The Most Preferred Hill Stations for Living & Investment

Not all the countries have every natural beauty within their geography. But India is gifted with all the natural beauties like perennial rivers, breezy beaches, deep seas and one of the great oceans, beautiful islands, numerous natural and man-made lakes, waterways and backwaters, burning deserts, variety of waterfalls, dense forests, tall mountain ranges and chilly hill stations for its blessed citizens to enjoy withouta need for an overseas travel to enjoy a nature’s marvel.

Hill Stations at its Peak

Out of the natural beauties, hill stations are the most preferred choice of destination by tourists for the reason that they can see many of the other natural beauties at one location like forest, waterfalls, lakes and scenic beauties, in addition to the enjoyment of preferred chill weather to retreat from the sultry summer.

India has many hill stations across the country and most of them are located on Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats and Himalayas at different altitudes. They all may have many common characteristics like cold weather, unpolluted wind blended with fragrance and eye catching lush green sceneries, but there is a vital difference between the hill stations in South India and the North with similar altitude.

What could it be? Why it is so? Which hill stations are the most preferred for living and investment?

Let us get into the bottom line of this less known fact

North Indian Hill Stations

The famous north Indian hill stations like Shimla, Kashmir, Nainital, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Kullu-Manali, etc. have a wonderful climate during summer with a typical temperature range of double digit  during the day and single digit in the night with which summer is truly enjoyable.

But during the winter season most of them have an adverse weather condition of very low temperature - typically single digit during the day time and subzero in the nights in addition to frequent snow fall. Though the very low night temperature can be managed a bit with the help of modern room heaters and geysers, the snow fall makes the life in North Indian hill stations tougher during winter due to road blockages, traffic jams, drinking water issues, business breaks, health issues, self confinement within house for many days sometime, drastic change in life style between summer and winter. Ultimately, north Indian hill stations rejuvenate during summer and create bit of stress during winter to manage it.

South Indian Hills Stations

The famous South Indian hill stations like Ooty, Coonoor, Kodaikanal, Munnar, Coorg, etc have a pleasant summer with day and night temperature in double digit. Winter seasons are comparatively comfortable with a typical temperature range of double digit during the day time and single digit in the nights, surprisingly without snow falls!

Yes. Snow fall is the vital difference between the hill stations in North and South India.

There is no snow fall in South Indian hill stations and it escapes from the related issues attributed to north Indian hill stations. Contrary to North Indian hill stations, even winter is also enjoyable in South Indian hill stations without drastic change of life style between seasons or getting entangled in stress.

The Reason for Snow Fall in Northern Hills Stations

For example, Shimla and Ooty are famous hill stations in India. Shimla is in North India at an altitude of 7467 Feet and Ooty is in South India at an altitude of 7350 Feet above mean sea level. Though both are at similar altitude,Shimla is much colder than Ooty and there is heavy snow fall in Shimla but not in Ooty.

What could be the reasons for this different climate in two similar altitude hill stations?

This is because of two major reasons – Latitude and Cold wave across the Himalayan region.

It is a known fact that the temperature drops at higher altitudes and that is why the hill stations are chill. But how does Latitude matters?

Earth is a globe with curved surface and hence the sun light hits different latitude with unique angle, travel time and energy level.  Shimla’s latitude is away from the equator and falls in the northern curve of the globe. The sun rays hit Shimla at a more inclined angle which means the rays have to travel a longer distance through atmosphere to reach Shimla and thereby hit with lower heat energy.

On the other hand, Ooty’s latitude is closer to the equator and falls in the middle segment of the globe. The sun rays hit Ooty almost straight or at very less inclination which means the sun rays have to travel comparatively shorter distance through atmosphere to reach Ooty and hit with higher energy. So “Both Altitude & Latitude of a Hill Station” matters in determining the climate and snow fall during winter.

In addition, the western turbulence creates cold wave across the Himalayan region but fails to reach South India. During this season Shimla gets snow while Ooty gets rain due to North East Monsoon with a bit of drop in temperature but without snow fall.

Impact of snow in Hill Station Life Style & Real Estate

South Indian hill stations are known as “All Season Hill Stations” - Enjoyable & Comfortable living throughout the year. They are more suitable for retirement life, senior citizens and stress free life. Hence the demand to buy property for sale in Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Kodaikanal, Coorg, Munnar, Wayanad, Chikmagalur, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani is higher compared to the north Indian hill stations as they are the preferred choice of settlement or retirement or vacation home. During white winters with snow, North Indian hill stations attract tourists only for a short stay / visits to enjoy the snow but they don’t encourage a retirement life or settlement there due to severe cold.

Out of the South Indian hill stations, Nilgiris and Kodaikanal are at higher altitude than others and hence they are more comfortable during summer compared to the rest. Hence the demand to buy independent house / apartment / villa / bungalow / farm house / residential land / Plot for sale in Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coonoor and Kotagiri is sharply increasing as the city dwellers from North India also prefer these hill stations and flock here for searching their dream property. Hence real estate in Ooty and Kodaikanal are heading towards an unprecedented sharp growth with high return on investment. 

When it comes to agriculture, it is uninterrupted in South Indian hill stations due to the absence of snow fall – they just change the type of vegetation like carrot, potato, beans, cabbage, etc suitable to the season. The plantations like Coffee, Pepper are with annual yield and tea growth is not much affected during winter. Hence it is the preferred choice of investors to look at agriculture land / estates for sale in Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Coorg, Munnar, Wayanad, Chikmagalur, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani compared to the north Indian hill stations

It is needless to say that the tourism related business in South Indian hill stations finds crowd more days in a year while compared to North Indian hill stations and hence the commercial property real estate in Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Kodaikanal, Coorg, Munnar, Wayanad, Chikmagalur, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani is always a hot cake, be it resort, cottage or hotel.

Most Preferred Hill Stations in India to Live & Invest

Thus the snow fall makes major difference not only in lifestyle of hill stations but its real estate too. Undoubtedly, the South Indian hill stations are the more preferred choice of Indians for long stay and investment which is evident from the volume of search by North Indians looking for properties in South Indian hill stations especially at Ooty and Kodaikanal while there are not many South Indians who really look for North Indian hill station properties.

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