10 places to visit in Goa: what each costs, and when to go

A crescent of sand with headlands at both ends. South Goa's pace is slower than the north's, and the shacks close earlier.

Palolem is the most developed beach in the south and still quieter than anything comparable in the north. The bay is sheltered at both ends, which makes it one of the few places where swimming is usually calm.

• Time needed: A full day, ideally a night
• Best time: November to March, when the shacks are up
• Getting there: About 2 hours from Panjim; Canacona station is the nearest railhead

Three kilometres of open sand with no road running along it, and a turtle nesting site at the southern end.

Agonda is what Palolem was before Palolem became busy. There is one lane behind the beach, the shacks are spaced out, and there is no through-road along the sand.

• Time needed: A full day
• Best time: November to March
• Getting there: About 15 minutes north of Palolem

A Portuguese sea fort from the 1600s, built to keep the Dutch out and still holding the best view of the coastline north of Panjim.

Aguada was built to hold fresh water and a garrison at the mouth of the Mandovi, and it did both for three centuries. What survives is the seaward bastion and the lighthouse above it, which is the part most people photograph without going in.

• Time needed: 1 to 1½ hours
• Timings: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm, daily
• Entry: Fort free · lighthouse ₹25 (Indian) / ₹300 (foreign national)
• Best time: Late afternoon, for the light and the temperature
• Getting there: About 20 minutes from Calangute; the last stretch is a steep, shadeless walk from the car park.

Source: Goa Tourism: Fort Aguada

What is left of a city that was once larger than Lisbon. Both churches are part of the UNESCO-listed Churches and Convents of Goa.

Old Goa was the colonial capital until malaria and cholera emptied it in the seventeenth century. The population left; the churches, built in laterite and lime, stayed.

• Time needed: About 2 hours for both churches
• Timings: Basilica 9:00 am – 6:30 pm; from 10:30 am on Sundays
• Entry: Free
• Best time: Early morning, before the coach groups
• Getting there: 10 km east of Panjim, 25–30 minutes by road; frequent buses from the Panjim stand

Source: Basilica of Bom Jesus: visiting hours

A ruin on a headland with the best view of the northern coast, and a steep ten-minute climb to earn it.

There is not much fort left: laterite walls, a few bastions, no roof. What there is instead is the position: Vagator on one side, the Chapora river on the other.

• Time needed: About an hour
• Entry: Free
• Best time: Late afternoon
• Getting there: Ten-minute climb from Chapora village; no vehicle access to the top

The Latin Quarter: narrow lanes of ochre and blue houses, best seen on foot and early.

Fontainhas is a working neighbourhood rather than a preserved one, which is why it is worth walking. The colours are maintained under local rules, and the houses are lived in.

• Time needed: 1 to 2 hours on foot
• Entry: Free
• Best time: Before 10 am
• Getting there: Walkable from the Panjim bus stand

Four tiers of water down a cliff face inside the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, at its most absurd just after the rains.

Private vehicles cannot reach the falls. Access is by forest-department jeep from Kulem, booked on the day, and the track is rough enough that the ride is part of the experience rather than a transfer.

• Time needed: Half a day, including the jeep ride
• Best time: October to early January (full water, and open)
• Getting there: On the Karnataka border. Switch to a forest-department jeep at Kulem; private cars are not permitted beyond it.

A river island of empty lanes, old Portuguese houses and almost no traffic. The free ferry across is half the point.

Divar is ten minutes from Old Goa and feels an hour away. There is no through-traffic because there is nowhere to pass through to: the island is the destination.

• Time needed: 2 to 3 hours
• Entry: Ferry free
• Best time: Morning, before the heat
• Getting there: Ferry from Old Goa; takes foot passengers and two-wheelers

Dry deciduous forest with marked trails and a canopy watchtower, half an hour inland from the southern beaches.

Cotigao is quiet, low-key and almost never crowded. The trails are marked, the terrain is easy, and the watchtower over a waterhole is the reason most people come.

• Time needed: Half a day
• Best time: Early morning, October to March
• Getting there: About 30 minutes inland from Palolem

The Wednesday flea market, and a village next door that has quietly become the best eating in the state.

Anjuna's flea market runs on Wednesdays through the season and is now more souvenir than counterculture, but the setting above the rocks is still worth an hour.

• Time needed: Half a day (a Wednesday, for the market)
• Timings: Anjuna flea market: Wednesdays, roughly 9 am – sunset, in season
• Best time: Season, for the market. Any time, for Assagao
• Getting there: 15 minutes from Calangute; parking near the market is difficult after midday