Goa

Getting There & Away
Several charter companies fly into Goa's Dabolim Airport direct from the UK and Germany. There are also regular flights between Dabolim Airport and Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Udaipur, Bangalore, Madras, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The 760km (465mi) Konkan Railway opened in January 1998 linking Mumbai with Goa (10 hours) and south to Mangalore (15 hours), dramatically cutting travel times along the western coast. Private companies still offer the dreaded super deluxe video buses from Panaji and Margao to Mumbai (15 hours), Mysore (16 hours) and Bangalore.

Getting Around
The best way to get around Goa is to hire a motorcycle, though be sure to carry the necessary paperwork (licence, registration & insurance) because checks on foreigners are a lucrative source of baksheesh for the police. If you don't know how to drive, motorcycle taxis are a legitimate and fun way of scooting between towns. If you're a sardine, catch a bus: it's a good way of nattering with local people also masquerading as sardines.

Best Time Go

Goa's beachnik lifestyle is best experienced during the winter months between October and the end of February: at any other time you're likely to either fry under the uncomfortably hot sun or find your equanimity threatened by the monsoonal rains. The months of January, February and March are the best months for Hindi festivals and celebrations. January has the colourful festival of Shantadurga Prasann, February the three day zatra of Shri Mangesh, and in March is the festival of Holi, called Shigmo.