Where to Stay, What to See | Travel + Leisure
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Where to Stay, What to See

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There are frequent flights from Bombay to South Goa's Dabolim Airport (the trip takes about an hour). At 1,400 square miles, Goa is small enough that you can shuttle between the fantasy world of your beachfront hotel and the colonial relics of the interior. Arrange for a car and driver through your hotel.

WHERE TO STAY
Taj Exotica Built on a grand scale, with 140 rooms. Two "presidential" villas have their own plunge pools. Doubles from $180. Benaulim; 91-832/277-1234; www.tajhotels.com
Leela Palace Large and lavish. Some of the 137 rooms—five of which are private villas—overlook the hotel's lagoon. Doubles from $250. Cavelossim, Mobor; 800/223-6800 or 91-832/287-1234; www.leelapalace.com
Nilaya Hermitage Perfect for your inner hippie. Twelve individually decorated rooms combine Eastern and Western elements, as does the hotel's restaurant. The spa emphasizes Ayurvedic treatments, yoga, and meditation. Doubles from $280, including meals. Arpora Bhati; 91-832/227-6793; www.nilayahermitage.com
Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa Spread across 45 acres, the 251 rooms have open-plan bathrooms that make the most of the property's tropical gardens. The spa offers Ayurvedic treatments in both indoor and outdoor pavilions. Doubles from $190. Arrossim Beach, Salcete; 800/233-1234 or 91-832/272-1234; goa.park.hyatt.com/

WHAT TO SEE
House Tours
Bragança House The duke's ancestors provide separate, guided tours of the east and west wing. While the west wing is the best-preserved, with a 250-year- old library and beautifully restored decorative wood floors, the east has all the faded grandeur due a fallen empire. Chandor; 91-832/278-4201
Casa Araujo Alvares The only house that can be viewed in Loutolim, where the Mirandas still make their home. Its collection of Chinese porcelain, gilded mirrors, English prints, and Portuguese books gives the house (not yet fully renovated) the feel of a dusty, provincial museum, but the scale of its grand rooms hints at its former glory. Tours can be arranged at Ancestral Goa (91-832/277-7034), a "village" designed to give an idea of life under Portuguese rule.

Churches and Temples
The jewel-box Mahadeva Temple in Tambdi Surla is one of the few Hindu temples to have survived Portuguese conquest. The region remains deeply Catholic, and the churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, in Panaji, and St. Cajetan, in Old Goa (the region's former capital), should satisfy anyone looking for a Portuguese Baroque fix. Shri Mangesh Temple, just north of Ponda, on the other hand, is the best example of the fusion of Hindu and Christian styles.

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