How many days required to visit Goa

Goa is one of the best destinations for beach vacation and exploration. Starting from wildlife attraction to snorkeling, you can find almost all activities and cultural beauties in this land. How long does it take to enjoy Goa? Well, there is no one right answer to this question. Here are a few information gathered from avid travelers.

5 Days Itinerary - A Complete Trip

If you can afford to take a long leaves from your job and responsibility, avid travelers recommend you to spend 5 Days in Goa. With these five days, you can enjoy every element of beauty in this land.

Day 1

Do not start with beaches, because, you would never have the heart to leave and enjoy other activities. While you are fresh, it is best to start with culture and sightseeing. Start with Old Goa and visit numerous religious and cultural structures like Basilica of Bom Jesus, Chapel of Saint Catherine, Se’ Cathedral, Museum of Christian art and others. If you could find any cultural performances, spend the night basking in the beauty of tradition.

Day 2

Now, it is time to go to the party face of Goa, the North Goa. This place is famous for its active beaches, never-ending nightlife, flea markets, and sightseeing spots. If you love to have a crowd around you, spend time at Baga or Calangute beach. If you want a little privacy and yet many touristy actions, choose Morjim, Aswem, and others. When it is time to spend some time with water sports, visit Candolim, Singuerim and other beaches. As the dusk spreads, visit the flea markets for sightseeing and souvenir hunting. By nighttime, it is time to dance, party and enjoy.

Day 3

This day is dedicated to enjoy the European style of the land by visiting the Latin Quarters of Panaji. This is the best place to enjoy art, culture, and lifestyle of Goa, which is a fusion of Indian and European backgrounds. Do not forget your cameras and you can always find shops to buy art and craft items. Dedicate this day to finding authentic Goan dishes and beverages (apart from booze).

Day 4

It is true that beaches are the identities of Goa but, they are not the only attraction. If you spend your entire vacation with just beaches, you have missed something more beautiful in Goa; the natural balance. Take a jeep safari at Bhagwan Mahavir wildlife sanctuary, visit plantations, take up land adventure activities like hot air ballooning, trekking, camping and so on. By sunset, take up a cruise to watch dolphins dance for you.

Day 5

As you are moving towards the end of your vacation, it is time to stick with less adrenaline-pumping activities and thus, it is time for the relaxing South Goa. You can find beaches for a picnic, silent sunbathing and small shacks for relaxed dining. There are a few architectural marvels to cover and retire back to your hotel early to booze your night off, after all, it is Goa.

If you are staying for longer than five days, you can add more beaches, casinos and dance floors to your itinerary.

Suggested Tour :

2 or 3 Days Itinerary – weekend getaway

Unfortunately, not all of us have a week to spare. If you are looking for a weekend getaway, you can choose to enjoy Goa in the most holistic way possible but, you need to stick to an itinerary to do so. There are numerous tour agents who provide perfect itineraries to cover all the important destinations of Goa and also give space for you to bask in the beauty of it.

Day 1

Start with the active north Goa to enjoy water activities and beach enjoyment. Top beaches to visit in North Goa are Aguada beach, Vagator beach, Calangute beach, Coco beach, and others.  By sunset, visit the pubs and bars to enjoy a party or cultural performances.

Day 2

Mix the southern beaches of Goa and Old Goa in one day. Visit important destinations like Ancestral Goa, Shri Manguesh Temple, Se’ Cathedral, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa Science Center and others. By late afternoon, visit the beaches to enjoy your evenings with a picnic and bonfire.

Day 3

Visit the wildlife attractions of the land, plantations, cruise to watch dolphins and if desired, hit a casino to wind off the day. Spend the evenings in flea markets for shopping.

24 Hours Itinerary

Say, all you have is just 24 hours to spend in Goa. What would you do? The first step is to pre-book and pre-plan everything. With just 24 hours in hand, you cannot afford to lose a few hours in finding accommodation or transportation. Choose tour packages, which take care of every service in the land from the moment you enter Goa like shuttle service, rental car, cultural programs, tour guides and so on.

Morning

Start with sightseeing at Old Goa. Catch up as many monuments as possible before lunch like Basilica of Bom Jesu, St. Francis Xavier, museums and others.  Along the way, try to spot Portugal styled architectures as you would not have time to explore them on foot.

Afternoon

Visit any authentic Goan street destinations for enjoying the local cuisine. The best is the 18th June Road, which holds numerous shacks and street food stalls. After lunch, carry out some lazy shopping.

Evening

Get to a beach of your choice. If you are planning to enjoy adventure and water activities, stick with North Goa beach like Candolim Beach. Or, you can stick with any less crowded southern beaches.

Night

After sunset, leave the beach and get to the nightlife. North Goa is the best place to enjoy nightlife. If you wish to save time, it is better to stick with the beaches of North Goa so that there is always a pub or club closer to the beach.

24 Hours without beaches

Why do people assume that tourists want nothing but beaches in Goa? There are a lot of tourists who wish to enjoy the other faces of Goa and not just beaches. If you are one such tourist, here is a 24-hour itinerary with everything but, beaches.

Morning

Rent a motorbike and start from Panjim to Vasco. This would be a wonderful journey and an exotic experience.  At Vasco, you can find numerous shacks where you can have an early lunch.

Afternoon

A little away from Vasco, you can find Sao Jacinto Island, where you can find lighthouses, Silver Gate Bridge and a few monuments. This is the best place to enjoy a relaxed afternoon. If you are traveling from Vasco to Panjim, you can enjoy the afternoon in Panjim by exploring churches and monuments.

Evening

Visit spice plantations or wildlife sanctuaries to catch the last safari trip. If you are visiting during winter, make sure to enjoy birdwatching. Sunset is the right time to spot many colorful birds. There are numerous other land adventure activities like camping, trekking, and others. Make sure to complete those activities before dusk.

Night

By night, it is time for dancing, party, and booze. If you are not a party animal, you can stick with shopping, cultural performances and enjoying street food of the land.

7 Days Goa Itinerary – Weeklong Vacation

Say, you have got a long haul from your routine life and you wish to enjoy and rejuvenate in Goa. Goa has attractions, which can keep you busy and surprised for as long as you wish to stay. Say, you have more than 7 days to spend in Goa and you do not want to do the same thing again and again. Here is a detailed itinerary for long vacationers.

Day 1

Relax after reaching your hotel and walk around the streets around your hotel to enjoy the culture of the land. You can find many service providers who would rent motorbikes on a daily rental basis. Explore the local region. If you wish, you can spend the evenings in any beach to enjoy the sunset and some bonfire experience.

Day 2

Start your beach day as early as possible and you can find many yoga and other sessions on the beach. You can try some water sports before the crowd comes out. Do not leave the beach for breakfast. You can find numerous shacks to serve your delicious dishes. Visit flea markets, ayurvedic massage centers, and other regions to spend your afternoons. By evening, visit the flea markets for shopping. Each beach area has flea markets on a certain day of the week. Thus, choose your destination accordingly. With the options in flea markets, you would feel time flying. After the flea market, you can go back to your hotel for rest or get down on the dance floor and enjoy the nightlife.

Day 3

The land has more historic elements than you can believe. The ancient culture and the Portugal invasion has given rise to numerous attractions and beauties around the land. Today, ditch the beaches and enjoy the inland beauties. Start with a morning enjoyment in the Dudhsagar waterfall and visit any spice plantations. Many spice plantations offer Goan lunch with fresh produce. Or, you can reach Panjim to find restaurants of your choice. Walk around the Old Goa to spot many religious and cultural attractions. If you stick with Panjim, you can spend the entire day sightseeing. The best way to spend the day is by renting a car for the whole day, which can amount to INR 2000-3000 during peak season. The driver would take you to all major inland attractions. Find live music concerts or jam sessions to enjoy the evening before retiring to your room.

Day  4 - 5

This time is dedicated to beaches. May it be the North Goa or South Goa, you can always find beaches around the corner. Top beaches to try here are Morjim beach, Mandrem beach, Arambol beach, Querim beach, Anjuna beach, and others. It is not possible to cover all the beaches in the same day. Thus, separate the list of beaches and activities and spend a considerable amount of time on each beach. Running from one beach to another would not give you the satisfaction as you expect it.

Day 6

This day is dedicated to Goan villages and islands. Visit the islands of Chorao and Diwar and enjoy cycling. You can find many service providers, who offer rental cycles for the tourists to explore the land. These islands are the best place to enjoy adventure activities like jetpacking, flyboarding, hot air ballooning, gliding, and others. Visit any authentic village areas to explore and enjoy during your evening. Goan villages are the best places to enjoy the authentic cuisine of the land. Return back to mainland Goa to enjoy the night as you desire.

Day 7

This day is for exploring the heritage areas, local Portugual regions like Latin Quarters or you can choose to spend time with beaches and casinos. Take up a cruise by sunset to enjoy dolphins playing and you can party on the cruise before retiring to your hotel.

There are numerous ways to spend just one day or more than seven days in Goa. If you wish to enjoy it in a customized way, you can always create your own itinerary and enjoy it in the way, you desired. Choose to customize your vacation with the help of any travel agent so that you can enjoy the vacation without worrying about amenities, facilities, and others. With tour packages, every element of your vacation is pre-planned for you.