Things to do in Goa

Neighborhood · Panaji, central Goa

The Latin Quarter — narrow lanes of ochre, indigo and green Portuguese houses with overhanging balcões, on a hillside above the Mandovi.

Local tip: Walk it in the early morning before the light gets flat, then go up to Chapel of St Sebastian. The houses must be repainted in traditional colours after each monsoon under local convention, which is why it looks the way it does. The Panjim Inn and the Gitanjali gallery are worth going inside.

Landmark · 10 km east of Panaji

The UNESCO-listed remains of the Portuguese colonial capital — the Basilica of Bom Jesus holding St Francis Xavier's remains, and the vast Sé Cathedral.

Local tip: This was once a city larger than Lisbon, abandoned after repeated cholera epidemics; what survives is a handful of churches in open ground. Go early on a weekday. The Museum of Christian Art in the Convent of Santa Monica is almost always empty and is the best thing there.

Nature · Ferry from Old Goa or Ribandar

An island in the Mandovi reachable only by free flat-bottomed ferry, with Portuguese-era villages, paddy fields and almost no development.

Local tip: Take a scooter onto the ferry and simply ride. Piedade village at the top of the hill has a view over the whole estuary and a church from 1700. Because there is no bridge, it has stayed as it was — which is the entire point and also why you should leave it as you found it.

Nightlife · North Goa

The northern belt where the long-stay foreign community, the restaurants, the flea market and most of the noise are concentrated.

Local tip: Assagao inland is where the residents actually live and where the better food is; Anjuna's beach strip is where the visitors go. The Wednesday flea market is now largely a tourist operation — the Saturday night market at Arpora is more interesting and starts late.

Nature · South Goa

Two crescent beaches in the far south, with palm-backed sand, calm water and a fraction of the north's density.

Local tip: Agonda is the quieter of the two and has a nesting olive ridley turtle programme — the marked nesting areas above the tideline are genuinely protected and worth respecting. Both beaches largely dismantle themselves for the monsoon under seasonal licensing rules, so from June there is very little there.

Nature · Eastern Goa, on the Karnataka border

A 310-metre four-tiered waterfall in the Western Ghats, at its most dramatic immediately after the monsoon.

Local tip: Private vehicles cannot reach the base; access is by authorised jeep from Kulem, and the falls close during peak monsoon for safety. September and October are the window — full flow, forest still green, and the road open. Book the jeep early in the morning.