Calangute

Calangute is a town on the northern coast of Goa. It is among the most popular tourist destinations in Goa. Calangute is located 13 km from Panaji and 8 km from Mapusa.

Get in
Calangute is well connected to other parts of Goa by road, and the roads are in fairly good condition.

By train
The nearest railway station is at Thivim, and taxi from there takes about 20 minutes and costs around ₹300 and an auto rickshaw costs ₹200 for a maximum of 3 people as of 1 December 2020. Local Buses are also available from Thivim for ₹15. Other railway stations are Karmali, Margao and Vasco.

By bus
Frequent state buses go to and from other parts of Goa, but if you're travelling a longer distance, you need to change buses (for example, from the airport you should need three buses to get to Calangute). A bus from Panaji costs ₹10-15 depending on the route the bus takes.

By taxi
Prepaid taxi from the outside counter on the airport costs ₹900, while discussing the price directly with the driver should result into cheaper price.

Get around
Calangute is a quite small area, and you can easily walk your way through it. Two-wheelers and cars are naturally available for hire, and getting a taxi or an auto rickshaw is easy.

Do

 * Relax at the beach. The beach reaches from Candolim to Baga. Known also as the Queen of Beaches, although is rather crowded nowadays. Unfortunately it has also been reported to be a place where women risk to be harassed. The sand is quite full of beds for sunbathing. These are free at least if you buy something from the beach shack, but expect a lot of salesmen. Beggars are not common.
 * If you go from the centre of the town to the beach, you will find a massive amount of water sports operators; they are cheap and fun but their safety is very doubtful due to the large number of jetskis operating in the breaking waves. At this part of the beach there are no beach shacks.
 * Hire a bike or scooty for about ₹150-200 per day and roam around other nearby beaches like Baga, Candolim, Anjuna. You can also ride straight up to Aguada Fort. Make sure to fill your vehicle's tank before you start off the journey. Fuels are sold by many roadside shops at about ₹90 per liter.

Eat
The coastline is nearly full of beach shacks that offer food as well. For better cuisine you can choose from numerous (tourist) restaurants that are found from the main roads. Food is somewhat expensive by Indian standards, but cheap by Western ones: an Indian curry with rice is around ₹160 in most places and should be enough to feed most.



Sleep
Take any road going towards the beach from the main road and find a bunch of places to sleep as you approach the beach. If you choose a smaller road you're likely to find cheaper places. Taxi drivers will be happy to take you to a place run by their friends / people who pay commission, but you need be very strict with your price limit as they tend to take you to a more expensive place.



Go next

 * Anjuna for beach market every Wednesday.
 * Baga for partying
 * Candolim