"DEHRADUN" - Beautiful city on foothill track of the Himalayas

India is the country with many beautiful places especially when it comes to the states and their cities near the Himalayan ranges.

A place to visit nature and relax in the beautiful scenic around the city with its chilled climate is none other than the capital of Uttarakhand - Dehradun

Dehra is "Dera" i.e temporal home or camps and Dun / "Doon" is the valley.

So lets start our journey to the camping valley.

(Note: I will give all distance and mode of transport from Mumbai as its been my home city and I travel mostly from here. Put down your comments if you want it from some other place will direct you from there as well.

And one more thing, thanks to all photographers who take beautiful pictures and upload them on google #thanks #pic-courtesy-Google)

Lets Begin,

Travelling ---

• By Air 
• The city has its own small airport the Jolly Grant Airport and the flights are mostly connected via Delhi.
• You can enjoy the small airplane flights of morning passing near the Himalayan ranges with beautiful sunrise.
• Airport is quite far from the City centre, approx. 30 kms. But yet worth the travel.

• By Road
• 1700 kms approx. from Mumbai Suburbs, not at all a good idea to take this mode.
• But again the expedition will be much thrilling passing various state borders and meeting different people en-routed.  

• By Train
• Another good option if you don't want to opt for those heavy pocket flights but you have to patient enough to reach your destination.
• Two trains from Mumbai, one at mid-night from Bandra Terminus train no. 19019. It takes 42hrs  
• Another one runs via Panvel (Navi Mumbai) train no. 22659 which takes 31hrs but only departs on Saturday.
• If you want to travel your half-way journey via train from New Delhi there are n number of options available. Approx. journey time is 8 hrs, but this few trains (12401, 12055) takes just 6 hrs to reach our destination.

Accommodation ----

• As I always suggest to stay near the city centre and search for various options on MakeMyTrip & others to match your budget.
• You will find beautiful hotels all around the city some with scenic mountain views as well.
• Many camping stays available but far from the city centre for those adventurer who are heading to various trek in the Himalayas

After you have reached and found a suitable place to jump and relax, its time to make your tummy happy.

Special Food to try ----

• Bun Tikki
• Momos
• Bread Pakoda
• Chowmein
• Chole Puri
• Aloo Chat
• Rajma Chawal
• Kumar's sweets 

Now lets roam around and explore ----

• Clock Tower 
•  Just a km from City centre, located a beautiful clock tower also known as Ghanta Ghar locally.
• Major tourist attraction as we have well-know Paltan Bazaar just few meters away from it. Also the Chaat Gali is another option for the street food lovers is just nearby.

• Tibetan Market 
• 2 kms from city centre and near to clock tower you have a wonderful Tibetan market completely run by Tibetan community where you will find wonderful hand crafted artefacts and hand woven warm clothes.
• This place is also known for some delicious momos and soups to satisfy the hunger.

• Doon School / Mall Road 
• 3 kms ride from the City centre, here you are to the India's most elite private school campus. Take a tour to the beautiful school campus feels non other than a foreign university. 
• Also the another part of this visit take you to the awesome place of shopping , the Mall road 

• FRI 
• A 6 Km approx. drive from City centre takes you to another wonderful place, the FRI (Forest Research Institute) very famous for its campus area this place host a number of Bollywood movies venues.
• If you want to be a part of Saint Teresa school where your favourite cast studied in "Student of the Year" come here and feel the memories.

• Robbers Cave 
• Another beautiful place to get into the fantasy old stories of Alibaba and Chalis chor, here you are to Robbers Cave.
• Got it name from the locals who says that Robbers uses this caves to hide from the Britishers.
• Approx. 10Km from City centre, its a wonderful place to enjoy along with nature's waterfalls and cold streams. 
• Here you will find food stalls giving you the option to make your table just near the water streams and eat while your legs submerged in flowing water.

• Malsi Deer Park / Dehradun Zoo
• Just approx. 4.5km from Robbers cave, this park is major tourist attraction to explore the nature and animals in their habitat.
• One can find literal peace while walking in the huge park and catching animals on their lenses.  
• Park entry is paid and it is closed on Monday.

• Sahastradhara 
•  A beautiful picnic spot to the springs. Sahastradhara means  "thousand springs", just 15km from city centre.
• Its wonderful waterfall make it more beautiful and the springs are said to have water rich in sulphur which can be very good for skin.
• Major tourist attraction, one can come and relax in mid of flowing streams and take a chill dip in the water and enjoy the serenity.

• Lacchiwala 
• 20km from city centre a very well known relaxing spot is Lacchiwala. 
• It have a number of man made pools where you can take a dip, these water pools are connected via river streams. 
• One can enjoy beautiful nature view and chill with friends in the cooling water bodies. 

The next few destinations are not the part of the city, but if you have visited Dehradun this places are must to visit to have awesome elongated vacations

• Hrishikesh 
• 30 Km approx. from City centre & 12 km from Lacchiwala picnic spot, hrishikesh is another city for the adventurers to head to.
• One can indulge in some adventourous sports like Bungee Jumping, White water Rafting, Gaint Swing, Rock climbing and treking.
• Also a religious spot for Hindus one can come and have a divine feel.  

• Mussorie 
• A beautiful hill station connected to Dehradun also know as the Queen of hill stations in India, the town of Mussorie.
• 33Kms from City centre, a must visit hill station if you are in Dehradun.
• Company Garden & Kempty Waterfall are two beautiful spots if you are in the town.

Transportation to places ---

• Public busses are the most important mode here in the city that connect most of the tourist spots, kindly consult the conductor and other travellers before boarding any bus.
• You will find private cab booking offices near the clock tower and city centre with packages mapped for entire day tour to many places. 
• Auto and other electric vehicle for market to market visits.
• I suggest not to opt for private vehicle unless you are comfortable in driving from the ghats. 

Best time to visit ---

• March to June - since the temperature is just awesome which is neither too chilled nor hot
• October to December mid - if you want to enjoy the winters here.

I hope you all got some bright idea about another place to wander and explore, and satisfy your wander lust. 

Wait for more to come.

Till then Ciao!!!