Dehradun

Dehradun sits in the broad, green Doon Valley at about 640 m, cradled between the Shivalik hills and the higher Garhwal ranges, with the Ganga to its east and the Yamuna to its west. The mild climate, litchi orchards, and basmati fields gave it a reputation as a genteel retirement and education town long before it became a state capital in 2000, and that unhurried, tree-lined character still lingers beneath the newer sprawl.

The city is defined by its institutions. The colonial-era Forest Research Institute, set in a vast estate with a much-photographed Greco-Roman building, the Indian Military Academy that commissions the army's officers, the Survey of India, the Wadia Institute, and storied schools such as The Doon School have all shaped its identity. Around them sit the sights most visitors fold in, the water-carved Robber's Cave (Guchhupani), the Sahastradhara sulphur springs, the cave shrine of Tapkeshwar, and the striking Mindrolling Monastery with one of India's tallest Buddhist stupas.

For MyTripMyTravel, Dehradun's real value is as a gateway. With its own airport at Jolly Grant and fast rail links to Delhi, it is the natural place to land, rest, and reset before the roads climb, to Mussoorie half an hour above, to Rishikesh and Haridwar on the Ganga, or onward into the Garhwal interior toward the Char Dham. We use it as a smooth, well-serviced base to stage the mountain legs rather than a headline destination in itself.