Portuguese & French India: Goa, Chennai & Puducherry Heritage

Route: Goa airport (GOI) to Benaulim, about 30 km

Your driver meets you at Goa's airport and takes you south to Benaulim. Most overseas flights land at Dabolim (GOI). If your flight arrives at Mopa in North Goa, tell us and we adjust the transfer, which is much longer.

The Portuguese captured Goa in 1510 and held it until 1961, longer than any other European power in India. South Goa is quieter than the north. The beaches are wide and the villages keep their chapels and old houses. Taj Exotica stands by the sea in a coconut garden.

The afternoon is free. Walk on the beach at sunset, when the fishing boats come in.

Experience of the Day

• Airport welcome and check-in

• Sunset walk on Benaulim beach

Food

Recommended: Dinner at the hotel, with Goan and seafood dishes.

Must-Try: Goan fish curry with rice, made with coconut, kokum and red chilli.

Activities to Do

• Rest after the flight

• Swim or walk on the beach

Route: Benaulim – Old Goa – Divar Island – Benaulim, about 100 km

After breakfast, drive to Old Goa, the Portuguese capital until the 18th century. The churches and convents here have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. The Basilica of Bom Jesus holds the remains of St Francis Xavier, and the Se Cathedral is one of the largest churches in Asia. Your guide explains how the Portuguese built in laterite stone and finished it with lime plaster, and why the fronts are white.

From Old Goa, take a short ferry to Divar Island. The island has fields, small villages and old houses with red-tiled roofs, and almost no traffic. Walk through a village lane and visit the hilltop church. Return by ferry in the afternoon.

Note on churches: Old Goa's churches are active places of worship. Cover shoulders and knees. Photography rules vary inside, and your guide confirms them at each door. Ferry timings and church hours change on Sundays and feast days.

Experience of the Day

• Basilica of Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral

• Ferry to Divar Island

• Village walk

Food

Recommended: Lunch at a Goan Catholic restaurant.

Must-Try: Pork vindaloo and bebinca, a layered coconut pudding.

Shopping

Cashew nuts, spices and local pottery.

Activities to Do

• Optional spice plantation visit near Ponda (half day; paid separately)

• Evening at the hotel spa

Route: Benaulim – Panjim (Fontainhas) – Reis Magos – Fort Aguada – Benaulim, about 90 km

Drive north to Panjim, the capital of Goa. Walk through Fontainhas, the old Latin Quarter, with its painted houses, tiled name plates and small chapels. The streets keep the look of a Portuguese town, with balconies, shuttered windows and bright colours.

Cross the Mandovi river to Reis Magos, a fort of 1551 above the river mouth, restored in recent years. Then drive to Fort Aguada, built in 1612, to guard the coast, with a lighthouse and a view over the Arabian Sea. These forts show how the

Portuguese held the coast with guns and trade.

Return to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Note on opening hours: Forts and museums keep set hours, and some close one day a week. We confirm timings before you go.

Experience of the Day

• Fontainhas walk

• Reis Magos Fort

• Fort Aguada

Food

Recommended: Lunch at a Panjim restaurant serving Goan Catholic food.

Must-Try: Fish recheado, a fish stuffed with a red chilli and vinegar paste, with rice.

Shopping

Cashew nuts, azulejo-style tiles and Goan sweets from Panjim's market.

Activities to Do

• Optional sunset at a North Goa beach

• Evening at the hotel spa

Route: Benaulim – Chandor – Cabo de Rama – Agonda – Benaulim, about 110 km

Start inland at Chandor, a village once held by the Goan nobility. Visit one of its large mansions, with a grand hall, painted ceilings, European furniture and Chinese porcelain. Many are still lived in by the families who built them, and visits are by arrangement.

Drive on through coconut groves and fishing villages to Cabo de Rama, a fort on a headland above the sea. The ruins are plain, but the view down the coast is the point. Agonda, a long open beach with few buildings, is next, and a seafood lunch at a beach cafe.

Return to the hotel by early evening.

Note on swimming: Goa's beaches have currents, and lifeguards cover only the main stretches. Swim where your guide says it is safe. From June to September the sea is rough and swimming is not advised. Mansion visits depend on the family.

Experience of the Day

• Portuguese mansion at Chandor

• Cabo de Rama fort

• Agonda beach

Food

Recommended: Lunch at a beach cafe.

Must-Try: Grilled fish with recheado masala, a red chilli and vinegar paste.

Activities to Do

• Optional kayaking at Palolem (paid separately)

• Optional private beach dinner at the hotel (paid separately)

Route: Benaulim – Goa airport (GOI) – Chennai airport (MAA) – hotel

Goa and Puducherry are well over 1,000 km apart by road, so you fly. The nonstop flight to Chennai leaves Goa in the evening, so the day before it is yours. Take a late checkout, swim, or have a last walk on the beach.

Your driver takes you to the airport for the evening flight. You reach Chennai at about 9:30 pm, and a second driver takes you to the hotel. Dinner is served on arrival.

Chennai was the first English settlement on the east coast, founded in 1639. Tomorrow you see its colonial buildings before the road south.

Note on the flight: The nonstop Goa to Chennai service is operated by one airline, usually in the evening, and departure times can change. We book you on the best available flight and confirm timings a few days before. If the nonstop flight is not available on your date, a one-stop flight through Bengaluru or Mumbai is the alternative, and the evening arrival moves to the next morning.

Experience of the Day

• Late checkout and slow morning

• Evening flight

• Late arrival at Chennai

Food

Recommended: Late dinner at the hotel.

Must-Try: A South Indian meal of dosa, idli and filter coffee.

Activities to Do

• Rest after the journey

Route: Chennai – Mamallapuram – Puducherry, about 150 km

Start at Fort St George, begun in 1644 by the English East India Company. It is the oldest English fort in India, and now holds government offices. Visit the museum and the church of St Mary, built in 1680. Then drive to Santhome, where a church was first built by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The present basilica dates from 1893, and is said to stand over the tomb of St Thomas.

Leave Chennai by the East Coast Road. The road runs close to the sea, past salt pans and fishing villages. Stop at Mamallapuram to see the Shore Temple, built by the Pallava kings in the 8th century, on the water's edge. It is part of a

UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 1984.

Continue to Puducherry, and arrive in the late afternoon. Palais de Mahe is a restored heritage hotel in the old quarter, with rooms built around courtyards. If you have time, walk to the seafront promenade at sunset.

Note on the day: This day includes about 4 hours of driving and three visits. If you prefer a shorter day, we visit Santhome and skip the fort, or skip Mamallapuram.

Experience of the Day

• Fort St George and St Mary's Church

• Santhome Basilica

• Shore Temple at Mamallapuram

Food

Recommended: Lunch at Mamallapuram. Dinner at the hotel.

Must-Try: Fresh grilled fish by the sea, or a vegetarian thali.

Activities to Do

• Rest at the hotel

• Sunset walk on the promenade

Route: White Town – Tamil quarter – Sri Aurobindo Ashram area – Auroville – Puducherry, about 25 km

Start early with a guided walk through the White Town. The French laid it out on a grid, with a canal on one side that once divided it from the Tamil town. The old villas are painted in yellow and ochre, and the streets have names such as Rue Dumas and Rue Romain Rolland. Visit the Immaculate Conception Cathedral and the seafront.

Cross the old canal line into the Tamil quarter. The houses here have raised front verandas, and the lanes have shops and small shrines. After Goa, notice how differently the two powers planned: Goa grew around churches on hills, and Puducherry was drawn on paper.

In the afternoon, drive about 10 km north to Auroville, an experimental township founded in 1968. Its centre is the Matrimandir, a golden sphere set in gardens. Visits to the inner chamber need a pass booked ahead, so your guide books for the viewing point at a minimum.

Note on Auroville: Matrimandir access is by pass and time slot, and it is closed on some days. The viewing point is open to all visitors with a pass. We book the pass before you arrive. Photography is limited.

Experience of the Day

• White Town walk

• Tamil quarter

• Auroville and the Matrimandir viewing point

Food

Recommended: Lunch at a French bistro in White Town.

Must-Try: Fresh baguette, cheese and a local fish dish, or a Tamil thali in the old quarter.

Shopping

Hand-made paper, incense, candles and crafts from the Auroville workshops, and French bakery goods.

Activities to Do

• Optional cycle-rickshaw ride through the lanes

• Optional French cooking class (paid separately)

Route: Puducherry – Arikamedu – museum and Mission Street – Puducherry, about 30 km

Drive about 7 km south to Arikamedu, an old trading port on the river. Excavations here found Roman pottery, beads and wine jars from about 2,000 years ago, showing that this coast traded with the Mediterranean long before any European power came as a ruler. A small site, with a quiet river view.

Return to town and visit the Puducherry Museum, which holds Pallava and Chola sculpture and relics of the French years. Walk along Mission Street and Rue Suffren to see French houses, bakeries and small shops. The afternoon is free for the seafront, a spa, or a cooking class.

Note on Arikamedu: The site is small and mostly a field with a river view. Your guide shows finds from the dig in the museum. If you prefer, we replace it with a visit to a Tamil temple town or more time in White Town.

Experience of the Day

• Arikamedu

• Puducherry Museum

• Mission Street and the seafront

Food

Recommended: Lunch at a local restaurant. Dinner at the hotel.

Must-Try: A Creole fish dish, or a Franco-Tamil tasting dinner.

Shopping

Linen and cotton clothes, French wine and cheese, and Auroville products.

Activities to Do

• Optional cooking class (paid separately)

• Optional spa treatment

Route: Puducherry – Chennai Airport (MAA), about 150 km

After a late breakfast, your driver takes you to Chennai airport along the East Coast Road. The road runs near the sea, and traffic builds near Chennai, so we allow extra time.

Choose a domestic flight that leaves after about 1 pm. For an international flight, a departure after about 4 pm is comfortable. If your flight is earlier, we leave at dawn and skip the last morning at the hotel.

Experience of the Day

• Drive to Chennai airport