Experience the best of Coimbatore

Coimbatore, known locally as Kovai, lies beside the Noyyal river with the Western Ghats rising to the west and north, and a gap in the hills lets in cooling breezes. It built its name on cotton mills and engineering workshops, which earned it the title of the Manchester of South India. Temples include the Marudhamalai Murugan temple on a hill and the Perur Pateeswarar temple, with finely carved pillars.

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a World Heritage line, climbs from Mettupalayam, north of the city, to the hill stations of Coonoor and Ooty, among tea estates. To the south the Valparai plateau and the Anamalai hills have tea and coffee plantations and forest reserves, and the Siruvani waterfalls lie west of town.

Kongu cooking uses coconut and millets, and meals come on a banana leaf with chicken or mutton chukka, idli and sambar, followed by strong filter coffee. The weather is mild for southern India, and the northeast monsoon brings the main rains in October and November.