Well, I visited Goa few days back. Calling Goa as Tourism capital of India may not be totally wrong. The visit was for official purpose so, I went with office colleagues instead of wife or family. Notwithstanding that it was really an interesting trip. It was my first trip to Goa and I really liked the fun and frolic in the environ of Goa. Goa infact constitutes number of small towns in span of few kilometers to each other. Major towns include Mudgaon,Mapusa, Panjim/Miramar, Vasco and so on...
My trip was a small one and our place of stay and place of work (conference) was 60+ km away so, practically we were not getting much time in the evening to enjoy. However, there are somethings which I could cover on a Sunday which fell in between our proposed conference.
Most of the Tour Packages cover one day trip to North Goa or South Goa for full day. You can get vehicle as per your choice, may be bus or minibus or something like Car/Jeep. We ruled out North Goa trip in favour of South Goa trip. North Goa trip consitituted of trips to most of the beaches of Goa while South Goa trip covered 2 temples, two famous churches, one beach, museum and so on...
People who have not been to beaches regularly or visiting beaches for first time should go for North Goa trip. Well, having stayed in Kerala for so many years and I don't have much fancy for beaches. Anyways best way to see Goa is to take a Bike/Car on rent and drive yourself through ins and outs of Goa. Go wherever you like and soak yourself in sweat, sand and feni. But before closing my post, let me recommend you some of the important places where to visit in Goa
* River Boat Cruise (from Miramar)- Full of fun, must be the primary target of your destination Goa
* Beaches - Vagator (Natural, Scenic Beauty), Colva (Fun and Adventure including water scooter and parasailing)
* Churches - Basallica of Born Jesus (Historically one of the most important church in India), Church of At. Augistine, Dona Paula (High point with beautiful scenics)
* Temples - Sri Mangesh Temple (Temple dedicated to Lord Shiv, this temple is associated with Lata Mangeshkar's family
* Goa Spice Plantation - A beautiful place which unfortunately, I missed during my Goa visit.
Lots of memories are there in Goa to soak onto. Just Go Goa....