Landing in Goa
The moment you land in Goa, panaji will catch your eye. It is a town set in a medieval setting and it basically flows from the alrinho hill to the Mandovi River. You can make a visit to a long list of places in panaji.
The first and foremost, according to me should be a visit to the fort aguada (meaning ‘water’ in Portuguese), which is home to the first light house in Asia. Today it is converted into a jail. Then you can take a cruise in the Santa Monica.
Then you can take a stroll at the anjuna beach, sipping a coconut drink or just slurping over a can of beer or fenny at the most popular ‘hippy’ hang outs of goa. There is a flea market at the beach towards the southern end and almost a km long stretch of white sand towards the northern end. You can get here via buses from panjim and mapusa. The accommodation here is mostly in the form of small private houses and some resorts.
Don’t forget to savor a moment at the Dona Paula beach where two of goa’s most famous rivers meet into the Arabian Sea. The Dona Paula bay area also provides certain motor sporting facilities such as water scooting. You can get here by a bus or a motorcycle-taxi from panaji or take a ferry from the maramagao port.
Other places of interest at goa are St.Augenstine’s tower. This 46 m high tower happens to be the only remains of a church that once stood atop a hill in Old goa. The chapel of our lady of the mount is also an interesting place to see. Other churches and famous catholic landmarks of Goa are The church of St.Monica, The Church Of our lady of the Rosary, The Churches of St. Francis Of Assisi and St. Francis Xavier. Perhaps, the most famous of the cathedrals of goa is the SE cathedral or St. Catherine’s Cathedral, draping in the Portuguese architecture and grandiose. And if you think you have had too much of the frenzy, and you just want to relax in the middle-class Indian set up, then head towards condolim beach, a quiet beach, towards the southern end of calangute beach.
Now, this brings us to calangute beach, which is predominantly the most hyped, frenzied and commercialized part of goa, and is a meager 45 min drive from the capital. The motto of survival here is … “bargain hard, shop harder”.
Calangute has everything a tourist wants, bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, hawkers, loud music, parties and tito’s, a place of fun and merry making. Calangute house goa’s best hotels, guest houses and stay homes, so one has no problems is finding accommodation a this place. And if you have any steam left, visit the Archeological museum and portrait gallery at Old Goa. The museum has many items on exhibition including shikaras, architectural and archeological pieces, stones and reminiscent of the Portuguese rule.
Almost every hotel and resort stated below offers water sporting facilities like the “banana-boat race”, paragliding, Para sailing, water scooting and motor boat cruises.
Here is a list of top hotels in Goa.
5 star hotels in goa-
The leela palace,
Aguada hermitage
Taj exotica
4 start hotels-
Taj holiday village
Dona Sylvia
Sun village
Club mahindra
3 star hotels and beach resorts –
Nnu resorts
Whispering palms resorts,
Heritage village club
Colonia santa maria
Resorte de goa
Domestic and international flights come into Goa from all major cities across the globe. When in panaji, you can hire a motorcycle taxi, local bus or a cab, according to your adventure levels and budget.