Guided Heritage Sightseeing Day Tour of Panjim

Explore the streets of Goa with a culture evangelist by visiting the Latin Quarters of Fontainhas, Tobacco Square, the Palace of Maquinezes, and many other places. 

Highlights

• Witness the tobacco square, which was a trading point of tobacco during the Portuguese period.
• Experience the Portuguese influence and cultural richness of Portuguese.
• Visit the temples, palaces, museums, churches, and many more. 

Detailed Overview

• Panjim Walk is led by a cultural evangelist as we trace the morphing of the city from a sleepy little retreat for the elite to become the capital of Goa in 1843 after the outbreak of plague in Old Goa.  Panjim walk is through the Latin quarters of Fontainhas, Tobacco Square, the Grand Palace of Maquinezes, the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and the Mahalakshmi Temple.

Itinerary

• The driver will pick you up from the hotel or residence in Goa at 8:00 AM.
• The guide and host for the tour will meet you here, and after a quick introduction, the tour will start.
• Begin your walk from the Latin Quarters of Fontainhas, which were the residential quarters designed for the Portuguese bureaucrats and servants.
• The walk will take you past a wishing well, the Chapel of St. Sebastian, the Temple on the hill dedicated to Lord Maruti, and the Geetanjali Gallery of modern art exhibitions.
• The next stop would be the Tobacco Square, which got its name for trading tobacco over the river. You walk past brightly coloured buildings set against the backdrop of the river Mandovi. 
• Walk to the Mermaid Garden and the statue of the world-famous hypnotist Abbe Faria. 
• The next destination in this walk is the headquarters for the International Film Festivals of India and Entertainment Society of Goa. 
• The Palace of Maquinezes or Palacio dos Maquinezes has been part of many Bollywood films. 
• You will be visiting Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, which houses a large church bell that was brought here from the fallen monastery of Old Goa. 
• In the end, you will be visiting the Mahalakshmi temple; this was the only temple constructed after acquiring permissions from the Portuguese government. 
• You are dropped back at the hotel to end the tour at last.