Panaji

Houses in yellow, blue and green line the narrow streets. Changing a colour needs permission, which keeps the originals in place.

Finished in 1605, its red sandstone front was never plastered over. Inside, the remains of a saint lie in a silver casket.

Counted the largest church in Asia, it now carries only one bell tower. The other fell and was never rebuilt.

Pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon are seen growing on the tree itself. Leaves are rubbed between the fingers and smelled along the way.

It drops 310 metres in four stages and a railway crosses in front of it. Water runs heaviest after the rains and only a four wheel drive reaches it.

A field beside the beach fills with stalls every Wednesday. Goods from several Indian states and from other countries mix there.

A city that once held more people than Lisbon emptied after an epidemic. A few churches and a broken tower are all that stand among the fields now.

Toward dusk a boat runs the river with folk dancing on deck. Palms and churches take turns along the bank.

Once the rains end, temporary kitchens are put up again on the sand. They are taken down before the next monsoon and the spots move slightly year to year.

Set on a headland, it holds a cistern built to supply ships with water. A lighthouse stands with it and the whole river mouth lies below.

A white church above Panaji's central square, reached by criss-crossing flights of stairs. First built in 1541, it was rebuilt in 1619. On its December feast a fair takes over the square and crowds linger until late.

The city beach where the Mandovi meets the sea, a few minutes from the centre. Currents run strong, so people come for an evening walk rather than a swim. At sunset corn and peanut sellers set up on the sand.

A lookout on the headland where the Mandovi and Zuari rivers flow out to sea. From the railing on the rocks the water opens toward Mormugao harbour. Its name recalls a legend of a viceroy's daughter who leapt from here.

A red laterite fort first raised in 1551 across the Mandovi from Panaji. Rebuilt in 1707, long a prison and then abandoned, it was restored from 2008 and reopened as a cultural centre. Its ramparts face the Panaji waterfront head-on.

The shell of a Portuguese fort built in 1617 on a hill above Vagator beach; only the walls stand. Since a 2001 Hindi film shot here, young Indian travellers treat it as a must. Climb up for sunset over the Chapora estuary.

North Goa's busiest stretch of sand, running unbroken from Calangute to Baga. By day it is water sports; by night the clubs and bars in the lanes at the Baga end pull the crowds. On high-season weekends the beach road gridlocks.

A crescent bay in Canacona, South Goa, calm enough for paddling a rented kayak. Beach-hut lodgings line the sand, and the mood is calmer than up north. Being some two hours' drive from Panaji, it usually means staying the night.

A Shiva temple in a hill village of Ponda, its courtyard dominated by a white 7-storey lamp tower. The deity was carried inland from the coast during Portuguese rule and enshrined anew here. On festival nights oil lamps burn in every niche of the tower.

An island in the Mandovi, minutes away by free ferry from the Old Goa jetty. Paddy fields, Portuguese-style houses and a hilltop church make up its quiet villages. Every August, on its fourth Saturday, the Bonderam festival parades flags around the island.

A mangrove reserve on Chorao Island, reached by ferry from Ribandar. Small boats nose along the channels, bringing kingfishers and herons into close view. Trips must match the incoming tide for boats to get deep into the forest.

A museum in the Santa Monica convent at Old Goa, holding ivory carvings and silver church plate made by Goan craftsmen. Saints carved with Indian faces stand out. It is a short uphill walk from the Old Goa churches.

Architect Gerard da Cunha's ship-prow building gathers the structure and ornament of traditional Goan homes. You can see the oyster-shell panes once fitted in windows up close. From Panaji the drive north takes around 20 minutes.

A big weekly market in Mapusa town, north of Panaji, where villagers bring in vegetables, fish and spices every Friday. Unlike the tourist flea markets, locals do most of the shopping. Go in the morning for the best fish and produce.

Goa's northernmost beach, where drummers circle up on the sand as the sun sets. Over a rocky headland a freshwater lake hides just behind the sea. Long-stay travellers abound, and flyers for yoga and music classes are everywhere.