Coonoor is the second most popular hill station in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu after Ooty. Situated on a lower ridge of the main plateau at an altitude of about1800 meters above the sea level, it is 19 kms from Ooty. However its climate is milder than Ooty.

Coonoor offers the tourists exotic panoramic view of the lush green Nilgiri hills, with its ravines, valleys, and waterfalls. Bird lovers can enjoy bird watching, as the place is full of beautiful and rare birds including black woodpecker, parakeets, barbets, mynas, cuckoos, Malabar trogon, Malabar gray hornbill, crested hawk eagle, and crested serpent eagle.

The hill resort of Coonoor has several places worth visiting. In order to enjoy the beauty of nature you must visit the Sim's park. The beautiful park is spread over twelve hectares of land. While in the Park you can check out as many as one thousand species of plants. There are the magnolia, pines, tree ferns and camellia, which are worth seeing. It is a nice idea to capture the beautiful botanical garden in cameras and videos since photography is allowed inside the park. Sim's Park is the venue of the fruit and vegetable show held each year in the month of May. It is mentionable that the Park gets its name from J.D. Sim who was the secretary of the Madras Club in the year 1874.

Close to the Sim's Park lies the Pasteur Institute. The Pasteur Institute was founded way back in 1907. The institute is renowned for its research in the field of developing vacancies against diseases like rabies and polio. Since it is not a public place in Coonoor you need to follow the timings decided for visiting the institute. You may seek approval of your visit from the Director of the institute. The guided tour of the institute is indeed an experience in itself.

Then there is the landmark of Pomological Station in Coonoor. The Pomological Station is in fact a research centre of the State Agricultural Department. The centre carries in research for persimmon, pomegranates, and apricot. The Bird watchers visiting Coonoor will be delighted to spot species like the cormorants, pipits, thrushes, parakeets, skylarks, Nilgiri verditer, etc.