GOA – a place on everybody’s list
GOA – the name is on everyone’s bucket list, whether be it a solo trip, friend group or with your beloved partner. Goa is a treat for all from its famous beaches, night life, cathedrals and architectural heritage. It’s a perfect mix of natural beauty, lively nightlife and tropical environments. It’s the smallest state in India but highest per capita income. One third of Goa is covered by forests, on the other hand the state has almost 7000 bars. It’s interesting that Goa celebrates 2 Independence days – 15th Aug and 19th Dec.
North Goa:
North Goa offers chain of colourful shacks, flea market, local restaurant, lively bars and nightclubs. Sinquerim, Candolim, Vagator, Anjuna , Baga, Calangute beach are all part of North Goa.
The areas near Baga and Calangute beach are very happening and crowded with parties, lightings and music going on till dawn. We wanted to see the night life of Goa and that made us choose the location for our stay.
The best way to see around is to rent a scooter, per day charges are around 400-500 Rs. and separate petrol charges.
Situated in north Goa, Baga beach is one of the best beaches in goa and a major tourist spot. It is best place for night party. There are many water sports & activities like para sailing, banana ride, jet ski and scuba diving. White Sand, clean water and life guard scouts make swimming safe at Baga. The beach opens around 10 am and closes at around 6 pm for swimming or any water activities, though you can visit early and take a dip in water. The closing time is fixed and the life guards will start making announcement to stop all water activities due to safety concerns in late evening.
You can visit famous Chapora fort from the movie Dil Chahta hai. It’s a small trek, leading steps towards the fort. Try visiting the fort early morning or during sunset. If you visit in afternoon, you will not be able to click good photos.
This place is good for photos and there are also few stalls serving lime soda, sugarcane juice, kokam soda etc. Parking fees for applicable for vehicles 2-wheeler 50 Rs and for 4-wheeler 100 rupees.
Once you are in Goa, do not miss to visit Baga beach at night time. You will see a different avatar.
Loud music, people dancing around in the shacks and romantic dinners. The place is beautifully decorated with lights having a different vibe from morning. The shacks offer eating and drinking but it is quite expensive if you are travelling on a budget.
Nearby Baga beach there is Tito’s Lane. Its basically street having multiple restaurants, shops, pubs, clubs / discs and is famous by the name Tito’s (Which is also a pub).
The other places you can visit is the Aguada fort, cathedral church, Dhudhsagar waterfall and few more beaches. If you want visit a beach having less crowd, secluded, serene and calm then try south goa or the beaches at the start of north goa (Arambol, Morjim etc).
South Goa:
South Goa is more of a peaceful, quiet and has historical significance to Goa. There are much calmer abodes and the clientele here is usually much quieter. Palolem and Colva beach are famous destinations of South Goa. More on this in our next blogs.
How to reach Goa:
Goa is well connected by all means of transport. There are regular flights to Dabolim International Airport from all major cities.
You can also reach Goa by train and the main stations are Madgaon and Vasco-da-Gama. The other options are by bus or car. If you are travelling from Maharashtra, you need to take Mumbai-Pune-Bangalore highway
If you’re not fully vaccinated, you must carry an RT-PCR test that is taken within 72 hours prior to departure. Please check the government website for any updates or change in rules before travelling.
We did road trip to Goa by starting at 5 AM and the average time to travel was 9 hours. It took us around 10 hours with few stops in between. The roads are quite good and after you take right turn from Nipani, its two-lane road (NH548).
Wakad-Satara-Nipani (right turn)-Amboli-Goa
This was all about our visit to goa for 2 nights. Enjoy your travel to Goa 😊
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