7 Tips for Your Next Trip to Goa
Goa, one of the most popular tourist destinations in India, is not just famous for its churches, beaches and nightlife, but it is also one of the most admired cities in terms of its scenic beauty that comprises of beautiful wildlife sanctuaries, iconic forts, pristine plantations, mystifying sights of its beaches and the serene driveways to reach to these places of tourist interest. Each year thousands of tourists visit this city and the number is nothing but increasing with each passing year.
If you are planning to spend your vacations in Goa then here are a few tips that you must follow.
1. Do Not Drink and Drive
Goa has cheap booze and chances are that you might get high after the party at the beach or the pub. While drinking is not an offence and it is okay to get high when you are on a trip and want to enjoy to your fullest, it is very important that you do not insist on driving by yourself. If you do, you will not only risk your own life but you would also risk the lives of the ones commuting with you and the bystanders and others on the roads of Goa.
2. Rent a Scooter
Renting a scooter and using it to travel across the length and breadth of the city is the most fun, inexpensive, and popular way to explore Goa. The best part is that the renting a scooter in Goa is very cheap. During monsoon season you may be asked to shell INR 200 a day to rent a scooter and INR 300 for renting a motorbike. Even the option to rent cars is available, however, if you want to enjoy the nature and take the narrow lanes of Goa then it’s best to rent a two-wheeler.
3. Plan a trip during the monsoons
Most tourists prefer touring Goa during the summers when Goa is at its sunny best and one can relax at the beaches and get tanned at the same time, or they prefer Goa during the end of the year when there are a lot of fests happening. However, if you are interested in visiting Goa when the city is drenched in rains and is at its scenic best, you must plan your trip for the monsoons. Apart from Goa’s pristine look during the monsoons one of the reasons you may want to visit Goa during that period is it will cost you almost half of what it does during the peak season. Not only would the tickets to Goa be cheap but you would also get to stay at world class accommodations at discounts as high as 50 percent.
4. Respect the Goan Culture
While Goa is a modern city and people are friendly out there, it’s still good to try and learn a little about the culture of the place before you visit it. For example, if you are visiting a church or any place of religious interest make sure you follow the rules of that place. While it may be okay to wear anything you feel like at the beaches, when visiting churches, temples or any other holy place, dress appropriately. All-in-all, we are not asking you to idolize the culture, but do treat it with respect.
5. Don’t do drugs
Be it Goa or any other place you must not do drugs at all. However, as there have been quite a few incidents of tourists and outsiders being lured by strangers or peddlers to drugs or attend illegal parties, it is advised that one must stay cautious and avoid mingling with strangers beyond the admissible limit.
6. Don’t leave any cash or valuables in your hotel room
Firstly, do not carry too much of cash or any valuables with you on trips. Secondly, whenever you step out of your hotel room in Goa make sure you keep them in a safe or a locker. Usually, the better hotels in Goa provide their customers full-proof lockers inside their rooms. Usually the lockers are digital and they work on passcodes that can be reset by the guest. Therefore, you need not worry about someone messing with your valuables behind your back.
7. Create memories
A Goa trip is one that everybody cherishes for the rest of their life. No matter how many times you have been to Goa you would always want to go back for more. As it’s easy with mobile phones to click pictures and make videos, make sure you use these features of your phone to create a lot of memories. Goa is full of places famous for their scenic beauty, click pictures of all the ones you visit to. One quick tip- when you visit a famous monument or location click pictures of the sign boards that will help you remember where you visited, after a few months or years.
Word of Advice
The city of Goa is popular for its law and order implementation and is a safe tourist destination for those who want to venture out to enjoy its nightlife. However, still it is still advisable for both men and women to be a little extra vigilant when going out for their own good, especially at night. Avoid a few things such as walking alone in poorly lit or deserted areas, going through narrow lanes, or visiting the beach. All this is important because no matter how good the law and order situation is in a particular city, we as tourists need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones visiting that place.