Dehradun

Dehradun is a small bustling town in northern India’s Uttarakhand Province, which is one of the most spiritually rich regions in the world. The name Dehradun is a collection of the words "dera", meaning camp, and " dun" meaning valley. It is located in the Doon Valley, which is a much-romanticised destination due to its importance in the Sanskrit poems, Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Whilst there isn’t a great deal here in terms of tourist sights, the areas surrounding the town are very picturesque with breathtaking views of the lower Himalayan foothills. Dehradun has always been a convenient overnight halt between Shimla and Haridwar, however, since the opening of the wellness retreat Vana in 2014, its profile has dramatically increased and Dehradun is now a popular destination for high end tourists seeking spiritual wellness.

Dehradun is a 50-minute flight from Delhi and the drive to Vana takes just over an hour. The drive offers a perfect snapshot of the region; busy roads, urban chaos, ancient forests, quaint farms and typical Indian villages. Vana’s 21-acre estate is set amidst fruit orchards and perched on a small plateau with sal forest to the west, the hills of Mussoorie to the north and Dehradun to the east.

In our opinion Vana is the premier wellness retreat in India – perhaps the world. It is a state of the art wellness retreat which explores all aspects of wellbeing through the use of ayurveda, Tibetan healing, traditional Chinese medicine, yoga, natural therapies, spa, fitness and aqua. It is a fantastic experience to combine with other locations in the sub-continent, but equally brilliant as a stand-alone destination for a week of crisp Himalayan air and first-class wellness treatments.

There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.
Robert Louis Stevenson