A rail museum fittingly dedicated to the Unesco-protected Nilgiris Mountain Railway has opened its doors near the train&rsquos starting point at Mettupalayam (40km from Coimbatore). The collection includes original photographs and artefacts, and some of the oldest locomotives that plied the route.

Up in Ooty, head for Keystone Foundation&rsquos &lsquoA Place to Bee&rsquo, a slow food restaurant in the heart of town, with loads of information not only on wild honey but its makers and gatherers as well. Try salads tossed in honey-sweetened mayo, chicken roasted with rosemary and honey, and crepes drizzled with...slurp, wild honey