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0x03 Visit Doon

Plan your trip to Dehradun.

Join Security BSides Dehradun 0x03 on . Find your way here, plan your stay and pack for April. The public venue address is still to be announced. If you have an extra day, explore the valley.

How to get here Stay & venue
Nearest airport
Jolly Grant, DED roughly 25 km from the city. Domestic flights only.
Railhead
Dehradun, DDN central. Check your booked train's arrival station.
Getting to the venue
a Dehradun venue, to be announced Exact address, entry gate and access details will be published together.
Early April
Warm days, mild evenings Bring a light layer. Check the forecast before travelling.

3–4 April 2027 Dehradun, Uttarakhand 30.3165° N · 78.0322° E · 640 M ASL

The Doon valley seen from a forested ridge above it, a hairpin road climbing away on the left, roofs stacked down the slope on the right, low cloud lying across the middle distance and the plain beyond it.

01 Getting here

Choose your route into the city.

Arrive by air, rail or road, then plan the last leg once the venue is published. Check current schedules and allow a buffer for traffic and connections.

  1. By air · Jolly Grant, DED

    Jolly Grant is roughly 25 km from the city, and transfer time depends on your destination and traffic. Check flights with your airline and arrange onward transport before you arrive.

    For your return flight, follow your airline's airport-arrival and check-in guidance. Leave time for the road journey, baggage and security.

    Official airport information

  2. By train · Dehradun, DDN

    The station is central. Compare available trains for your travel date, check the destination station and book ahead. Train times and availability are not fixed by the conference.

    Check trains on IRCTC

  3. By bus or road · Dehradun ISBT

    Check your operator's departure terminal and arrival stop. Many intercity services use Dehradun ISBT near Clement Town. If you drive, check the current route and traffic, and leave time for the last leg to your accommodation.

    Check Uttarakhand bus services

  4. The last leg, once the venue is announced

    Public venue details pending
    The event is in Dehradun. The building is a Dehradun venue, to be announced, so the exact address, the map pin and the last leg to it wait until it is confirmed.

    The address, entry gate, nearest landmark and confirmed access information will be published together. Do not use the city-centre coordinates as a conference map pin.

Getting around once you are here

Autos and shared vikrams
The normal way to move short distances
Ride-hailing
Check availability for your pickup Coverage, waiting time and prices can vary. Keep an alternative in mind.
Electric city buses
Fixed routes, not everywhere Check the route and stop before relying on a bus for your last leg.
On foot
Check the route and distance first Do not assume the airport, ISBT or conference venue is a walk from your stay.

When to arrive

The conference is 3–4 April 2027. If you are coming from outside the city, consider arriving on 2 April so you have time to settle in. Check the published programme before booking your return; do not assume sightseeing fits before a flight.

Where to stay

No conference hotel booking
The public venue address is not available yet. If you book a stay now, consider a flexible cancellation option and check the commute once the venue is announced. We do not recommend individual hotels.

There is no confirmed conference shuttle or travel desk. Any organiser-arranged transport or accommodation will be announced explicitly.

Packing and practical notes
The terminus building at Dehradun station, faced in red and white crazy paving, its name on blue boards in Devanagari, Latin and Urdu script, with water tanks along the roofline under a clear sky.

02 Practical notes

Pack for warm days and cooler evenings.

Weather in April
Around 33°C highs / 17°C lows Rounded April climate averages from IMD, not a forecast for the event. Bring a light layer for evenings and another if you head into the hills. Check the current forecast before travelling.
Altitude
640 m / 2,100 ft above sea level Enough to give the evenings their character, nowhere near enough to need acclimatising to. Mussoorie is the genuine jump.
Staying
Nothing block-booked No conference accommodation is arranged. Consider flexible bookings while the venue address is pending. Read the stay and venue notes.
Paying for things
UPI, cards, and some cash Carry a little cash anyway: autos, a temple donation box and the smallest stalls still prefer it.
Water
Bottled or filtered A refillable bottle is the sane approach, and the dry spring air will empty it faster than you expect.
Language
Hindi and English Hindi and English are useful in the city; availability varies by place. Keep your destination address saved for your journey.
Connectivity
Save the essentials offline Coverage varies by operator and location, especially in the hills. Save tickets, your accommodation address and directions for offline use.
Monkeys
Not a joke Around temples, the ridge and anywhere with a view, food in your hand is an invitation. Bags closed, snacks away.

Before you leave

  • Save your booking confirmations and accommodation address offline.
  • Pack light clothing, a light layer and comfortable walking shoes.
  • Bring a refillable water bottle, charger and power bank.
  • Check workshop equipment needs when the programme is published.
  • Check the forecast and current travel notices close to departure.

Coming from outside India

Ask early
Visa requirements are between you and the Indian mission where you live, and we cannot advise on them. We can confirm the conference in writing if an application needs it. Write to [email protected] early rather than the week before.

Accessibility

Being checked
We are not going to describe a venue's step-free routes before we have walked them. Tell us what you need at [email protected] and you will get a straight answer, including a no.

What we can actually help with

Not hotels. Which train is worth taking, whether a plan fits between two sessions, and putting you in touch with other people travelling from your city. The answer comes from somebody who lives here.

Ask us

03 The valley

Explore the city and the valley.

Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand and sits in the Doon valley, with the Yamuna at one end, the Ganges at the other and a ridge above it. None of the following is organised by the conference; it is simply what is here.

A schematic plan of the Doon valley, north at the top. A broad valley floor runs west to east, closed along the north by a band of contour lines climbing into a range and along the south by a lower, shallower band. A river meanders down each end of the frame. Two dashed routes leave one point near the west of the floor, one curving south east and then east to the far river, the other running south west out of the frame.
  • Himalayan foothills
  • Mussoorie
  • Yamuna
  • Ganges
  • Dehradun
  • Rishikesh
  • Jolly Grant, DED
  • Rajaji National Park
  • Shivalik hills
  • to Delhi, 250 km
Schematic, not to scale. The valley, the ranges and the rivers are in the right places relative to each other; the distances are not, which is why the one worth knowing is written on it. The venue is somewhere on this valley floor, in Dehradun; where exactly goes up with the programme.
  • Mussoorie seen from the air, its buildings stacked in tiers along the top of a ridge above a long retaining wall, tin roofs in green and red, a square orange tower with a pale pyramid roof standing above them, a road switchbacking down through the trees below the town, and further ridges going back into haze.

    Up the ridge

    Mussoorie

    Roughly 35 km north and about 1,300 m higher, reached by a winding hill road. This is the busy one: a mall road you walk end to end, the whole valley laid out below you, and a great many other people doing the same thing. A weekday is a different town from a Saturday.

  • A wide paved walkway curving away downhill through deodars in thick mist, green metal railings along the drop, a small green board fixed to one of them lettered "All those who wander are not lost" with a dark dome lamp on the post above it, a big mossy trunk to the right, and the green roofs of two low buildings just showing through the fog on the left.

    Higher, and quieter

    Landour

    The cantonment immediately above Mussoorie, and the quiet half of the same trip: deodar, colonial-era churches and a loop of road you walk rather than drive. Lal Tibba at the top of it is the viewpoint people make the climb for, and on a clear morning there is snow on the skyline from it.

  • A red steel suspension footbridge crossing a wide green river, people walking across it, rafts on the water below and a town stacked up the hillside on the far bank.

    Down to the river

    Rishikesh

    Around 45 km away, where the Ganges comes out of the hills. Footbridges across the river, ashrams on both banks, rafting through the spring season and an evening on the ghats. It is the one place on this list a lot of visitors have already heard of before they arrive.

  • The bathing ghats at Haridwar from above at dusk, the stepped banks and footbridges dense with people, a clock tower on the near bank and lit temple spires along the water.

    Where the river reaches the plain

    Haridwar

    Another 25 km on from Rishikesh, and the river is properly on the plain by the time it gets there. The aarti at Har Ki Pauri after sunset is why most people make the trip, and it is a crowd rather than a viewpoint. Check the festival calendar before you plan an evening around it.

  • A long colonial building in pink brick and cream, its white domed tower rising over a columned portico and a run of arches, seen across a wide lawn with a few people sitting along its edge.

    In the city

    The Forest Research Institute

    A national institution in a colonial-era brick building, on roughly 450 hectares you can walk through, with museums better than they need to be. The most photographed building in Dehradun, ten minutes from the centre.

  • A narrow gorge with an overhanging rock wall on one side and trees leaning in above, a shallow stream running over pale gravel along its floor and a few people wading up it.

    Ankle to knee deep

    Robber's Cave

    A stream runs out of a gorge 8 km from the centre, drops underground partway along and comes up again further on. Locally it is Guchhu Pani, and there is no dry path through: you wade it, in cold water that reaches the knee in places, so bring shoes you do not mind soaking. Busiest at the weekend.

  • A chain of low stone weirs stepping a stream down a valley floor, each spilling into a still green pool, with cut stone bathing steps along the near bank and forested hills behind.

    Rebuilt, and reopened

    Sahastradhara

    Sulphur water running over stepped limestone terraces on the Baldi river, and a name that means a thousand springs. A flash flood destroyed the market and much of the approach on the night of 15 September 2025; both were rebuilt and the site reopened to visitors in the spring of 2026. Accounts of how far out it is vary between 11 and 18 km.

  • A shallow river running between built-up banks in a wooded gorge, an ochre and red temple complex set into the rock on the right, a painted gateway and walkway on the left, and people sitting on the stone bank.

    Down at the river

    Tapkeshwar

    A Shiva temple built over a natural cave on a riverbank six kilometres from the centre, with water dripping onto the lingam inside, which is where the name comes from. The cave is called Drona, after the Mahabharata teacher Dronacharya, who local belief holds lived in it. Open from early morning to evening.

  • A wooden park gate across a road, its name-board on the crossbeam and two painted signs hanging under it, with scrub and tall grass closing in behind.

    Wild edges

    Rajaji National Park

    The park runs along the valley's southern and eastern edges, elephant country with gates within an hour of the city. Open in April, closed for the monsoon later in the season. Check the gate before you set out: entry is regulated and not every gate takes walk-ups.

  • A narrow market street strung across with tinsel and paper streamers, green wooden balconies over the shopfronts on the left, stalls and boards on both sides, scooters parked along the edge and people walking down the middle.

    Half an hour, on foot

    Paltan Bazaar

    The oldest part of the city that is still doing its original job. Street food, fabric, hardware and a great deal of noise, the shortest route to feeling like you have actually been somewhere.

  • The upper stage of a many sided brick clock tower floodlit gold against a black sky, arched louvred openings above a band of white clock faces, with unlit foliage on the right.

    Better after dark

    The clock tower

    Paltan Bazaar runs off it, so you will pass it whether you meant to or not. It is floodlit at night, which is the version worth stopping for rather than the one you walk past at noon.

Scroll sideways, or use the arrows.

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04 A spare day

Three shapes for the day either side of the conference.

Pick one, not all three. The valley punishes optimism about driving times.

  1. Half a day in the city

    The Forest Research Institute in the morning, the clock tower and Paltan Bazaar for lunch. Check opening hours and arrange transport between stops. Only add sightseeing before a flight if your transfer and check-in buffer allow it.

  2. A full day up the ridge

    Leave early for Mussoorie, walk in Landour rather than on the mall, and come down before dark. Allow a generous road-travel buffer and check local conditions before setting off. Take a jacket for the higher elevation.

  3. A full day at the river

    Rishikesh in the morning and Haridwar for the evening aarti, if your return plan allows it. Check current timings, transport and the festival calendar. Weekend traffic and crowds can change the shape of the day.

If you only have the evening

Try Paltan Bazaar and the clock tower. Check the distance from your stay, current opening hours and your return transport before heading out.

Bringing someone who is not attending

Exploring the city does not require a conference ticket. Individual attractions may have their own admission fees, opening hours and entry rules. Conference access still requires the appropriate pass.

The three ticket types
A long symmetrical brick building with a central arched portico and a domed tower at each end, seen straight down a wide driveway lined with bougainvillea in full magenta flower under a clear blue sky.
Shape 01, half a day in the city.
A grey stone church with green window frames and a red roof standing above a road on a wooded hillside, deodars closing in on both sides, a flight of stone steps with green railings climbing to its door, and two dogs on the empty road.
Shape 02, the full day up the ridge.
A wide river at dusk with a many tiered temple lit gold on the far bank, a suspension footbridge crossing to a town stacked up the hillside, forested hills behind and pale boulders in the foreground under a pink and violet sky.
Shape 03, the full day at the river.

05 Eating

Six things to eat, and why the momos are good.

Dehradun has a large Tibetan settlement at Clement Town, roughly seven kilometres south of the clock tower, and that is why the momos here are not a novelty. No restaurant, cafe or bakery is named below, for the same reason no hotel is named in this guide: an endorsement is not ours to give, and the dishes outlast the places that serve them.

  • A bun tikki filled with a fried potato patty, chutney, raw onion and tomato, served on a green leaf with a second tikki behind it.

    Street food

    Bun tikki

    The city's own. A potato tikki in a bun with chutney and raw onion, closer to chaat than to anything you would call a burger, eaten standing up. The one thing on this list done this way here and nowhere else.

  • Five pleated steamed momos in a row on a lettuce leaf on a pale wooden platter, a small white bowl of dark red chutney with a coriander leaf on it behind them, and a pair of blue patterned chopsticks lying on the dark table alongside.

    From Clement Town

    Momos

    Steamed or fried, with a chutney hotter than it looks. This is Tibetan food cooked by the people whose food it is, which is the entire difference.

    Mindrolling Monastery is at the middle of the settlement, re-established in this valley after its community left Tibet, its Great Stupa inaugurated in 2002.

  • A dark bowl of thukpa shot from above, wheat noodles coiled in a clear broth with strips of carrot and green pepper, shredded cabbage, coriander and spring onion, and a spoonful of chilli oil on top.

    When the evening turns

    Thukpa

    A noodle soup out of the same kitchens, and the thing to order once the light has gone and the temperature has followed it down. Noodles, broth, whatever green is about, and too hot to eat for the first five minutes.

  • Cubes of potato fried yellow with cumin and mustard seed, scattered with coriander and laid with a whole dried red chilli, in a dark iron pan on a wooden table.

    From the hills

    Aloo ke gutke

    Boiled potato cut into cubes and finished in mustard oil with dried red chilli and jakhiya, a seed that grows in these hills and is barely used outside them. Garhwal and Kumaon both claim it and both are right. It arrives as a side dish and does not stay one.

  • Three pieces of bal mithai, brown fudge rolled in tiny white sugar balls, in a hammered brass dish on orange cloth with cashews and slivered almonds scattered behind.

    The sweet

    Bal mithai

    Roasted khoya under a coat of white sugar balls. It is from Almora, over in Kumaon, and not from this valley at all, which has never stopped a shop in Dehradun from selling it.

  • A glass of deep red buransh squash with ice and floating petals on a weathered wooden table, a spray of red rhododendron flowers beside it and a blurred green hillside behind.

    Cold, and only in spring

    Buransh

    The red rhododendron that flowers along these ridges between February and April, pressed into a squash and sold in bottles all over the hills. Sweet, faintly tart, the colour of the flower it came out of, and served cold, and a warm April afternoon is a fine excuse to find one.

  • Take something home

    The hill pulses, sold by weight

    Gahat, which is horsegram and the one to start with, black bhatt soybean, and rajma off the slopes higher up this district. Paltan Bazaar sells all three by weight, along the same stretch as the woollens and the hardware. Of everything on this page these are the ones that turn into cooking at home rather than into a photograph.

  • If you want the hill version

    Garhwali food, which you have to ask for

    The food of the hills is not the food of the plains. Kafuli, a green gravy thickened with rice flour, the gahat from the card beside this one cooked down thick, and thalis built on mandua and jhangora rather than wheat. The default in a city restaurant is north Indian, which is why you ask.

06 Questions

What people ask before they book.

Where is the conference venue?

In Dehradun. The building is a Dehradun venue, to be announced, so the exact address and the map pin wait until it is confirmed.

The address, entry gate, nearest landmark and confirmed access information will be published together. The city-centre coordinates are not a conference map pin. No conference shuttle is confirmed.

What is the nearest airport?

Jolly Grant, DED, roughly 25 km from the city. Check your airline's current flights and arrange onward transport. Road transfer time depends on where you are staying and the traffic.

For your return flight, follow your airline's airport-arrival and check-in guidance and allow time for your road transfer.

Is the train worth taking?

It is worth comparing with your other options. Dehradun, DDN is central. Check current trains and seat availability for your travel date, verify the destination station on your booking and allow time for onward transport.

When should I arrive?

The conference is . If you are coming from outside the city, consider arriving on 2 April so you have time to settle in. Check the published programme before booking your return, and leave a transfer buffer. No particular arrival time or return fare is guaranteed.

Is accommodation arranged?

No conference accommodation is arranged, and we do not recommend individual hotels. The public venue address is still pending. If you book now, consider flexible cancellation and check your commute once the venue is announced. There is no confirmed conference shuttle.

What is the weather like in April?

IMD's 1991–2020 climate normals give an April average daily high of 32.5°C and low of 17.4°C. These are monthly climate averages, not a forecast for 3–4 April 2027. Pack a light layer for evenings and check the forecast before departure. Higher-elevation trips may need warmer clothing.

Can I bring someone who is not attending?

Yes. Exploring the city does not require a conference ticket, but individual attractions may have their own admission fees, opening hours and entry rules. Conference access requires the appropriate pass.

Can you help with a visa?

Visa requirements are between you and the Indian mission where you live, and we cannot advise on them. What we can do is confirm the conference in writing if an application needs it. Write to [email protected] with plenty of time rather than the week before.

Is the venue accessible?

Being checked. We are not going to describe a venue's step-free routes before we have walked them. Tell us what you need at [email protected] and you will get a straight answer, including a no.

Come up

Two days of conference, and a valley that rewards the third.

3–4 April 2027 at a Dehradun venue, to be announced. Tickets are not on sale yet, the prices are set and the registration section says what happens next.

See the tickets Venue and travel