Goa · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
A hundred kilometres of coast split between party north and slow south, both cheap out of season.
Anjuna, Vagator, Arambol
North Goa's beach-hut and hostel belt runs from Anjuna up through Vagator to Arambol; Palolem and Patnem in the south are quieter and only slightly dearer.
What a day costs
About ₹1,200–2,500, roughly $15–30: hut or dorm ₹400–900, thali and shack food ₹200–400, scooter ₹300–500 a day plus fuel.
Scooters, buses and ferries
A hired scooter is the default — insist on a yellow-and-black commercial plate. Kadamba state buses cost ₹20–60 between towns, and the river ferries are free on foot.
Free by day
Every beach is public. Chapora Fort's walls above the river are free at sunset, and the Portuguese lanes of Fontainhas in Panjim cost nothing to walk.
Anjuna flea market
The Wednesday market and the beach bars either side of it are where the north-Goa crowd converges; Palolem's shacks do the same job more gently.