Smaller and less crowded than Palolem to the north, Patnem makes a quiet and friendly alternative. It’s backed by relaxed beach shacks and has a lively surf, making it great for swimming some days and impossible on others, when an equally lively undertow is present. Its main beach road hosts a string of stalls selling the usual variety of clothes, Kashmiri jewellery and trinkets, without the attendant hard-sell of Palolem.
Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
19.42 MILES
Artist and restorer Victor Hugo Gomes first noticed the slow extinction of traditional objects – from farming tools to kitchen utensils to altarpieces –…
18.21 MILES
Braganza House, built in the 17th century and stretching along one whole side of Chandor’s village square, is the biggest Portuguese mansion of its kind…
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15.21 MILES
About 8km southeast of Chandor is the busy small town of Quepem. Here the Palácio do Deão, the renovated 18th-century palace built by the town’s founder,…
28.15 MILES
Situated in the far southeastern corner of the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa’s most impressive waterfall splashes down just west of the border…
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15.08 MILES
Approximately 14km southeast of Margao near the village of Paroda, a number of hills rise out of the plain, the highest of which is Chandranath Hill (350m…
4.24 MILES
Agonda’s beach is wide, quiet and picturesque, with a forestry department–staffed turtle centre at the northern end protecting precious olive ridley sea…
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11 MILES
One of Goa’s least visited but most fascinating sights is deep in the countryside at Usgalimal: a series of prehistoric petroglyphs (rock art), carved…
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20.21 MILES
Margao’s whitewashed main church (1675) remains in use as a parish church and is finely decorated inside. The impressive reredos (ornamental screen) is…
Nearby South Goa attractions
0.49 MILES
Quiet little Rajbag is dominated by the Lalit Golf & Spa Resort, but it's worth a wander over from Patnem Beach to the north.
2.29 MILES
Hire a local boatman from Palolem Beach to ferry you up to Butterfly Beach and back (₹2000 for the boat), relishing the views of untouched coastline along…
2.38 MILES
Almost-deserted Galgibag is known locally as Turtle Beach as it's one of the last preserves of Goa’s endangered olive ridley sea turtle. It's a beautiful…
4.24 MILES
Agonda’s beach is wide, quiet and picturesque, with a forestry department–staffed turtle centre at the northern end protecting precious olive ridley sea…
5.06 MILES
About 9km southeast of Palolem, and a good day trip, is the beautiful, remote-feeling Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa’s second-largest sanctuary and…
6.89 MILES
Polem is Goa’s southernmost beach, set around a small bay on the seafront of the village of Polem. There's some very low-key accommodation and a shack…
9.8 MILES
A fort has occupied this bluff guarding the mouth of the Sal River for centuries, and came into Portuguese hands in 1763. There’s not much to see of the…
11 MILES
One of Goa’s least visited but most fascinating sights is deep in the countryside at Usgalimal: a series of prehistoric petroglyphs (rock art), carved…