Goa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. Goa is India's richest state with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country as a whole.This is a small Portuguese enclave with India's most dazzling tourist Andhra Pradesh mosaics. It is also called "THE PEARL OF EAST". Its name is derived from the word "GOYAN" which means the patch of tall grass.
Goa is where the water-babies thrive. It is the most preferred beach destination in India for many good reasons. Beautiful sandy beaches, a delightful laissez faire attitude, quaint homes and old churches in the Portuguese tradition,lovely country sides, abundant seafood, plenty of accommodation in all categories. By air Goa is well connected with Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Madras & Cochin.
Tourist places in Goa
Anjuna
Anjuna is a village in Goa, one of the twelve Brahmin comunidades of Bardez. It was a famous destination for hippies during the sixties and seventies. It currently faces the problems that all of Goa faces: garbage disposal, unauthorized land conversion,usurpation of community land, and a disregard for the rule of law.
Anjuna attracts a weird and wonderful collection of over Landers, monks, defiant ex-hippies, gentle lunatics, artists, artisans, seers, searchers, sybarites and itinerant expatriates who normally wouldn't be seen out of the organic confines of their health-food emporia in San Francisco or London. Full moon, when the infamous parties take place, is a particularly good time to be here if you want to indulge in bacchanalian delights.
Getting There
Buses from Mapusa and Panjim drop passengers at various points along the tarmac road across the top of the village.
Arambol
Arambol beach is located a few kilometers from the city of Mapusa within the Pernem administrative region of northern Goa.The beach attracts many international tourists, mainly during the winter season between December and February.
The village remains tranquil and friendly - just a few hundred locals, mostly fishing people, and a couple of hundred Western residents in the November to February high season. The coastline lacks the palm-fringed exotic cliches of the southern Goa beaches but it has plenty of character and is pretty in its own kind of way. The main beach has adequate bodysurfing and there are several attractive bays a short walk to the north.
Getting There
Buses to and from Panjim (via Mapusa) pull into Arambol every half hour until noon, and every ninety minutes thereafter.
Palolem
Palolem the beach is largely unspoiled and is inhabited by both local fishermen and by foreign tourists who live in shacks along the shore or in the main village itself. It is about one mile long and is crescent-shaped - one can view the whole beach from either end.
2 km west of Chaudi, pops up more often in glossy holiday brochures than any other beach in Goa not because the village is a major package tour destination, but because its crescent-shaped bay, lined with a swaying curtain of coconut palms, is irresistibly photogenic. Hemmed in by a pair of wooded headlands, a perfect curve of white sand arcs north from a pile of huge boulders to the spur of Sahyadri Ghat, which here tapers into the sea.
Getting There Buses run between Margao and Karwar (in karnataka) via Chaudi every 30 minutes where you can pick up an auto-rickshaw or taxi to Palolem.