The Church Square or Largo de lgreja is the focal point. The Church of the Immaculate Conception, designed in Portuguese Baroque style was modeled on the church at Reis Magos. The image of Lady of Fatima can be found in one of the altars.

The Idalcao or Adilshahi Palace was rebuilt by the Portuguese Viceroy Jeronimo de Azevedo. It is part of the sequence of handsome buildings, which has now become the secretariat. At Cabo, on the western tip lies the Raj Niwas which was built in mud and laterite with beautifully landscaped gardens.

Other Goa attractions in Panaji are library, Braganza Institute, Jama Masjid, Mahalaxmi Temple, St Thome quarter, and Sebastian Chapel.

AnjunaTown

Anjuna Goa, 18 kms from Panaji is a popular beach area adjacent to Chapora fort- it was the haunt of the flower generation in the sixties - and is still popular with the younger generation. In Anjuna there is magnificent Albuquerque mansion built in 1920, flanked by octagonal towers and attractive Mangalore tiled-roof. The Anjuna band plays for the beach party at night.

In Anjuna Beach Goa Palm trees stand motionless in the warm air. To the east is a mountain. If you want to return to civilization, climb the mountain to get to Baga where you can catch a ferry out.

CalaguteBeach

Calangute Goa beach is 16 Kms from Panaji is the most popular holiday resort in Goa popularly known as The Queen of Beaches.

Calangute lie on the shores of the Arabian Sea of North Goa in India. Being a popular holiday resort, the small houses amidst the coconut groves behind the beach are always in constant demand. Calangute beach Goa, was the beach all self-respecting hippies headed for, especially around Christmas when psychedelic hell broke loose.

The beach itself is nothing special, with steeply shelving sand, but is more than large enough to accommodate the huge numbers of high-season visitors.

To escape the hawkers, head fifteen minutes or so south of the main beachfront area, towards the rows of olf wooden boats moored below the dunes. In this virtually hawker-free zone, one'll only come across teams of villagers hauling in hand nets at high tide or fishermen fixing their tack under bamboo sun shakes.

Calangute's bars and restaurants are mainly grouped around the entrance to the beach and along the Baga road. As with most Goan resorts, the accent is firmly on seafood, though many places tack on a few token vegetarian dishes. Western breakfasts also feature prominently.

AnjunaFlea-Market

Anjuna’s Wednesday flea market, held in the coconut plantation behind the southern end of the beach, is the hub of Goa's alternative scene and the place to indulge in a spot of souvenir shopping.

few years back, the weekly event was the exclusive preserve of backpackers and the area’s seasonal residents, who gathered here to smoke chillums and to buy and sell clothes and jewellery they probably wouldn’t have the nerve to wear anywhere else: something like a small pop festival without the stage. These days, however, everything is more organized and mainstream. Pitches are rented out by the metre, drugs are banned and the approach roads to the village are choked solid all day with air-conditioned buses and Ambassador cars ferrying in tourists from resorts further down the coast. Even the beggars have to pay baksheesh to be here.

The range of goods on sale has broadened, too, thanks to the high profile of migrant hawkers and stall-holders from other parts of India. Nearby, hawk-eyed Kashmiris sit cross-legged beside trays of silver jewellery and papier-mache boxes, while trendily dressed Tibetans preside over orderly rows of prayer wheels, turquoise bracelets and sundry Himalayan curios. Most distinctive of all are the Lamani women from Karnataka, decked from head to toe in traditional tribal garb, selling elaborately woven multicoloured cloth, which they fashion into everything from jackets to money belts, and which makes even the Westerners party gear look positively funereal.

What you end up paying for this exotic merchandise largely depends on your ability to haggle. Lately, prices have been inflated as tourists not used to be dealing in rupees will part with almost anything. Be persistent, though, and cautious, and you can usually pick things up for a reasonable rate.

Even if you’re not spending, the anjuna goa flea market is a great place just to sit and watch the world go by. Mingling with the suntanned masses are bands of strolling musicians, mendicant sadhus, fortune-telling bull and snake charmers.

MapusaTown

With a population of 35,000, ramshackle MAPUSA (pronounced "Mapsa"), the district headquarters and main transport hub of Bardez taluka, is the Goa’s third largest town. If you arrive overland from Mumbai and plan to stay in one of the north Goan resorts, you can jump off the bus here and pick up a local service straight to the coast, rather than continue to Panjim, 13km further south. A dusty collection of dilapidated modern buildings scattered around the west-facing slope of a low hill, Mapusa is of little more than passing interest in itself, although on Friday mornings it hosts a lively market (whence the town’s name, which derives from the Konkani words for "measure", map, and "fill up", sa).

Anjuna and Ingo’s Saturday Night bazaar may be better stocked with souvenirs, but this offers an altogether more authentic shopping experience. Mapusa is where the locals from across Bardez and Pernem come to stock up on essentials, from fresh fish, fruit and veg to scooter parts and football shirts. The majority of stall-holders are women from the surrounding villages, squatting in the shade of torn umbrellas. Local specialties to look out for include strings of spicy Goan sausages (chourico), bottles of toddi spirit and the large green plantains grown in the nearby village of Moira.

Whatever you’re looking for in Mapusa market, it’s a good idea to arrive as early in the morning as possible to beat the heat; after 11am temperatures can be stifling.