Private journeys in seven lands · a planner replies within one working day
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A first visit to Goa that goes beyond the beach. Two nights near Panjim for Fontainhas and Old Goa, then a full day inland through the Ponda temples, a spice farm and Dudhsagar Falls by forest jeep, ending at Taj Exotica on the Benaulim beach for three nights. Best from late October to February.
Most Goa holidays never leave the coast, but an hour inland the land rises into the Western Ghats, with forest, spice plantations, old temples and one of India's tallest waterfalls. This journey gives a first-time visitor the three faces of Goa in five nights: the Portuguese capital, the Hindu hinterland and the beach.
The inland day is long but well paced, and it links the two halves of the trip: you leave Cidade de Goa in the morning, see Dudhsagar, lunch at a spice farm and visit the Kadamba-era temple at Tambdi Surla, then arrive at Taj Exotica in Benaulim in the evening. The last two days are for the beach.
Highlights
Day by day
Your driver meets you at Dabolim and drives across the Zuari to Cidade de Goa, a Charles Correa-designed resort on its own cove near Dona Paula. Spend the afternoon swimming and resting. At dusk, drive 15 minutes into Panjim for a walk along the Mandovi promenade and dinner at a Goan restaurant in the old quarter.
Walk Fontainhas at 8 am with a local guide, through the painted lanes of Panjim's Latin quarter to the Chapel of St Sebastian and the Immaculate Conception Church. Then drive 20 minutes upriver to Old Goa for the Basilica of Bom Jesus, with the tomb of St Francis Xavier, the Se Cathedral and the Church of St Francis of Assisi. Lunch in Panjim and a free afternoon.
Leave at 7 am with your luggage. At Collem, our team has queued for your forest jeep, which runs 45 minutes through the Bhagwan Mahavir Sanctuary to the foot of Dudhsagar Falls, 310 m of water in four tiers, with trains crossing the viaduct above. Swim in the pool in a life jacket. Visit the black basalt temple at Tambdi Surla, then lunch on banana leaves at a spice farm near Ponda before driving south to Taj Exotica.
A completely free day after yesterday's journey. Walk the long, quiet beach at dawn as the fishermen haul in their nets, then spend the day at the pool, on the sand or at the Jiva spa. In the evening, dinner at a Goan restaurant nearby, where your driver can take you and wait.
Choose a gentle outing: a morning at Braganza House in Chandor, 30 minutes inland, with its ballroom and family chapel; or, at 4.30 pm, a private boat on the Sal river from Mobor among the mangroves to the river mouth for sunset. The rest of the day is for the beach. A farewell dinner at the resort.
A last morning swim and breakfast, then your driver takes you to Dabolim, about 45 minutes away, for your onward flight. If your flight is later, we arrange a late check-out or a final lunch in Margao on the way.
Included
Not included
Where you sleep
A beach resort on Vainguinim cove near Dona Paula, designed by the architect Charles Correa as a stylised Goan village of lanes, courtyards and painted walls. …
A large, low-rise Taj resort in Mediterranean style on the Benaulim beach, with wide lawns that run straight to the sand. It is our default south …
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Questions travellers ask
We think so, when combined with a spice farm and Tambdi Surla. The falls are spectacular after the monsoon, and the forest and temple show a side of Goa most visitors miss. The next day is kept free to recover.
October to December, when the falls are still full after the monsoon and the jeep track is open. By April the flow is much reduced. In the monsoon the falls are at their peak but the track is usually closed.
Trains on the Vasco–Londa line cross the viaduct in front of the falls and give a view from above. Walking along the railway is prohibited. For the foot of the falls, the forest jeep from Collem is the only way.
Yes. In five nights you see the Portuguese heritage of Panjim and Old Goa, the forests and temples of the Ghats, and the beaches of the south, with a comfortable resort at each stage.
Some are. We use quieter, family-run plantations near Ponda rather than the busiest coach stops, with a knowledgeable guide and a proper Goan vegetarian lunch.
A small black basalt temple to Shiva at the foot of the Western Ghats, built in the Kadamba period in the 12th or 13th century. It is the best-preserved temple in Goa from before Portuguese rule.
Yes, children from about four usually love the jeep, the falls and the trains. We fit child seats, pack snacks and keep the following day free. Infants should skip the jeep ride.
Yes. The Leela Goa at Mobor and Alila Diwa at Majorda are similar in price and work just as well. Taj Fort Aguada in the north is also possible, though the drive back from Dudhsagar is a little longer.
Easily. Add nights at the beach in Benaulim, or continue to Palolem and The LaLiT for three nights in the far south. Both work well after the busier first half.
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