The best places to visit in South Goa are its beaches, Palolem, Agonda, Colva and Benaulim, plus Cabo de Rama Fort, the old Braganza House in Chandor, Ancestral Goa (Big Foot) at Loutolim and Holy Spirit Church in Margao. From Colva, one day by cab covers Margao, Chandor, Cabo de Rama and Benaulim Beach. A second day goes south to Agonda and Palolem, and a third inland to the Ponda temples and a spice farm.
Each plan is a real route by cab, timed against opening hours.
Margao, Chandor, Cabo de Rama and Benaulim
5 places · 81 km by cab
See the plan →Margao, Loutolim, Chandor and Benaulim · Cabo de Rama, Agonda and Palolem
8 places · 144 km by cab
See the plan →Margao, Loutolim, Chandor and Benaulim · Cabo de Rama, Agonda and Palolem · Ponda temples and a spice farm
13 places · 214 km by cab
See the plan →Call or message a local South Goa operator with this plan. Tell them your hotel and dates, and they send a price for the car and driver.
We are still listing South Goa operators. Write to [email protected] and we will put you in touch.
With the best time to go and how long to stay.
| Place | Open | Best time | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colva Beach | Open beach, best in daylight. Shacks and sunbeds from about October to May? | Late afternoon into sunset, about 18:00 in winter and 19:00 in summer. | 1 h |
| Benaulim Beach | Open beach, best in daylight. Shacks and sunbeds from about October to May? | Late afternoon, for the sunset. | 1 h |
| Varca Beach | Open beach, best in daylight. Shacks and sunbeds from about October to May? | Morning, when it is quiet. | 1 h |
| Betalbatim Beach | Open beach, best in daylight. Shacks and sunbeds from about October to May? | Sunset; locals call it sunset beach. | 1 h |
| Bogmalo Beach | Open beach, best in daylight. Shacks and sunbeds from about October to May? | Morning, with the Naval Aviation Museum. | 1 h |
| Naval Aviation Museum | About 09:30 to 17:30 (one listing says 10:00 to 17:00), closed on Mondays. About ₹100 to ₹150 | Morning, before the heat. | 1 h 15 min |
| Holy Spirit Church, Margao | Open to visitors about 09:00 to 11:00 and 17:00 to 19:00 (listings differ on the midday closing). Free | Morning, before 11:00. | 30 min |
| Goa Chitra Museum | 09:00 to 18:00, every day (one listing says closed Mondays). Ticket about ₹300 | Afternoon, before the beach. | 1 h 15 min |
| Ancestral Goa (Big Foot), Loutolim | About 09:00 or 09:30 to 18:00, every day. About ₹50 | Morning, when it opens. | 1 h 15 min |
| Rachol Seminary | Not officially open to visitors; the church and gardens can sometimes be seen. Free? | Morning, on the way to Loutolim. | 30 min |
The best known beach in South Goa: a long, wide strip of pale sand with shacks, water sports and the busy beach road behind it. It runs north to Betalbatim and south to Benaulim without a break.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
The same long beach as Colva, 2 km south, but quieter. Fishing boats sit on the sand, and the village behind it has old Goan houses and small family-run places to eat.
In the 1-day plan
A wide, clean beach south of Benaulim, backed by big resorts and casuarina trees. It is calmer than Colva, with fishing boats and dolphin boat trips from the fishermen at the north end.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
The quiet north end of the Colva sands, 2 km up the coast, with a few shacks and a wide view to the sunset. Majorda, with its big hotels, is just north again.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
A small, curved beach in a bay near the airport, with fishing boats, shacks and water sports. The Naval Aviation Museum is just up the road.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
The Indian Navy's aircraft museum, near Bogmalo: old navy planes and helicopters parked outside, and a hall of engines, uniforms and models inside. A good stop for children.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
Margao's big white church, built in the 1670s, with a carved gold altar and a square in front lined with old houses. It is the heart of the old part of Margao.
In the 1-day plan
A museum of everyday village life in Benaulim: thousands of old farm tools, kitchen pots, carts and boats collected from Goan homes, with a small farm and a museum of old Christian art beside it.
In the 1-day plan
An open-air model of a Goan village 100 years ago, on a forested hillside in Loutolim: life-size figures of the potter, the fisherman and the toddy tapper, a big rock carving of the saint Mirabai, and the Big Foot rock that gives it its name.
Day 1 of the 2-day plan
A 1600s Jesuit seminary on a hill above the Zuari river, still training priests, with an old church and the stone gate of a ruined fort on the road below.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
Goa's grandest old family home, in the village of Chandor: a 17th century mansion that runs the length of the square, split into two wings for two branches of the family. Inside are a long ballroom, Chinese porcelain, carved furniture and a small chapel.
In the 1-day plan
An old fort on a headland high above the sea, rebuilt by the Portuguese, with crumbling walls, rusty cannons and a small white chapel of St Anthony still in use. The walk round the walls looks down on the sea and the empty beach below.
In the 1-day plan
A small beach between Cabo de Rama and Agonda where a green freshwater lagoon sits just behind the sand. Hut stays line the lagoon.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
A long, quiet beach between two headlands, with beach huts under the palms and no loud music. Olive Ridley turtles nest at one end, and the fenced nests are looked after by the Forest Department.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
A tiny cove north of Palolem, shut in by forest and rocks. Most people see it on a boat trip from Palolem that looks for dolphins on the way.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
South Goa's most famous beach: a curved bay of soft sand with palm trees, coloured beach huts and calm water good for swimming and kayaks. Boats leave from here for Butterfly beach and dolphin trips.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
A smaller, quieter beach just south of Palolem, with yoga places and beach huts. Calm and good for an evening walk.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
An empty beach lined with casuarina trees near the Karnataka border, one of Goa's turtle nesting beaches. There are no shacks.
Not in our plans. Add it if you have time.
Goa's best known temple, to Shiva as Shri Manguesh, at the foot of a green hill near Ponda. It has a white tower lamp of seven floors, a big tank and a hall with chandeliers.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
An old temple to Mahalsa Narayani in Mardol, 1 km from Mangueshi, with a carved wooden hall, a brass lamp pillar and a tall lamp tower by the tank.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
A big temple to the goddess Shantadurga at Kavlem, near Ponda, built in the 1730s, with a domed roof, a tall lamp tower and a large tank in front.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
A small mosque in Ponda built in 1560 by the Bijapur sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah, with a tiled roof and a stone tank with arched niches beside it. One of the few old mosques left in Goa.
Day 3 of the 3-day plan
A spice farm near Ponda where a guide walks you through pepper vines, nutmeg, cardamom, vanilla and cashew under the areca palms, then serves a Goan buffet lunch on banana leaves.
Day 3 of the 3-day planTwo days covers the main sights: Margao, Loutolim, Chandor and the Colva beaches on one day, and Cabo de Rama, Agonda and Palolem on the other. Add a third day for the Ponda temples and a spice farm.
Pick North Goa for busy beaches, parties, night markets, Panjim and the old churches of Old Goa. Pick South Goa for long quiet beaches, old village houses and a slower pace. They are about an hour apart by cab, so many people stay in one and see the other on a day out.
Palolem for a curved bay that is good for swimming, Agonda for peace and quiet, and Colva and Benaulim for a long walk on the sand near shops and places to eat. Varca and Betalbatim are calmer stretches of the same coast, close to Colva.
The sights are, but the beaches change. Beach shacks are allowed from about October to the end of May, so from June to September most are shut, and swimming is banned when the sea is rough. The forts, houses, temples and spice farms open all year.
By boat from Palolem; there is no road to the beach. Trips take about an hour and cost about ₹500 to ₹1,250 a person, so bargain and share a boat. Dolphin trips go out early, at about 07:00, from about November to March.
Silent Noise, the headphone party at Neptune Point at the south end of Palolem, is on Saturday nights from about 21:00, from about November to April.
Olive Ridley turtles nest on both beaches from about November to March. The nests are fenced off by the Forest Department, and you should keep lights and noise down on the beach at night.
Only to the top. The last 2 km is a rough track that small cars cannot manage, so take a local jeep down for about ₹100 a person each way, then walk down the steps to the beach and its lagoon.
Yes, as a separate day: Old Goa is about 32 km from Colva by road. The churches of Old Goa, Panjim and the beaches north of the Mandovi are part of our North Goa plans, not these.
Fernandes House, also in Chandor, is shown by the family most days. The Palacio do Deao in Quepem, about 8 km south of Chandor by road, is best visited by calling ahead. Neither is on our map, so ask your driver to add them.
Dabolim. It is about 24 km from Colva by road. Mopa (Manohar) airport is in the far north of Goa, about 70 km from Colva.
