What to See in Munnar, India: Free Audio Guide

Munnar is a hill town in Kerala’s Idukki district, surrounded by tea plantations, winding roads and the mountain scenery of the Western Ghats. The best things to do in Munnar include visiting the KDHP Tea Museum, discovering historic churches, and taking in landmarks such as Anamudi, Kundala Dam and Cheeyappara Waterfalls. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Munnar with 8 narrated places.

What to See in Munnar

Munnar and its tea-growing landscape

Munnar is shaped by the tea industry, which remains the town’s main source of economic activity. Its name is linked to the meeting of three rivers: the Nallathanni, Mudirapuzha and Kundala. The town and its surrounding tourist places form one of Kerala’s important mountain destinations, attracting visitors to its striking natural scenery.

Tea plantations cover the hills around Munnar, while plantation workers—most of whom are Tamil people—form an important part of the local community. The roads through the uplands reveal how closely the town’s identity is connected to the surrounding slopes.

KDHP Tea Museum

The KDHP Tea Museum brings together Munnar’s tea industry and its history. It offers an introduction to the sector that has played such a central role in shaping the town and its landscape.

For anyone interested in understanding why tea plantations are such a defining feature of Munnar, this is one of the most useful places to visit. It adds historical context to the green hills and plantation roads outside town.

Western Ghats

The landscape around Munnar belongs to the Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri. This mountain range runs along India’s western coast, forming a nearly continuous chain along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau.

The Western Ghats stretch for about 1,600 kilometres across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Dense evergreen forests cover much of the range, supporting the living diversity associated with the region. The mountains were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.

Munnar provides an opportunity to appreciate this landscape through its steep slopes, forested areas and changing mountain views. The scale of the Western Ghats is one of the most memorable aspects of the area.

Anamudi

Anamudi is the highest peak in South India and the highest summit of the Western Ghats. It rises to 2,695 metres, or 8,842 feet, and stands where the Anamalai, Cardamom and Palani hill ranges meet.

The peak is one of the defining landmarks of Kerala’s highlands. Its slopes are also associated with the blue kurinji flower, which blooms only once every twelve years. When the flowering coincides with a visit, it gives Anamudi an especially distinctive character.

Kundala Dam

Kundala Dam lies on the route between Munnar and Top Station, about 20 kilometres from Munnar. Also known as Setuparvatipuram Dam, it was built on the Muthirapuzha River and forms part of the Pallivasal Hydroelectric Project, described as Kerala’s first hydroelectric project.

The dam is considered Asia’s first arch dam. It is a masonry gravity dam measuring 46.93 metres in height and 259.38 metres in length. Its release flows into the Palar River, passing through several taluks in Kerala.

Cheeyappara Waterfalls

Cheeyappara Waterfalls is a notable stop along the national highway between Neriamangalam and Adimali, on the approach to Munnar. Its water descends in seven distinct steps, creating the feature that makes the falls particularly striking.

The site also provides opportunities for trekking and hiking. It is therefore more than a roadside viewpoint: visitors can experience the surrounding landscape beyond the main view of the cascading water.

C.S.I. Christ Church

C.S.I. Christ Church stands in Old Munnar and is recognised for its stone construction. Inside and around the church, stained-glass windows and memorial plaques associated with British planters offer a glimpse into the history connected with the area.

The stonework, coloured glass and plaques are the details that make the church a notable place to see in Munnar. Together, they give the building a distinctive presence in the old part of the town.

Mount Carmel Church

Mount Carmel Church is a Catholic basilica and pilgrimage centre in Munnar. Its wood-framed windows and statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary are among its most recognisable features.

The church adds a different aspect to Munnar’s heritage, complementing the history represented by C.S.I. Christ Church and the industrial story told at the KDHP Tea Museum.

Explore Munnar with a self-guided audio tour

A Munnar self-guided walking tour is a simple way to connect the town’s main stories without joining a group. Neywo’s walk, “Munnar: Tea, Churches and the Old Hill Station,” covers 2.72 km in about 59 minutes and includes 4 narrated stops: the KDHP Tea Museum, Munnar, Mount Carmel Church and C.S.I. Christ Church, Munnar.

Download Neywo to explore Munnar with the story of each place playing as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. The app’s narration is available in 11 languages.

Munnar is part of Kerala, in India. If you are continuing through the region, Thekkady and Kochi are other destinations to explore.