Dehradun

Dehradun, capital of Uttarakhand in the Doon Valley at 640 m elevation, is one of North India's most pleasant mid-sized cities — a temperate town of British-era boulevards, towering deodar cedars, and India's most prestigious educational institutions (the Indian Military Academy, the Forest Research Institute, Doon School, and the Wildlife Institute of India). As a travel base its value is immense: Mussoorie (the Queen of the Hill Stations) is 35 km up the mountain via a scenic road, Rishikesh and Haridwar are 45-55 km east, and the Char Dham pilgrimages (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, Gangotri) begin 200-300 km to the north. Within the city, the Forest Research Institute — an immense Greco-Roman colonial building from 1929 (one of the world's largest brick structures) set in 450-hectare botanical grounds, home to Asia's largest forestry museum — is open to visitors and worth 2 full hours for the architecture and campus alone. The Robber's Cave (Gucchupani, 8 km from the city centre) is a natural limestone canyon cut by a stream that vanishes underground — a popular easy walk through the streambed that rewards with fern-dripping cave walls and crystal water in the dry season. The Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple (5 km) is a riverside Shiva cave shrine with an ancient self-manifest Shivalinga, its sanctum draped with dripping stalactites that naturally shower the lingam — a rare and beautiful natural temple setting. The Sahastradhara (12 km) is a series of sulphur-spring waterfalls and bathing pools; Clement Town's Mindrolling Monastery (home to the Great Stupa, among the largest stupas in Asia) is worth an afternoon visit. For vegetarian travellers, Dehradun introduces Garhwali Kumaoni cuisine: kafuli (spinach-fenugreek curry), aloo ke gutke (crispy mountain-spiced potato), gahat ki dal (horse-gram dal), chainsoo (roasted black-gram), and Garhwali kheer with fresh mountain milk. Ellora's Bakery (since 1953, Dehradun's oldest bakery) produces the same walnut cake, fruit loaf, and butter biscuits it has for over 70 years. The Dehradun basmati rice (a GI-tagged variety grown in the Doon Valley) is considered the finest long-grain basmati in India. October to June is comfortable; avoid July-August monsoon landslides.