Best Places to Visit in Goa – 2023
India is a country that has been blessed with millions of beautiful, exotic, and gorgeous places and locations. Goa is one of them. Millions of international and Indian tourists look forward to visiting Goa due to its blonde sands, lurching and pitching regions, and effervescent as well as twinkling and starry waters.
Characteristics of Goa
These are the three main constituents of Goa that attract people from India and from all across the globe. The huge and numerous number of wacky and gorgeous geological formations like the shores and its rocky areas also add to its beauty and do most of the talking. All this seems like serving the purpose of the tourists’ travel guide to Goa
It is estimated that Goa is visited by around two million visitors alone, every year, during the season time. It moves along India’s western boundary and is delimited by the Arabian sea. In the ancient days, it was a settlement and social colony of the Portuguese people for around five hundred years. The ‘acting upon’ or ‘dominance’ of the resident rule is still quite evident here due to the blend of its cooking preparation from the east and west and partly also due to its breaking down and collapsing architecture.
Goa Tourism Packages
The people of Goa or the Goans, as they are referred to, are very simple, fashionable, and hard working. The sandy beaches and scenic locations of Goa are very charming, alluring, and enticing. Tourists visiting Goa for the first time are left spellbound by its beauty and charismatic appeal.
The serene and tranquil rivers, waterfalls, cathedrals, churches, shops, wildlife sanctuaries, markets, and various other plantations add further charm and beauty to it and are some of the things that need to be studied, examined, and visited. The common languages that are usually spoken here are English, Hindi, Marathi, and Konkani. It has a population of around 1.34 million, with Panaji as its capital.
There are different types of colorful Goa travel and tourism packages that are offered by multiple Indian travel and tourism companies. These travel and tourism packages have their own specialties and assist the tourists and clients with exploring diverse places and interests in Goa and in finding out its new characteristic features. Goa travel packages can be offered by North India travel and tourism companies as well as South India travel and tourism companies.
Exotic Locations in Goa
It is a tiny place when compared to other metropolitan cities of India, but there are breath-taking and magical places and locations to see in the same. It is a circular and heavenly-like regional area wherein the contemporary and conventional facets of life end up merging and showing. While traveling in Goa, the national and international tourists should make sure that they don’t miss some of the important places that are worth seeing and worth visiting.
Forts of Goa
In this list falls an ancient place called the ‘Chapora’ fort or the ‘Chapora’ station, which was shown in the Bollywood movie, ‘Dil Chahta Hai.’ This movie was responsible for making it get noticed by people from all across the world and obviously, from India as well. This fort was found in broken-down and dilapidated conditions and has now attained popularity, resulting in becoming one of the five most frequently seen antique and olden places in Goa.
It is settled at a space of about ten kilometers from Mapusa, a famous place, and can be reached from one of the sides of the hill surrounding it. This fort was constructed and established by a ruler of Bijapur and was occupied by the Portuguese in 1617. It was taken over by them with the sole goal, aim, and purpose of making it function and serve as a boundary watch station, but was eventually, left inaccessible in the time period of 1892.
The religious, ancient, traditional, historical, antique, and rugged look of the entire fort is quite evident from its collapsed walls, pillars, and various other significant signs of Portuguese architectural designs.
It is situated on a sharp drop-off and overlooks the sea. Standing on its base and viewing all around, creates gallant, impressive, majestic, proud, peaceful, and contented feelings. Its southern ultimacy and extremity overlooks the Vagator beach and is a very popular tourist picnic spot.
The Aguada Fort, the Tiracol fort, the Cape Rama Fort, and the Alorna fort are some of the other famous, reputed, and popular forts that are visited and enjoyed by many tourists every year. All these other forts are also hot tourist attractions and destinations. Goa is very famous for its diverse kinds of beaches, various adventurous sports activities, and its page three parties that are hosted on the gorgeous sandy beaches and other natural scenic spots.
Beaches and Festivals in Goa
All these and much more are explored by the tourists, visitors and clients in their free time in rented scooters, motorbikes or other two-wheelers. People wanting to stay within their own space and not wanting disturbances should select the Patnem or Agonda beach and spend their time there. Tourists wanting to engage in adventurous and exciting water sports should head to Baga beach, wherein they can parasail, ride banana boats, and indulge in other exciting water sports.
The clients, tourists and visitors who want to spend some quality time with the famous social reformers and crusaders of Goa should go to Arambol beach. Though each of these beaches have their own specialties, the majority of them celebrate different festivals like Christmas and New year and host numerous entertainment activities, shows, events and programs like music shows and other filmy and college galas.
Amidst all such gay celebrations and festivals, the tourists, visitors and clients also enjoy the tasty food items, snacks and hard as well as soft drinks served to them by labourers working in the shacks. These shacks even come up with new and many varieties of food items and tasty beverages that add to the brightness, magnificence and splendor of Goa.
Although the food available in the shacks is reasonably rated, the tourists must ensure that they carry enough money with them so that they can make the most out of their travel and enjoy it to the fullest. The water sports available in Baga, Pandelem, and most of the beaches are quite costly and difficult to afford. However, tourists can definitely indulge in some of the fun and exciting water sports and adventures that are neither too risky, nor too costly.
Majority of the beaches in Goa bustle with heavy crowds and are the main attractions, wherein the tourists enjoy the sea waves and indulge in swimming. The tourists can be seen enjoying the sea in swimming costumes and bikinis.
The Calangute beach is the most tied-up and commercially viable beach in Goa and is the most crowded of all, as one can try out a lot of water sports activities. Vendor of sweets, popcorn, and balloons are seen across the entire beach and horse chariot rides and other toy sellers are also available for the children.
Interesting Places and Hot Tourist Sites in Goa
The Anjuna flea market is one of the other important and interesting tourist attractions and destinations that is worth seeing. This market is open to the common Goan public and tourists and clients from the mornings till the evenings on all Wednesdays at the southernmost tip of the Anjuna beach, except on the days when it rains.
The magnitude of this market is growing every day and is continuously on the rise. It now comprises of more than five hundred shops and is ever modifying and altering. The tourists can resort to a lot of bargaining in this market and buy various products and commodities at cheap and reasonable rates.
One more place that is really scenic and beautiful and that garners a lot of tourist attention is the Methane dam. It is situated in a space of about twenty kilometers from Mapusa. It is a nice, cool and exotic location wherein the tourists can relax and spend time with their relatives and friends. There is an eco-resort nearby, wherein they can stay comfortably along with satisfying their tummies, as and when needed, as the food available here is very delicious.
The Patrimonial Goa Museum and its presentation rooms, which are also referred to as the big foot, are located in the tiny settlement of Loutolim and are spaced at about ten kilometres from Margao and around twenty five kilometres from Panaji.
The museum is carried through, presented and displayed to the tourists by an individual artist. The tourists are free to visit it from nine in the morning to six in the evening.
The visiting charge of this museum, which is collected from the tourists, is quite cheap and easily affordable. Upon entering the museum, the tourists are amazed with the kind of beauty and architectural designs they come across.
Natural beauty of Goa
Goa is equally famous for the Harvalem waterfalls that slide down the mountains beautifully from an altitude of around fifty meters. It is yet another famous and scenic picnic spot that should not be missed by anybody visiting Goa.
This waterfall leads to shaping a large lake at the base that attracts tourists and visitors to swim and enjoy. The black and rocky caves around this place are very scenic, tantalizing, and tempting and give an ancient and conventional look to the entire place. The churches, cathedrals, mosques and temples of old Goa are some of the largest, oldest and most beautifully designed ones in this nation.
While traveling in North Goa, the Madei wildlife sanctuary is another location that needs to be explored and enjoyed by tourists. This wildlife sanctuary looks very natural and serene and spans across a region of two hundred and eight square kilometres.
It also acts as the connecting nexus and bridge between the Bhagwan Mahavir Sanctuary and the Sawantwadi forests in Maharashtra. It is mainly famous for its greenery and various kinds of animals and birds that can be seen from close proximity.
Goa is also a place where the Indian Navy is active. There is a naval museum that is located and spaced about two kilometres from the airport located on the Bogmalo beach. It has the unique and rare distinction of being the only naval aviation museum that exists in Asia.
This museum and its various departments are kept available to visits by the public and tourists from ten in the morning to five in the evening. Mondays remain shut and the public is prohibited from entering or visiting this museum as per orders from the top. Some of the finest naval defense armaments and equipment can be seen here.
Then, there is a place called Ponda, which has very deep jungles and has equatorial atmosphere most of the times. These kind of weather conditions and forests are apt for growing spices and plantations.
The farmers here have many spice farms that are visited by the tourists any time of the day. They can walk around these spice plantations and enjoy the beautiful scenery and spicy lunch offered by the farmers. In such spice plantations, the tourists also get a chance to enjoy boat and elephant rides.
A Place to Remember
Other than all these places, there are many other beautiful resorts, hotels, and motels in Goa that offer discounted rates to their clients and tourists so that they can stay there comfortably and make use of all the facilities provided by them. There are multiple massages and ayurvedic centres in Goa that are called ‘spas’, wherein the tourists get admitted and enjoy the scientific and Ayurvedic massages.
Also, there are different kinds of massages available, and the tourists and the clients can select the ones they like. Thus, it is advisable for the tourists to take long vacations and holidays and spend quality time in Goa by covering all its beaches, churches, plantations, waterfalls and carnivals.
Thus, traveling to Goa is mainly necessary from the point of view of visiting and enjoying the beauty and breath-taking prettiness of the temples, beaches, lakes, forts, museums, markets, caves, waterfalls, bridges, dams, resorts, wildlife sanctuaries, parks, plantations, gardens, architectural designs, and temples.