and you will find a neat place to turn your car. dont argue with these private property guys, they are pathetic.
Eating places: The Shevaroys hotel had decent food. the tanddori fish kabab was good.
other than that there are a lot of south indian joints. you get very good idly, dosa type of food.
The best thing to do in Yercaud is to do nothing.. there is nothing like it!!
Eat, take a walk, walk more, rest, sleep..
Its worth it!! trust me..
Enjoy!
My only complain, I wish the Govt had done more in this place, like rented out bicycles, and had defined some trekking paths, that would have been perfect.
Cheers