Last Minute chill trip to Goa in 10k! (3nights/4 day)

The passenger train was super late , it arrived at 1:30pm and took almost 1.5hrs to cover 40 minutes journey from Madgaon to Cancona . I would highly recommend you to book a cab and give train a miss if you can. There was absolutely nothing on the cancona station. We had to walk for 150 mts til the main road road where number of taxis and rickshaw people were standing in line. They give you random rates and one has to bargain with them to get somewhat acceptable rate. We managed to seal our deal for 150rs in a AC car, which dropped us at our hotel in palolem in 10 minutes.

We had booked a family room here. The room is pretty decent and the staff here is really helpful. They have pretty little cottages and I really liked the location and ambience around the resort.

After freshening up, we headed straight to palolem beach which is 5-7 minutes walk from our resort. We found this place on our way and decided to treat ourselves with some local food . The food here is pretty average , but we were really hungry and it is quite affordable. So no complains here!

Finally on the beach.... Instantly fell in love with what I saw in there. My cover pic is clicked on the palolem beach. It was a great sight for my eyes after visiting North Goa all these years. At that moment , I knew I am going to come here alot more in coming years.

We quickly grabbed a beach chair here watching the sun setting over the horizon , painting the sky in warm pink and orange hues! As the sunset approaches , the staff changes the sitting arrangements to beautiful candle lite dinner settings . Listening to the sound of wave , devouring on the fresh warm food made us forgot all the city life stress and just live in the moment .

P.S. Loved the chicken tandoori here!

This is located in the palolem market , just near the beach . We had a lovely wood oven pizza here . The ambience here is really relaxing and with your closed ones and wine by your side , you can spend hours in here!

As the night approached , we made our way to Dropadi which has beachfront and is famous for sea food. The food here is AMAZE, quite on the pricer end but the quantity is real good. The view makes everything else better!

We had heard alot about this , all across social media and were looking forward to it the most in the trip. I would be lying if I be modest and say it was decent. It was extremely disappointing. This party happens in a desserted place in the corner of palolem beach. It's a task to reach there itself , unless you have your own vehicle. The private rickshaw cost you around 200-400 RS for less than 7 mins drive. Apart from the location, the DJ here was a let down. They charge 800 rs/pp for the headphones and DJ. The songs were not peppy enough to get you grooving. You will get one song in 30 odd minutes which will make you move. This place is for the people who wants to drink till wee hours and can dance without any affect of the music.

This place operates between 10pm-4am at Neptune point.

We woke up pretty late the other day and straight headed to the near by bakery who has raving reviews. We had highly customized hearty brunch here, all set to kick on our first full day in Goa.

After the breakfast , we went to the beach to relax . We even decided to do the braids from the girls roaming on the beach. They look so boho and is a great way to support the locals in a tiny way. After some time , we made our way to a tattoo store. One of our friend wanted to get a tattoo done for a long time now. She wanted to get a tattoo ink done, to get the feel. We all decided to follow her and got matching tattoo from a tattoo parlor on the palolem beach.

After the braiding and tattoo , we wanted to do some sea sports and kayaking seemed to be everywhere on the beach. We wanted to give it a try , and visited a shop for the same . However , the uncle there were kind enough to advise us otherwise as it was high tide. (Extremely impressed how the uncle advised us not to do it at that point though renting kayak boats is what he does for living :) would highly recommend visiting him if you are near palolem and considering kayak or similar water activity )

We booked a taxi from GoaMiles to take us to North Goa from palolem . It is little difficult to get a taxi in South Goa that will take you to North Goa. We had to try multiple times to finally find one. It took us around 1.5hrs to reach our AirBnB in Nerul , candolim.

This is one of the most beautiful AirBnB property I have ever stayed in. We decided to just explore the property and stay in with a takeout from Swiggy . We spent the rest of our evening witnessing the beautiful sunset in the society pool , which we had for ourself .

Our first stop had to be candolim beach. Though it is really close to calangute/Baga, it's unlike them. You will find more foreigners than Indians. We walked towards calangute for couple of minutes scouting for a place which is relatively empty and we can chill at. We stumbled upon one such place and ran to mark out territory there. We rented the beach bed for 50rs/hr- for each of them. The kind lady also offered us foot massage at 450rs for three of us. We happily decided to do foot massage. We spent hours lying on there without any care in the world.

For the typical late lunch, we decided to go nearby and one of the first place we found for best restaurant around candolim area was Cafe Jazz. This place didn't disappoint us. The food was Soo good. We had fresh pompfret , chicken cafreal and veg sizzler. Everything was yummy.

Befote we decided to head home to escape the scorching heat , we wanted to stock up on Cashew . We visited the Zantye's kanju outlet opposite Newton which has been our one stop solution for years now.

Late afternoon was spent in pool chilling and watching the sunset over the horizon .

We had our dinner at The stone House , and it has to be one of the memorable meal from our trip. The food , ambience , lighting everything has curated really well. Only concern was slow service . However , the band performing there makes all the wait worth it . It was my friends birthday , and even we had the band dedicate special song for her. They give postcards with the bill , which is just cherry on the cake.

LPK is situated next to the river with a rock carving-themed interior design. The entry for girls is free , along with two shots and two drinks on the house. The DJ is pretty amazing , and someone who enjoys dancing to the Bollywood tunes can spend hours here grooving without any care in the world. (It has a larger-than-life fan on the dance floor , which ensures you are not sweating ;) ) . The club is open til 4am and it is a great party place in Goa.

We also saw Kids section, where parents can drop in their kids who will be taken care of by the club staff.

The church is located in Panjim and sits atop a hill facing the square below . True to its name, the façade of this church is painted an immaculate, sparkling white. The church stand out due to the double flights of steps that zigzag across the hillside on which it is built. The church has been the backdrop for many Bollywood movie shoot.

Fontainhas , which is located in Panji is also known as Goa’s Latin Quarter. It is best explored on foot or via bicycle , and strolling among its narrow cobbled streets will definitely transport you back in time.

Painted in hues of green, pale yellow, and blue, along with red-colored tiled roofs, artistic doors, and overhead balconies, you’ll instantly fall head over heels with the rows of traditional Portuguese houses and cottages that cover the narrow, winding landscape. There are cute little cafés and bakeries that are over 100 years old dotting the streets of Fontainhas. This place is definitely a work of art and a great location to click pictures.

The Dona Paula Beach is a major tourist attraction. This place is named after a girl named Dona Paula , and has an interesting story linked to it. Apparently the girl gave up her life in the Arabian sea for her love , which has now become a historical reminiscence.

As of Nov-2019, the place is closed for renovations .

The beach is amongst the most popular beaches in Goa due to its central location. It has soft sand and is quite a destination for evening walks and early morning strolls.

We found this place on our way to the Airport and took a stop to have some food. It is a beautiful resort property who also happens to have their cafe. The food here was super delicious especially Lemon Grill chicken and the potato sides.

The interior of this place is super impressive.

Cost Breakdown…

(The trip was planned one week in advance , hence the transportation rates are pretty high . If it's well planned in advance . The cost can be easily reduced, you can get 3k return flight from MUMBAI-GOA)

1. LTT-Madgaon Madgaon Double decker tatkal 3Ac ticket : 1500 rs pp

2. Madgaon- Cancona train : 15rs pp

3. Cancona-palolem taxi : 150rs for a group of 4 people

4. Sea shades hotel : 2098 RSight for a family room of 4

5. Silent Noise party : 800 RS per person

6. South Goa to North Goa cab via GoaMiles : 2000rs for a group of 4

7. AirBnB stay : 8300rs for 2 night for a group of 6 people

Have you tried Airbnb? Sign up with my link and you will get up to ₹3,025 off your first trip. https://abnb.me/e/TTosWwqYL1?suuid=8d2e9c27-4e45-4c82-a136-6d23c0a83e06&slevel=0

8. Bike Rental : 350 for 24 hours/bike ( contact number : 7888259064)

9. Car with driver rent for 4 hours + airport drop : 1350 for a group of 4 people

Irshad Car driver - Swift Dzire ( 9765269936)

Car rental (without driver) : 9767020581

Goa Car booking app: GoaMiles

10. Goa-Mumbai plane : 3700 per person