Goa

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Quick Facts

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Coordinates

• Latitude: 15.38831
• Longitude: 73.840149

On Travellerspoint

• 3 Goa Apartments
• 19 Goa Guesthouses
• 9 Goa Hostels
• 21 Goa Hotels

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Introduction

palms in Goa

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Geography

Cities

• Panaji is the states capital
• Vasco da Gama

Beaches

Baga Beach

The Baga Beach located 10 kms west of Mapusa, is actually an extension of Calangute beach with clean white sand. Baga is a small but perfect beach located between two famous beaches, Colva and Calangute. It is a fishing beach with foreigners bathing in the sun other tourists swimming in the cool azure waters.

Like the flea market of Anjuna, Baga has started a Saturday night market, which is quite impressive but somehow lacks the liveliness and splendor of the Anjuna market. The beach also has many beach shacks and beach huts that sell delicious Goan food and thirst-quenching Feni.

The quiet atmosphere and isolated location of Baga, beside the scenic beauty that surrounds it, with the creek and the Retreat House perched have contributed to the beach being a favourite of the beach lovers. Baga beach is very popular with western tourists who love to use it as a base for water sports and fishing in the area.

Baga's nightlife is the liveliest in the area with live bands playing at most restaurants outlets. Most of the travellers end up at Tito's. The lively Saturday night market here is much like the Wednesday flea market at Anjuna, only prettier under the night sky and lit up with lamps. There are plenty of handicrafts shops. Here stalls sell all kinds of bric-a-brac, clothes, trinkets, exotic delicacies and Goanese Cuisine. Funky haircuts, tarot reading, palmistry, wood carvings are also available. Plus live bands who create a carnival like ambience simply makes the place rock.

Calungate Beach

Calungate Saturday night market was popular but that was for day breakers. Now Baga has one run by Ingo at Mackies by the Baga River. Selling and buying to the accompaniment of light music under UV lights is quite interesting since it draws hawkers from here, there and every where in the World.

Arambol (Harmal)

Unlike most of Goa, Arambol has managed to remain true to its hippie roots. It is a beautiful crescent-shaped stretch of beach in the North of the tiny province, popular with backpackers and long term travellers.

The vibe is very laid back, with trance and dance blasting from makeshift bars only at the very peak of the high season (December/January). Before and after this period, the nightlife is mainly composed of hippies drumming in the moonlight and the dancing flames from fire jugglers. And perhaps the best thing about this little pocket of Goa is the atmosphere. There's a real bohemian sense of community here, as you'll see at breakfast around the long shared tables in lovely Double Dutch and the open mike nights at the Loeki Cafe.

Accommodation here is cheap cheap cheap - but you'll need to arrive before mid-November to bag a real bargain. The food in Arambol also helps to make this backpacker bliss, with every kind of cuisine available under the Indian sun. It's just a brilliant place for a prolonged breather if you're travelling around India - I can't recommend it highly enough.

Palolem

Palolem is the southernmost beach in the tiny province of Goa, and pipped as an idyllic, unspoilt beach paradise by many guidebooks. This both is and isn't true. It seems that since the guidebooks leaked the secret of Palolem, it has had been overrun by tourists, many of them after english breakfasts and cocktails. The main drag of Palolem beach is no longer unspoilt, but lined instead with western-style bars and restaurants owned by expats that spill down onto the beach. Behind this beachfront, maekshift beach huts pop up in their dozens ready for high season (Dec- March). The atmosphere is great, and it's a good place to party for a couple of days, but it most certainly isn't the beach escape described so affectionately in the Lonely Planet of a few years ago.

However, if you head further south along the beach, you'll find Patnem, which is a small beach commune-type area for those really hoping to get away from it all, and lots of basic shack accommodation. Many long-term backpackers head for this area, and choose to dip in and out of the bright lights rather than stay in central Palolem.

Sights and Activities

Arpora Night Market

All things bright and beautiful. That’s INGO’S-the Saturday Night Market in Arpora. And what a market it is! The place is truly what you call a 'melting pot' of cultures. From multi-coloured hammocks and bikinis to shoes, bags and psychedelic t shirts - you name it, you have it here! Some of the changing rooms are amazingly designed.
Resplendent with creatures great and small - great ‘coz without them, you’d never realise that bizarre can be hot, and small - well that’s what you might feel like in comparison. Seriously, each person there was a walking- talking fashion statement. There's amazing food on sale as well. From Mexican to Israeli to the organic and the oily and Punjabi, anything your intestines could possibly growl for is here. Live music and beer flowing like water just adds to the fun.

Other Markets

Night Markets are popular for its hawkers from here, there and everywhere in the world . Two of the most famous such market areas are Mapusa and Anjuna. The Friday Market at Mapusa, where stalls sell everything from curios and old coins to dried fish and spices. The Wednesday Market at Anjuna Beach started by and for foreigners is an extremely lively spot where souvenirs, beachwear, trinkets and handicrafts are sold at bargain prices.

• Anjuna Market: The famous Anjuna market, known more popularly as the flea market is held on every Wednesday in a grove of coconut palms between the rocky beach of Anjuna and the fallow rice paddies. The concept of flea market was started by the hippies in early 80s, when they used to gather at the same place in Anjuna while many needy foreigners used to sell their electronic items or barter other stuffs to the locals. It is a mad, chaotic world of colours, crowds, shouting, clamor and clatter and all manner of goods from fabrics, ornamental crafts, spices, clothing, local Goanese, Kahmiri and Tibetan handicrafts and Goan trance music.

• Calangute Market Square is only nine miles north from the Goan capital, Panaji. The beach stretches about four miles and is covered with palm trees. The streets of Calangute are packed with shops offering a wide range of goods, namely souvenirs, metal crafts, leather items, clothes and jewellery, not just from Goa, but from other parts of the country as well. The beach stretch is full of shacks, hawkers selling sarongs or astrologers or fortune-tellers waiting eagerly to read the fortune of the tourists. . There is also a Tibetan market in Calangute. Kashmiri merchants also frequent Goa with carpets, embroidery, and other merchandises.

• Mapusa Market: Mapusa, a small town huddled around the Mount (Alto) is Mapusa, 13 kms away from Panaji, has been the market hub of North Goa since ancient times even before proper roads were constructed. Mapusa market is also fondly known as ‘Mapusa Friday Market’ as it takes place every Friday. Goan customers prefer to buy fresh foodstuffs every few days, thus the Mapusa Market has plenty of fresh fish, a variety of locally produced vegetables, and exotic fruits from jackfruit and mangoes to plantain bananas. Pickles and preserves, spices, earthen pots, glass bangles, channa baskets coir mats, and the famous Goan 'chouricos' (ready spiced Goan pork sausages), dried fish and prawns, clothing, junk jewelry, and the famous country liquor are all sold at the most reasonable prices one could possibly find.

Other Sights and Activities

Events and Festivals

Weather

Getting There

By Plane

Dabolim Airport (IATA: GOI, ICAO: VAGO) is located near the village of Dabolim and Vasco da Gama. This is the only airport in the state and is a civilian and military airport. There are two civilian terminal buildings that handles a total of 30 to 40 domestic and international flights daily. Remember that the majority of flights take off and land between 1 pm and 6 pm during the weekdays because of the needs of the military. This airport handled 2.6 million passengers in 2007.

There are domestic flights to almost every major town in India and international flights to Dubai, Frankfurt, Kuwait, London, Manchester, Oslo, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Colombo, Birmingham and Moscow. The majority of international flights are handled by Indian carriers although more international carriers are being allowed access and several charter companies operate flights from Europe.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Plane

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Eat

Drink

Sleep