First time visitors to Goa - any advice?

Zanettie

lobo

Hope you enjoy yourself goa is great. I have never been to baga, anjuna and old goa are worth a visit as is much of goa. The scenary is very nice i remeber sitting on the side of the train with the door open watching the world go by.
You can do the same by taxi, the food is great to

seventies'hippy

Hi Zanettie, Welcome to IM & your future trip to goa,
You'll have no problems there. Goa has been perfecting the art of pleasing tourists for over 30years, you can find everything you'll need there.
Books no problem, theres many bookstalls scattered around baga /calangute
or pick some up at the wednesday flea market in anjuna or the saturday night market in arpora, which isn't far from baga.
You can negotiate a taxi to anywhere in goa or hampi though hampi would need an overnigher or two. have a look at daytrippers tours they do a hampi trip & are very good Daytripper Tours
For your down south stay, check out Palolem, rather more laid back than baga with a nice crescent shaped beach, palm trees & all facilities you'll need.
As for budgets, don't worry about it, you'll be so suprised at the low costs of everything.
When you're there the only thing you'll be sorry about is that you're not going to be there for christmas, Enjoy

Zanettie

Thanks for the info Seventies'hippy & Lobo - we want to make the most of our 2 short weeks so are trying to be as well informed as possible. It was exactly 2 months yesterday 'til we go - getting very excited

Lovely Indian

Hi,
Better to take the trin for Hampy. The train is from Goa to Hospet and there are good hotels in Hospet.
Taking taxi will expencive because Hampi is in Karnataka and the Inter state road tax of Karnataka is very high.

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:elee: [FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=DarkOrange][SIZE=3][COLOR=DarkRed]Lovely Indian - a traveler[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR] [/FONT]

Zanettie

Thanks Lovely Indian I did think that the taxi might be cheaper for 4 of us, but I hadn't realised there would be road taxes to pay! Looks like it'll be the train then.

anjunaangel

hi you certainly want to do a lot with yourtime in india,you will find a second hand book shop in goa and also at starcos on the corner in anjuna not too far from baga but you will often find other people who will swap books with you ,benolim beach is lovely in the south with reasonable accomodation,you would be best off getting the bus south.if you do decide on a taxi go to the sun and sand at anjuna flea market site and ask for staley he will sort you out a taxi tell himm tracie sent you have a great time

rockyS

hi well baga is a great area to stay , u will get a 2nd hand book store just next to TITOs (in Baga) everyone knows TITOs , so that shouldnt be a prob for u to locate and it has nice books too.further if u wanna go down south India and a quiter place then would suggest places like kerala (backwaters) quite ,unspoilt into nature ,perfect place,other place is pondicherry(close to madras) ,very beautiful with a portugesse touch ,another good place is daman /diu and if u r really looking for the best back o nature the place to go is Andaman Nicobar island ,which is really amazing,totally unspoilt, all the way into nature , u do get basic amenities and all.crystal clear water.

Zanettie

Thanks AnjunaAngel & RockyS - more useful information

We're staying nearish to Titos, so that bookshop will be handy.

Would appreciate some ideas on how much money we might need to allow for spending, if anyone can help.

rockyS

well thumb rule US 100$ a day will be more than enough , well that also depends on how exp ur accomodation is ,other than that food and other stuff is not that exp. so if ur in India for 14 days US 1400 shuld be more than enough.

Zanettie

US$ 100 per day good grief, that's a lot. Our accommodation is paid for and we aren't planning on eating at 5* places so I was thinking we'd be looking at a lot less than that

LuAnnandJawahar

If your accommodation is paid for then just figure on $5 to $10 MAX for food and drink per day. You might spend a little on taking a boat ride or similar. But it would be really hard to spend $100 a day!!

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Zanettie

Thank you - that makes me feel much better! This is the most expenxive holiday I've ever had (we usually go camping in Ireland or Wales ) so The $100/day thing panicked me a bit LOL

carol

Hey Z,

you are in for a lovely surprise at the cost of everything here. Fare is the expensive bit. Cost of living amazingly cheap in comparison to us. But you have to know the rough cost of things to bargain a bit. Can cost you 4 times as much if you don't know. Ireland has lost the plot around money. horribly expensive. I'm Irish so I know.

Just know that you are visiting at the peak of the season so rooms will be short and expensive. Hope you have that organised. There is a Film Festival and a showing of some saint's relics (or something, only happens every 7 years or so). So a lot of Indian tourist's expected as well as foreigners this year.

I'm in Goa, contact me when you get here if you wish. I've got a minibus, give you a lil trip and a few tips about the place ok?

Cheers

Carol

seventies'hippy

It's the Feast of St. Francis Xavier & very special it is too,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The feast of saint Francis Xavier is held on 3rd December every year at Velha Goa or Old Goa which is about 10kms east of Panaji. The mummified body of St. Francis Xavier is enshrined in a silver casket in one of the chapels of Basilica of Born Jesus built in 1605 by the Jesuits.

The body of the Saint is exposed to public once every ten years and pilgrims from all over the world came to pay homage.