Things to do in North Goa
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German Bakery
Leafy and filled with prayer flags and jolly lights, this is a perfect place for a huge lunch chosen from an equally huge menu. Tofu balls in mustard sauce with parsley potatoes and salad is a piled-high winner at Rs150. Wi-fi is available for a fairly steep Rs100 per hour.
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Anjuna Flea Market
Without doubt the most important date in the Anjuna diary, market day sees scores of local and expat vendors descending on the market site at the far south of the beach, to haggle the day away over clothing, jewellery, souvenirs and a good deal, these days, of usual tourist tat. Pick through the rubbish (underfoot, quite literally) to seek out treasure, including sparkling ceiling hangings, dancing dolls, and posh frocks made from dazzling saris. Even if you don’t come home loaded with shopping, it’s an unmissable event, where you’ll find Goa’s old faithful hippies mingling with I Heart Goa–clad Indian tourists, package-holiday Brits and Russians, and young backpackers in…
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Sunset Boat Cruise
A host of floats sets out each evening just before sunset to ply the Mandovi waters and entertain tourists with nothing more sophisticated than the view, a beer or two and a dash of traditional Goan dancing. A number of companies run competing tours from the Santa Monica Jetty, with the GTDC’s being the most serene and least raucous of the bunch. Head to the jetty to compare watery offerings and pick up your tickets.
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Sher-E-Punjab
A cut above the usual lunch joint, Sher-E-Punjab caters to well-dressed locals with its generous, carefully spiced Indian dishes. There’s a pleasant garden terrace out the back, and an icy AC room if you’re feeling sticky. Try the delicious paneer tikka (Rs90) but note, if you’re hungering for snacks, that the fish fingers and chicken fingers are ‘seasonal only’.
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Hotel Venite Restaurant
With colourful graffiti covered walls and half a dozen tiny balconies hanging over the street this Latin flavoured restaurant is the perfect spot to pause for one of their delicious milkshakes and a light snack.
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Cafe Orange Boom
Just past Cafe Diogo, on the opposite side of the road, this nice little place has good food and friendly service, with a useful noticeboard for catching up on Anjunan goings-on.
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Aswem Beach
A wide stretch of quiet beach backed by a rather lacklustre village strip, the quiet Aswem sands are popular with long-staying foreigners and play host to an annually changing parade of beach-hut accommodation and beach-shack restaurants. Though some stretches of the beach are becoming distressingly grubby, development here is generally low-key, swimming is usually safe, the sands are quiet, and the vibe, very mellow.
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Barracuda Diving
The closest beach to Panaji is at Miramar, 3km southwest of the city along Dayanand Bandodkar Marg. It's far from the cream of Goa's beaches but is a pleasant enough place for a sunset stroll and a good place to aim for on a short bike ride out the city. On the way you'll pass the Goa Marriot Resort, where you'll also find Barracuda Diving, one of the state's most professional diving operations.
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Republic of Noodles
For a sophisticated dining experience, the RoN delivers with its dark bamboo interior, Buddha heads and floating candles. Delicious, huge noodle plates are the order of the day, and if you’re feeling flush there’s an exquisite brunch on Sunday mornings: Rs1200 buys you an extensive southeast Asian buffet, along with unlimited Mimosas and Bloody Marys.
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Andy’s Tattoo Studi
If you’re looking to embellish yourself while in town, try Andy’s Tattoo Studio, attached to San Francisco Restaurant, where the Anjuna cliffside slides down to meet the beach. Drop in to make an appointment and receive a price quote for your permanent souvenir.
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Fellini
A long-standing Italian joint, perfect for when you’re craving a carbonara or calzone, Fellini delivers all your wood-fired pizza and fresh pasta requirements in the thick of the Arambol action.
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La Plage
La Plage is renowned by those in the know, and has been dishing up sumptuous gourmet Mediterranean food in simple surroundings since 2003, concocted by a genuine French chef.
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Shiva Valley
Shiva Valley is a very popular place for an evening drink, an alternative crowd and the odd impromptu party.
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Le Bluebird
This is an oddly situated and unusually classy French restaurant that does fine dining in a great outdoor area. Francophiles can enjoy imported wine here, and there's a good selection of vegetarian dishes on offer.
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Chapel of St Sebastian
Aside from its general old-world charms, Fontainhas is notable for being home to the pretty Chapel of St Sebastian, built in 1818. This small whitewashed church at the end of a lovely lane contains one of only a few relics remaining as testament to the Goan Inquisition, which terrorised the state’s population for more than two centuries. A striking crucifix, which originally stood in the Palace of the Inquisition in Old Goa. Christ’s unusual open eyes are said to have been conceived to strike fear into the hearts of ‘heretical’ suspects brought before the Inquisitors, and awaiting their usually grisly fate. Following the end of the Inquisition in Goa in 1814 – due to an A…
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Basilica of Bom Jesus
The Basilica of Bom Jesus is famous throughout the Roman Catholic world. It contains the tomb and mortal remains of St Francis Xavier who, in 1541, was given the task of spreading Christianity among the subjects of the Portuguese colonies in the East.
A former pupil of St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, St Francis Xavier embarked on missionary voyages that became legendary and, considering the state of transport at the time, were nothing short of miraculous.
Apart from the richly gilded altars, the interior of the church is remarkable for its simplicity. Construction began in 1594 and was completed in 1605. The focus of the church is the three-tiered marb…
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Archaeological Museum
Part of the Franciscan monastery at the back of the Church of St Francis of Assisi is now an Archaeological Museum, housing some lovely fragments of sculpture from Hindu temple sites in Goa, and some Sati stones, which once marked the spot where a Hindu widow committed suicide by flinging herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre. Also here you’ll find two large bronze statues: one of the Portuguese poet Luís Vaz de Camões, which once stood more prominently in the central grassy area of Old Goa, and one of Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese conqueror and first governor of Goa, which stood in the Azad Maidan in Panaji, before being moved here after Independence.
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Museum of Christian Art
Adjacent to the Convent of St Monica, this museum contains a collection of statues, paintings and sculptures, most of it transferred here from the Rachol Seminary. Interestingly, many of the works of Goan Christian art made during the Portuguese era, including some of those on display here, were produced by local Hindu artists; this might explain a tiger-skin-wrapped John the Baptist, fitted out in the style of Hindu god Shiva. Among the other items on show are richly embroidered priest vestments, a number of devotional paintings and carvings, a portable Mass kit for travelling priests, and a fair amount of silverware, including crucifixes, salvers and crowns.
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Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre
On the sand dunes of Arambol Beach is Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre, which runs five-day courses in hatha yoga from mid-November to mid-March. This is the winter centre of the iyengar yoga school in Dharamsala, and is run by the same teacher, Sharat Arora. Five-day courses for new and more-experienced students cost Rs1800, with additional days of instruction available at a reduced rate. Booking and registration must be done in person at the centre on Tuesday at 2pm. Courses start on Friday. There are also intensive two- to three-week courses for more experienced hatha yoga devotees and special short courses combining yoga with ayurvedic treatment.
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Mapusa Market
The Mapusa market goes about its business daily, except Sundays, but really gets going on Friday mornings. It’s a raucous affair that attracts vendors and shoppers from all over Goa (and interstate) with an entirely different vibe to the Anjuna market. Here you’ll find locals haggling for clothing and produce, and you can also find antiques, souvenirs and textiles. So significant is the market locally that the town’s name is derived from the Konkani words map meaning ‘measure’ and sa meaning ‘fill up’, in reference to the trade in spices, vegetables and fruit that’s plied here daily.
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Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate
Panaji’s spiritual, as well as geographical, centre is its gleamingly picturesque main church, built in 1619 over an older, smaller 1540 chapel and stacked like a fancy white wedding cake to the southeast of the ragged municipal gardens. When Panaji was little more than a sleepy fishing village, this place was the first port of call for sailors from Lisbon, who would clamber up here to thank their lucky stars for a safe crossing, before continuing to Ela (Old Goa), the state’s capital until the 19th century, further east up the river.
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Goa State Museum
An eclectic collection of items awaits visitors to this large, though not bursting-at-the-seams, museum, in a strangely uncentral area southwest of the Kadamba bus stand. As well some beautiful Hindu and Jain sculptures and bronzes, there are a few nice examples of Portuguese-era furniture, some ancient coins and quirky antique lottery machines. The gruesome star exhibit for most, however, is the elaborately carved table and high-backed chairs used by the notoriously brutal Portuguese Inquisition in Goa during its reign of terror.
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Convent & Church of St Francis of Assisi
One of the most interesting buildings in Old Goa, the church interior contains gilded and carved woodwork, a stunning reredos (ornamented screen behind the altar), old murals depicting scenes from the life of St Francis and a floor made of carved gravestones - complete with family coats of arms dating back to the early 16th century.
The church was built by eight Franciscan friars who arrived here in 1517 and constructed a small chapel, which was later pulled down and the present building was constructed on the same spot in 1661.
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Hospedaria Venite
Along with Viva Panjim, this is without doubt the lunch address to which most tourists head, and, though the food isn’t exactly excellent, the atmosphere warrants the visit. Its tiny, rickety balcony tables, which look out onto pastel-washed 31st January Rd, make the perfect lunchtime spot, and the Goan chouriços (spiced sausages; Rs145) and vegetable vindaloo (Rs95) are really pretty tasty. Order a cold beer or two, munch on a slightly ’70s-style salad (think cold boiled vegetables in vinaigrette) and watch lazy Panaji slip by.
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Sé de Santa Catarina
Construction of the Sé de Santa Catarina, the largest church in Old Goa, began in 1562 and though the building was completed by 1619, the altars were not finished until 1652.
The building's style is Portuguese-Gothic with a Tuscan exterior and Corinthian interior. The remaining tower houses a famous bell, often called the Golden Bell because of its rich sound. The main altar is dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria, and paintings on either side of it depict scenes from her life and martyrdom.
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