Goa Independently

We%26#39;ve been to Goa a few years ago with a tour operator but thinking about organising independently - has anyone done this and if so where did you stay in Candolim?

Many thanks :)

Goa Independently

Maryann

I%26#39;m going for the first time this weekend and have booked independently. There are so many conflicting reviews on hotels that I decided to rent an apartment from here: www.ownersdirect.co.uk

I have rented a fantastic place for £120 the fortnight, it has recently had some rave reviews.

Fingers crossed:)

Caroline

Goa Independently

that sounds great and who are you flying with?

I did this last month. We flew Air India to Mumbai and Spice Jet down to Goa. We then stayed at a hotel (Holiday Beach Resort) in Candolim for a couple of nights and then above someone%26#39;s home in Calangute. I would always do this in the future - I wouldn%26#39;t do a package again.

I%26#39;m not being a snob about package tours but the difference in a scheduled rather than chartered flight was such a massive difference for the better. Having said that if I found an absolute bargain package I would snap it up!

Maryann

I%26#39;m flying with Monarch from Gatwick £390.

Could have used Air India via Mumbai for £290 from Heathrow (closest to me) but didn%26#39;t fancy the 8+ hours wait in Mumbai for a connection.

Consensus on this forum seems to be that Thomas Cook flights are the best - TV screens on back of each seat. Personally I like Monarch and plan to sleep most of the way (courtesy of Dr Vino) so the TV thing doesn%26#39;t bother me.

Scheduled is fine but you have to watch the connections. We had a 4 hour wait at Doha and, even worse, over 7 hours at Mumbai as nothing flies to Goa between 6am and 12 noon. This was the most miserable bit as we had been up since 5am the previous day. From getting on a plane at 9am on the Saturday we landed in Goa at around 3pm on the Sunday. It hasn%26#39;t put me off travelling scheduled but I won%26#39;t be doing it again for a while.

Precisely my point in a previous forum posting. It is great if you live in the south and can get flights from heathrow or Gatwick, but if you have to travel from Manchester it puts alot of extra travelling time on to the journey. So a charter flight, although it has less leg room and the food is not as good as a scheduled flight, it is a much quicker way of getting to Goa.

You can still into Mumbai and instead of the 8 hour wait at the airport, catch a sleeper bus from Mumbai to Goa. Try Paulo Holiday Makers. They run several sleeper coaches to Goa everyday.

Alternatively, hire a car from Mumbai.

The drive from Mumbai to Goa along the Konkan belt is fantastic. You%26#39;d need to get onto National Highway 17 and then move south.

It%26#39;s a much better way of seeing the country. Besides, there are loads of beaches along the way, so instead of doing the stretch in one go, I%26#39;d take a stop-over for a night...maybe 2.

Pristine, clean, virgin beaches at Tarkarli, Vengurla, Harihareswar...all along the same route.