We have recently shifted to Chennai from Delhi and decided to explore the nearby Nilgiri range for a weekend getaway. So we decided on visiting yercaud for a 1 night stay. We booked the hotel and pick-up taxi through net.
So 4 of us started from Chennai early Saturday morning by train to Salem. Its around 4-5 hrs journey and we were greeted by the Ambasaador from the Hotel we had booked earlier. Yercaud is 1 hr climb from Salem into the hills with 20 hair pin bends with nice views ofthe valley.
We had booked into Shevaroys Hotel into their bougan villa room...nice decent spacious rooms, not very luxurious but value for money at Rs 1400 per night with basic amenities like 24 hr hot water, tv, room service, morning newspaper etc. I would say it was fairly decent for a 1 night stay. If you are a large group then you can also take one of their cottages.
The hotel itself is quite big and beautiful with lots of trees and ducks and 2 restaurants and a mini mart. But I would place it in the category of 2.5-3 star category as I have seen better hotels with more amenities and luxury. We had heard very good things about food at Shevaroys so on Saturday we had our lunch and dinner in their restaurant. Prices were decent and quality was average - nothing good or bad.
Saturday evening we went to the nearby boating lake which is just walking distance from the hotel. Boating is for half n hr for Rs 70 - do not miss it as its the only thing to do in Yercaud. :) One can also get bicycles near the lake - we did not try it as it was starting to rain...though I feel it would have been a good experience.
It rained that evening so after a brief stroll we returned to our hotel.Next day we took a taxi for around 400 bucks for 4 hrs to cover all the important points: Ladies Seat, Gents Seat, Children Seat - Nice views of valley, though ladies seat has lotsss of monkeys. Pagoda point - Views of valley...nothing different from the above points. Monfort School - It was closed so we could not go inside. I had heard that it has some zoo which is interesting to watch. Rose Garden - Quite a green garden but a very small section of roses.
There is another place called Kiliyur falls which we skipped intentionally as its a 2 hr trek to the falls with a bit dangerous ascent/descent. If you are the adventorous kind, then it should also be an interesting place to visit. We went to lunch at Grand Palace hotel - which I must say was of 4 star category-food and ambience was quite good and the hotel also looked fairly good - better than Shevaroys though its rooms are costlier. It has 1 restaurant and one lounge bar.We lunched at their lounge bar which was quite a good deal - lunch for 4 with starters, drinks, maincourse(both veg n non veg) and desserts was around 1700 bucks. I would suggest that even if one wants to lunch without drinks then its better to go to this lounge bar than the restaurant as the lunch comes from the same kitchen with the same rates though the ambience is much better with sofas n lounges replacing table chairs.
Sunday afternoon around 4 we took a taxi to Salem station and from therr boarded our train back to Chennai. Reached Chennai around 10.30 in night.
Weather wise - It was quite sunny during the day and quite plaesant in evenings as we went in June. But we missed the expected chill of a hill station.
One point to note - Earlier we were planning to go by own car but the roads in yercaud are pretty steep. Take your car only if you are an experinced driver in hills- otherwise its best to stick to train/taxi.
Overall - I would say Yercaud is a decent place for a weekend getaway - but only for relaxing purposes and to be away from the city life. But nothing much to see in it and it certainly cant be compared with North India hill stations such as kullu/shimla etc and not even to South india’s Munnar which is veryy beautiful with rich tea plantations and a heavenly lake in between the hills to boast of. Probably will write a separatye review on Munnar sometime :) I would say the best time to visit Yercaud would be when it is a bit chilly probably during the year-end as hills can be enjoyed best with their trademark misty and chilly weather.