PLACES TO VISIT IN GOA – NORTH GOA ITINERARY!

Are you looking for some unique hidden places to visit in Goa? Here are the 7 most popular and happening places in North Goa. We planned a 4N / 5D holiday trip to North Goa and have pre-booked our flights and stay.

Day 1: Calangute Beach & Baga Beach

We hired a bike for rental and went straight to Calangute beach. Post-our lunch in a restaurant, we spent time at Calangute beach watching the sunset.

The glowing evening quickly dissolved turning the blue skies dark. We moved to Baga beach, which is a 10 minutes’ drive from Calangute Beach.

Refer to this post: Calangute Beach & Baga Beach

Day 2: We planned to explore a few more beaches in North Goa for the second day.

1. The Lone Lighthouse – Aguada Fort, Goa.

Our second day began with a trip to Aguada Fort on Sinquerium beach. It’s a 15 minutes’ drive from Calangute. Post our breakfast in the hotel, we started early to reach Sinquerium beach. The drive through the city is fascinating.

As you enter, you’ll love the mesmerizing view of the Arabian Sea from the upper part of the fort and nothing much in the walled arena. And, there’s no access either to the lower part of the fort or to the lighthouse.

Take a look at this post: The Lone Lighthouse – Aguada Fort, Goa.

2. Parasailing at Candolim Beach in Goa

As we moved from Aguada Fort, we headed straight to Candolim Beach. It’s a 15 minutes’ drive.

I love this place, because of the less crowds and cleaner beach. Sitting by the shore, watching the colorful parachutes flying in the sky made me so excited.  Besides flying in the blue sky, you’ll be dipped in the blue sea for a moment and you’ll fly again! It’s so exhilarating!

Refer to this post: Parasailing at Candolim Beach in Goa

3. Which is better – Anjuna beach or Vagator beach?

Post-lunch, we started to explore Anjuna beach and Vagator beach.

Anjuna Beach – The place is known for its flea market held on Wednesdays. It is around 8 KM from Calangute and in 20 minutes, you can reach the beach. It’s more like a secluded beach because of its mystic rocky outcrops along the shoreline.

After a while, we moved to Vagator Beach. It’s 10 minutes’ drive from Anjuna beach. This is yet another rocky outcrop beach in Goa and nothing much.  You could spot majestic Chapora Fort from here, which lies in its close vicinity.

Take a look at this post: Which is better – Anjuna beach or Vagator beach?

Day 3: The Tomb of St. Francis Xavier – Basilica of Bom Jesus

Your visit to Goa would be unfinished without a stopover at Basilica of Bom Jesus and it is one of the oldest churches in Goa. It took us an hour to reach this place and was overly-crowded.  The road-trip itself is so remarkable. Still, some of the old edifices endure the legacy of Portuguese Architecture.

Refer to this post for details: The Tomb of St. Francis Xavier – Basilica of Bom Jesus

Day 4: Harvalem Waterfalls – A Secluded Magnificence on Earth!!

It’s the last day of our holiday trip in Goa. It was me who insisted Lazz to add Harvalem Waterfalls to our Goa Itinerary. We started early to avoid traffic and it took us 2 hours to reach the falls.

It is located at Sanquelim in North Goa.

Refer to this post: Harvalem Waterfalls – A Secluded Magnificence on Earth!!

So, what could be the best time to visit Goa?

Goa is a party hub where December and January are the peak time, welcoming people all around. And, it’ll be expensive during the peak season. So, the best time to visit Goa is anywhere between November to February.

How to get there:

• By air – There are direct flights from Chennai to Goa are available for a duration of 1 hour 25 minutes.
• By Train – The best is MAS VASCO express, which departs at 3 PM from Chennai Central and takes approximately 22 hours to reach Vasco Da Gama Station at 1 PM.
• By Bus – There are direct buses from Chennai to Goa available at a cost of 1450 ₹ per person and again it takes roughly 20 hours to reach.

Where to stay:

There are plenty of accommodations available for lesser budget to luxurious resorts.

Getting Around: 

Rental cars and Bikes are available. Do carry your driving license with you. We hired a bike for rental and per day it costs 300 ₹.  As the roads are narrow they get crowded during weekends, the best bet is to travel around on bikes. It would be economical and save a lot of time.

Please ensure to take a video of the rental bike in front of the owner to avoid any charges later. Also, get your helmet from them without fail.

We hired a bike for the first day and used it throughout our 4-day trip to Goa. We just called up and informed the owner every day.  They even helped us to book a cab for airport-transfer.

Are there any scams happening in Goa?

A lot! It is as usual in any tourists’ places we get to travel.

There’s an interesting scam predominant in Goa and you should be aware of it. It’s a sort of timeshare scam. When we parked our bikes, a guy approached us to scratch a card for a lucky draw which was free of cost and told us that we were the first couple who won the lucky draw that morning. He enquired us if we had a credit card with us and asked us to visit their hotel to collect the prizes.  We politely ignored them and went for sight-seeing. When we came back to the parking lot after an hour, he identified us so accurately out of 1000s of tourists there. 🙁  He came over to see if we could visit the hotel today.  We ignored them and left the place quickly.

With luv,