Dehradun is a city of about 700,000 and the capital of Uttarakhand, in the Doon valley between the Himalayan foothills and the Shivalik range. It is a city of institutions rather than monuments: the Forest Research Institute, the Indian Military Academy, the Survey of India and a long list of boarding schools.
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What Is Here
THE FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE IS THE BEST BUILDING IN THE CITY AND MOST VISITORS NEVER SEE IT. Built in 1906 in Greco-Roman colonial style, it is said to be one of the largest brick buildings in the world, set in 450 hectares of grounds with six museums of forestry inside. The facade at the top of this post is it. Entry is permitted and cheap.
Dehradun is mostly a base and that is the honest framing. MUSSOORIE IS AN HOUR UP THE HILL, RISHIKESH AN HOUR SOUTH EAST, and Haridwar an hour beyond that. A great many people arrive at Jolly Grant airport and leave immediately for one of the three.
The valley and its water are the second image, and the Doon is genuinely green: tea gardens, sal forest and litchi orchards, which is why the hill schools were put here.
ROBBERS CAVE, GUCHHUPANI, IS THE LOCAL OUTING: a river gorge you wade up between narrow rock walls, with the stream vanishing underground and reappearing. It is busy, it is shallow, and it is good fun in warm weather.
Tapkeshwar temple, the Mindrolling monastery and the Great Stupa are the other things to see, the monastery being one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist institutions in India and almost unvisited by foreigners.
Paltan Bazaar is the commercial heart, and Dehradun basmati and litchis are the local produce worth buying.
When to Go
February to April and September to November. March and October are the best months.
May and June are hot, up to 38C and humid in the valley, which is why the British went up to Mussoorie.
AVOID THE MONSOON, JULY TO MID SEPTEMBER. The Doon valley gets heavy rain, and LANDSLIDES CLOSE THE HILL ROADS to Mussoorie and beyond, sometimes for days. Uttarakhand's monsoon is the single most important planning fact in the state.
December and January are cool and misty, with cold nights and clear views of the snow line on good mornings.
Getting There
By air to Jolly Grant, 25km from the centre, with good domestic connections.
By train, the Dehradun Shatabdi from Delhi takes about six hours, and there are overnight services.
By road from Delhi, roughly six hours for 250km.
Shared taxis and buses run constantly to Mussoorie, Rishikesh and Haridwar from the ISBT and the clock tower area.
Is Dehradun Safe for Women?
Dehradun is a prosperous, educated state capital and is one of the easier north Indian cities. The FCDO does publish advised-against areas for India, and being precise about them matters more than a general warning. It advises against all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, except air travel to and movement within the city of Jammu, and against all travel within 10km of the India-Pakistan border, where the Wagah-Attari crossing is closed. It advises against all but essential travel to the state of Manipur, including Imphal. None of that is anywhere near this destination, and it is worth knowing which parts of a very large country the warnings actually describe.
THE ROADS ARE THE PRINCIPAL RISK IN UTTARAKHAND, as everywhere in the state. The hill roads above the city are narrow and winding, and road accidents are the commonest serious incident for visitors here by a wide margin. Travel in daylight, refuse a driver who has driven overnight from Delhi, and say something if the speed is wrong.
Landslides in the monsoon close the hill roads and can strand you for a day or more. Build slack in.
The city traffic is heavy and pavements are intermittent, which is the most likely everyday hazard.
Robbers Cave involves wading in moving water over slippery rock, and it should not be entered after heavy rain.
Dengue is reported in the valley, mainly after the monsoon.
The Dehradun Packing List
A warm humid valley with cool nights, a serious monsoon, and hill stations an hour away.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women earns its place here because Dehradun is a base rather than a destination: you will go up to Mussoorie at 2,000 metres or out to Rishikesh on the river in the same trip, and one wool layer covers a humid valley evening and a cold hill morning without a second outfit. It also covers your arms, which is the dress expectation across Uttarakhand. Add a heavyweight merino base layer from December to February if the hills are on your plan.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece for the hill excursions and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket, which in this valley is a year-round item.
Waterproof hiking shoes with Darn Tough merino socks: city pavements are broken, the FRI grounds are grass and gravel, and Robbers Cave is wet rock.
DEET insect repellent, particularly after the monsoon when dengue is reported.
Not linked and worth packing: A LARGE SCARF for temples and the monastery; SANDALS OR WATER SHOES YOU DO NOT MIND SOAKING for Robbers Cave, which we do not link because our only water-shoe entry is contested; A WATER PURIFICATION METHOD; REHYDRATION SALTS for the summer; and ENOUGH CASH for the hills, since ATMs thin out quickly once you leave the city.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Dehradun
Emergency numbers: 112 is the single national emergency number and works from any phone. 100 reaches police directly, 108 ambulance and 101 fire. 1091 is the national women's helpline and 1098 the child helpline.
Road accidents are the commonest serious incident for visitors in Uttarakhand by a wide margin. The hill roads above the city are narrow and winding: travel in daylight, refuse a driver who has driven through the night from Delhi, and say something if the speed is wrong. THE MONSOON FROM JULY TO MID SEPTEMBER BRINGS LANDSLIDES that close the hill roads to Mussoorie and beyond, sometimes for days. CITY TRAFFIC IS HEAVY AND PAVEMENTS INTERMITTENT, which is the likeliest everyday hazard. ROBBERS CAVE MEANS WADING in moving water over slippery rock and should not be entered after heavy rain. DENGUE IS REPORTED in the valley after the monsoon. ATMs thin out once you leave the city for the hills.
US State Department travel advisory: the India advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/india, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: Dehradun is well provided by Uttarakhand standards, with Doon Government Medical College and several large private hospitals including Max and Synergy. This is the referral city for most of the state, which matters if you are heading into the hills. Dial 108 for an ambulance. Healthcare in the large Indian cities is genuinely good in the private hospitals and variable in the public ones, and the private sector expects payment or a direct insurance guarantee up front. Carry insurance with a high medical limit and repatriation cover, and carry proof of it. The commonest problem by far is not dramatic: it is stomach upset, so drink sealed bottled or filtered water, and be more careful with raw salad and cut fruit than with hot food cooked in front of you.
Official health authority: the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. covers the Uttarakhand state health service and its post-monsoon dengue advisories
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in New Delhi.
Official tourism authority: Incredible India, the Ministry of Tourism's official site. publishes the Forest Research Institute visiting arrangements, the Robbers Cave access and monsoon road status for the hill routes
Takeaways
See the Forest Research Institute. Almost no visitor does.
It is a base: Mussoorie, Rishikesh and Haridwar are each about an hour.
Avoid the monsoon. Landslides close the hill roads, not just the views.
This is the state's referral hospital city. Worth knowing before going higher.
Solo women safety assessment: Dehradun is one of the easier north Indian cities for a woman travelling alone. It is prosperous, highly educated, full of students and boarding-school families, and has a visible population of women working and moving about independently, which changes the atmosphere noticeably compared with smaller Uttarakhand towns. The ordinary practice applies: dress covered with shoulders and knees out of sight, use app taxis or pre-booked cars rather than flagging down an auto after dark, and keep interactions brief. 112 IS THE SINGLE NATIONAL EMERGENCY NUMBER, with 100 for police, 108 for an ambulance and 1091 the national women's helpline. THE FCDO'S INDIAN PROHIBITIONS DO NOT REACH UTTARAKHAND: the all-travel prohibition is Jammu and Kashmir, the all-but-essential one is Manipur, the Naxalite guidance concerns five states to the east and south, and the 10km India-Pakistan border strip is far to the west. THE DANGER IN THIS STATE IS THE ROAD AND IT DESERVES REPEATING because it is where visitors are actually hurt: the hill roads above Dehradun are narrow, winding and often unbarriered, they are shared with buses and trucks that take the centre, and the accidents happen to tired drivers. Travel in daylight, never accept a driver who has come overnight from Delhi and is continuing up to Mussoorie, and be willing to say the speed is too fast, which drivers here generally accept. THE MONSOON IS THE SECOND THING, from July to mid September, when landslides close the hill routes for hours or days: that is a scheduling risk if you leave slack and a safety one if you try to beat it. THE THIRD IS MUNDANE: traffic and broken pavements in a city with intermittent footpaths, which is the hazard you will actually meet every day. One genuinely useful fact: Dehradun is the referral hospital city for the whole state, with several large private hospitals, so if you are going higher into Garhwal or Kumaon, this is where you would be brought back to.
Reading On
Dehradun is the Doon valley and the hills start above it. The Mussoorie packing list covers the hill station an hour up, the Rishikesh packing list the river town an hour south east and the Haridwar packing list the pilgrimage city beyond it. Deeper into the hills the Chopta packing list and Almora packing list cover Garhwal and Kumaon. West, the Shimla packing list, Manali packing list, Dharamsala packing list and Chandigarh packing list cover Himachal and Punjab, with the Delhi packing list for the capital six hours south. For the country the India travel guide for women and the India packing list carry the transport, the dress expectations and the practical material in full. For why one wool layer covers a humid valley and a cold hill, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
