How to plan travel in Goa?
Below plan is based if one stays in Panaji or any where in North Goa.
Day 1/2: Explore North Goa beaches. Morjim beach, Anjuna Beach, Vagator beach, Candolim Beach, Baga beach, Calangute beach, Fort Aguada, Chapora fort. Fort Aguada, Chapora Fort (famousy known as DCH point among younsters), Calangute Beach, Morjim Beach are must visit places.
- Calangute Beach is most popular among all these & remain hyper active even late night. It is even open during off season as well & has very good eating options as well. Lobo restaurant & Sea Queen restaurant on Calangute are good places to eat. Besides this, there are few more beach shacks which remain open during off season as well. Om restaurant, Kajal restaurant,Spicy restaurant near Baga circle, remain open late in night. All basic necesseties (except petrol pump…4KM from Calangute enroute to Panaji) like ATM, hotels, restaurants,rented bike shop, medicine shop etc. are availabe in Calangute Beach. This is one of the best place to stay, if crowd is not a problem.
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- Baga beach (must visit): Another popular beach, 2 km from Calangute, which remain open late night even during off season. Beach donot get drowned in peak monsoon as well & so many of hotels n restaurants do remain open in off season. Calangute to Baga beach are dotted with hotels, restaurants, Home stays, rented bike shops n all tourist feeding infrastructure. Baga beach bosts of Tito’s, one of the most popular restaurant cum staying option cum partying place cum pub of Goa. It is one of the place for who’s who. It’s disco is only for couples. Baga beach has quite good number of shacks, which remain open in off season as well.
- Fort Aguada (must visit): One of the oldest fort in Goa built in 16th Century. The sea facing granite stone fort sits on a hill top & is a good spot as a sunset viewpoint. Often confused as DCH point, but it is not. Getting to seashore by hiking through vegetation, beside light house, can be rewarding in terms of peace & views. It has few snacking options only. No entry fee, no parking fee.
- Fort Chapora (must visit): Resembling like Fort Aguada, this granite fort also sits on a hill top, overlooking Arabian sea & Chapora River. This place became famous because of Bollywood Movie Dil Chahta Hai & among young Indian Hippies, it is popuarly known as DCH point. Personally, I like place better than Fort Aguada, because is slightly less crowded & has got superb 360 degree view. Again this has great sunset views. The place has hardly any shops for snacks or water, so do carry your own. Fort Chapora is some 15 Kms from Calangute.
- Morjim Beach (must visit): Morjim beach sits on conjunction of River Chapora & Arabian sea. The beach can be seen from Chapora fort. Very few people visit this beach & so it has hardly any tourist infrastructure (just saw only 2 resorts). Since few people visit, it is relatively clean beach & a driving beach. Yes, one can drive in this beach, as it has hard sand, which can sustain weight of vehicles. Driving in the waves can be fun (but beware, salty water is very very bad of health of vehicle). As river Chapora gets drained here, it is beautiful to see transition of strong wave to calm waves at the same place. But other side is, river brings with it lots of human waste n pollution, which gets deposited on beach.Distance & this pollution could be other reason why few people visit this place. Nevertheless, it is one of the place to have solitary time.
Terekhol Fort: This fort is the first thing as one crosses Goa to Maharastra. Although, I have not been there, it is said to be very beautiful fort overseeing Arabian Sea. One has to cross Terekhol River to reach this place, which can be done by free ferry service. There is hardly any tourist infrastructure there.
Candolim Beach: This beach gets almost drowned in Monsoon & has a fort. Most of the area is occupied by Taj Vivanta hotel. Besides beach, there is nothing much. In off season, it has deserted looks.
Anjuna & Vagator beach: Again very popular among tourist, but it seems beach gets drowned in Monsoon. It has got decent tourist infrastructure like Hotels, restaurants n bike renting facility. Anjuna beach is famous for its Wednesday market. Enroute to Anjuna has got many posh restaurants & high end staying options, Taj Vivanta & Kingfisher to name a few. We had lunch in Tin-Tin restaurant, which serve American food plus some live English Music. Fisherman’s Cove on Calangute to Anjuna is a very good place to have food & drinks.
Day 3: Panaji, Miramar Beach, Dona Paulo, Velha Goa, Mandovi River cruise.
Panaji: Capital of Goa & situated on junction of Mandovi River & Arabnian sea, this is one of the neatest cities in India. Home to high end hotels & restaurants, besides housing colonial style roads, houses & shops. The road running parallel to Sea & river, has got few museums & children parks. It is heaven for shopalcoholics.
Miramar Beach: Popular among among the localites, this somewhat dirty beach, sits on junction of Mandovi river & Arabian Sea. It is site of evening Indian snacking action. Water is too dirty to take a bath here.
Dona Paulo: Close to Governer house, this Arabian sea facing view point is not a sea beach & is popular among localites because of its proximity to Panaji. Some water sports activites has started here, but not worth spending on. This place has got few eating options.
Velha Goa/Old Goa (must visit): As the name suggests, it is the oldest part of Goa. Situated 10 Kms from Panaji & 10 kms upstream of Mandovi river, Velha Goa once rivaled Lisbon (capital of Portugal). It houses 16th century big churches & gets very busy on prayer days. Road to Panaji to Velha Goa is also a scenic package in itself, with once side of road running parallel to voluminous Mandovi river & other side dotted with colonial style houses. NH-4A bisects Velha Goa & so be careful of fast highway traffic. It has got numerous eating + guiding option.
Mandovi River cruise (must visit, if 1st time): Near the main river bridge, on Panaji, is action place for cruise boats n ships. It gets very crowded in evening & it is advisabe to book your tickets before hand. Cost may vary depending on quality of ship. Idea is to spend couple of hour in River Mandovi, as ship goes till mouth of the river. Again best time to get into this cruise ship is sunset time & no wonder that is most crowded time. Food n drinks inside ship is over rated & also beware of touts. Royal casino is most costliest among all these & not sure how it is?
Day 4/5: South Goa: Margagoa, Madgaon, Vasco-Da-Gama, Benaulim beach, Colva beach, Varca beach, Palolem beach, Agonda beach, Cabo-De-Rama fort
South Goa is mirror image of North Goa, with exception being it is longer & less crowded compared to North Goa. Mirror image because it aso houses beaches & few forts. The long coastline of South Goa boasts of many 5 star hotels like Inter Continental, Taj, Leela & so on. Many of these resorts have their own private beach. South Goa also boasts of biggest cities of Goa: Madgaon, Marmagao & Vasco-Dagama. Marmagao is one of the largest ports of India. There are many few other small beaches, but with minimum tourist infrastructure & gets drowned in monsoon season.
Colva beach has got some water sports options during peak season & is a white sand beach. It has few options to stay right on beach.
Day 6: Dudhsagar Falls (must visit): The fall is the 2nd highest waterfall in India. Situated on Karnataka-Goa border, 100 Kms from Panaji, it is at its best in Monsoon season. It can get off in peak monsoon by road. Best way is to go Castle Rock station & do some trekking to reach the falls. Trekking is the best way to get some photogenic views of falls & is strongy recommended during monsoon season, when it is at its best. But it is important to go in a group & be well informed about the place. Situated in Western ghat jungles, mobile network, finding food & water can be a problem.
Other near by places to explore from Goa are Gokarna & Dandeli forests. Gokarna is a temple town & carry tag of cheap Goa. Nevertheless, it is a sexy place to visit.
Dandeli: Situated 50Kms further east of Dudhsagar falls, in state of Karnataka, it famous for Wildlife & river rafting. Off from many tourist map, it can be very reaxing place to visit.
In short, Goa is perfect place for a relaxing vacation. It is a place where, group of bachelors guys envy couples & boys in couple would envy bachelors . For Indians at least, it is a must visit place, at least once in lifetime.
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