Air India is getting a head-to-toe makeover.
31.07.2023 - 11:15 / lonelyplanet.com
Riding the rails is one of the greatest joys of any India adventure, whether you’re trundling high up into the hills aboard a Unesco-listed miniature train or clattering along the sun-drenched, coast-hugging Konkan Railway.
Down in the country’s steamy south, landscapes spin from honey-gold beaches and palm-shaded backwaters to jungle-covered hills, gushing waterfalls and sprawling megacities. And there’s no finer way to soak it all up than from the window seat of a clanking train, over a white-paper cup of steaming sweet chai.
Fabulous food is often part of the picture, too, thanks to vendors deftly making their way through carriages at stations, and top-tier tickets that include on-board meals. As you roll across wildly beautiful South India, you’ll see local staples such as potato-stuffed dosas (lentil-and-rice-flour pancakes), crispy vadas (fried savory doughnuts) and coconut-rich Keralan stews pop up, while soothing chai and coffee inevitably always appear at just the right moment. Certain stations are famous for selling particular regional specialities, and some trains are known for serving superb food.
Here are eight terrific train journeys that offer a taste of India’s sultry south.
46km (29 miles), 3.5–4.75 hours
South Indian rail thrills don’t get more classic than catching the famous, Unesco-listed “toy train” into northern Tamil Nadu’s misty Western Ghats. Jade-green tea plantations, lush jungle, rushing waterfalls and far-reaching panoramas jostle for attention as the narrow-gauge, rack-and-pinion steam train rattles up into the Nilgiri Hills from tiny Mettupalayam, zipping through 16 tunnels and across 250 bridges. Eventually, it reaches the hugely popular hill station of Ooty, at 2240m (7350ft), founded in the early 19th century by British colonials. There’s also a stop along the way at Coonoor, the Nilgiris’ second hill station, resting at 1720m (5643ft). First opened in 1899 (and extended to Ooty in 1908), the NMR pulls in an often-lively domestic crowd, with people cheering as tunnels plunge you into darkness.
The blue-and-cream miniature train leaves for Ooty every day at 7:10am and takes 4.75 hours on the way up; it makes its way back down to Mettupalayam at 2pm, a 3.5-hour journey. The best way to get to Mettupalayam is aboard the nine-hour overnight Nilgiri Express from Chennai Central (or hop on it at Coimbatore, which has an airport), arriving just in time at 6:15am.
711km (442 miles), 14 hours
Flights link Karnataka’s lively capital of Bengaluru with the coast in an hour or so – but then you’d be missing out on a spectacular slow-travel jaunt through the lush, biodiverse and unbelievably beautiful Western Ghats en route to Gokarna’s blissful beaches. Leaving Bengaluru’s
Air India is getting a head-to-toe makeover.
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