Goa in 5 days

The old Portuguese capital, now churches on lawns; the basilica, finished in 1605, holds the body of St Francis Xavier.

About twenty narrow lanes between Altinho hill and the Ourem creek, with ochre, indigo and sea-green houses, wrought-iron balconies and curved tiles.

Built in 1612 at the mouth of the Mandovi against Dutch fleets, and named after the freshwater spring that supplied passing ships.

Every Wednesday from October to May, hundreds of stalls on a slope above the beach, a tradition started by hippies in the late 1960s.

Red laterite walls built by the Portuguese in 1717, with no buildings left inside but a view over Vagator beach, the Chapora estuary and Morjim.

Guided walks under areca and coconut palms past pepper, cardamom, turmeric, vanilla, nutmeg and cashew, with a taste of feni, the local cashew spirit.

Water falling 310 metres in four tiers down the Western Ghats on the Karnataka border; the name means sea of milk in Konkani.

A 1.5 km crescent of sand between two rocky points in the far south, sheltered and calm for swimming throughout the dry season.