Dehradun

A valley between two ranges

Dehradun sits in the Doon Valley, with the Mussoorie ridge of the lower Himalaya to the north and the low Shivalik hills to the south. It is the capital of Uttarakhand and a working city of boarding schools, army and forestry institutes and busy main roads. At about 640 m it is much warmer than the hill stations above it. Most visitors treat it as the gateway to Mussoorie, about 35 km up a winding road, but the city is worth a day or two of its own.

What to see

The Forest Research Institute is the city's grand landmark: a long red-brick building of arches and courtyards from the 1920s, inside a wooded campus of about 450 hectares on the Chakrata road. Its forestry museums are ticketed, and the lawns have appeared in more than a dozen Hindi films. In the south of the city, at Clement Town, Mindrolling Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist centre whose Great Stupa, opened in 2002, is one of the tallest in India.

The other three sights are all about water. At Robber's Cave, which locals call Guchhupani, you wade up a cold stream through a narrow gorge. Sahastradhara has sulphur springs and rock ledges that drip into the river. Tapkeshwar is a Shiva cave temple where water drips onto the lingam.

Monsoon and the 2025 cloudburst

Dehradun is one of the wettest cities in north India, and most of that rain falls from July to September. On the night of 15–16 September 2025, a cloudburst above Sahastradhara sent a flash flood through the area. Shops and hotels in the Sahastradhara market were damaged or washed away, a bridge collapsed, and the Tamsa river rose over the Tapkeshwar temple. Several people in the district died or went missing. The stream-bed sights are the ones to avoid on heavy-rain days. In the monsoon, check the weather alerts and whether a site is open before you set out.

Getting around

Jolly Grant airport is about 25 km south-east of the city, on the Rishikesh side. Dehradun railway station is the end of the line for trains from Delhi. The sights are spread out and 7–15 km apart, so hire a taxi for the day or use app cabs. Rajpur Road is the main street for cafés, bakeries and shops. Paltan Bazaar, near the Clock Tower, is the old market.

Planning a visit

Two days is enough. Spend one on the Forest Research Institute and Tapkeshwar, and the other on Robber's Cave and Sahastradhara, with Mindrolling for the late afternoon. Read the best time to visit before booking a monsoon trip.