1. Dudhsagar Waterfall

Watching powerful streams of water crash onto sheer cliffs is an incredible sight! Dudhsagar is one of the largest waterfalls in the world. One cascade drops more than 300 m, and there are several levels here! At the bottom there is a beautiful lake where you should definitely take a swim. Or at least feed the fish that live there ;)

2. Old Goa

A city built by the Portuguese during the colonial era, it now feels more like an open-air museum. Looking at its sights, you can imagine how large and developed it was in its heyday. Many note that Old Goa could have rivaled Lisbon itself in architectural beauty! And who knows what it might have become if the Portuguese had not abandoned it in the 17th–18th centuries while fleeing yet another malaria epidemic.

3. St. Catherine's Cathedral

Old Goa is home to India's largest cathedral – the famous Sé Catedral. The Portuguese built it in the 16th–17th centuries, so its architecture shows the characteristic features of the Manueline style mixed with local flavor. Inside the cathedral there is a miraculous relic – the “growing cross.” They say it increases in size every year and heals people.

4. Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary

This snow-white church with its beautiful staircase embodies purity, light, and innocence by its very appearance. It was built on the site of a chapel where sailors thanked the Virgin Mary for a safely completed voyage. In the 17th century it was rebuilt, and in the 19th century a magnificent staircase was added.

5. Shiva Stone Bas-Relief

Vagator Beach is always full of holidaymakers, but in one spot tourists usually gather in a crowd. That is because among the boulders washed by coastal waters you can see the smiling face of Shiva – the creator god in Hindu mythology. His image was carved into the stone by an Italian sculptor who came to Goa, like many other hippies, in the 1970s.

6. Mollem National Park

If you do not even roughly know what muntjacs, civets, langurs, and sambars are, you will find out at Mollem National Park. Better yet, you will see them with your own eyes! Mollem is a large nature reserve home to hundreds of animals, birds, and reptiles, many of which live only in these latitudes.

7. Candolim Beach

Candolim is famous for its wide sandy beach stretching for several kilometers. Despite the usual water activities here (surfing, diving, beach volleyball, etc.), it is still considered one of the calmer, more respectable beaches for travelers who prefer a comfortable vacation. If a lazy beach life does not appeal to you, it is worth looking at other beaches.

8. Palolem Beach

This beach has long been a haven for those who chose a “paradise in a hut.” It is a very calm, peaceful corner (more precisely, a 2–3 km crescent) with a gentle entry into the water, covered with boats and wooden bungalows. In these simple little houses you can find cafés, small shops, and stalls where they braid hair and paint henna tattoos.

9. Vagator Beach

The legendary beach where the grandest trance parties once took place. By the way, the first hippies mostly hung out here too. Today Vagator is a calmer place where you can relax with children and spend quiet romantic evenings, admiring sunsets and greeting the sunrise. Huge rocks jutting out of the sand divide the beach into three parts: Little, Middle, and Big Vagator. Which one is better is up to you!

10. Anjuna

And here it is – the “heart of Goa”! A place that has preserved the spirit of the first hippies. Some of them, by the way, still live here. At the same time, parties, open and closed gatherings, trance parties, and other entertainment events are constantly held here. The tourism business is gradually moving in as well: hotels, clubs, and restaurants are being built, but the overall atmosphere of freedom, happiness, and fun remains unchanged!