Panaji (with Fontainhas)
A zigzag-stair church and a tiled Latin Quarter on the Mandovi
A Panaji tour in Goa's capital: the 78-step zigzag church, the tiled lanes of Fontainhas and Mandovi river cruises, about 30 km from Dabolim airport.
Overview
Panaji is the capital of Goa, built on the Mandovi estuary in Tiswadi taluka, North Goa district, and home to about 115,000 people across its metropolitan area at the 2011 census. A Panaji tour is mostly a walking day: a hilltop church, an old residential quarter and a river cruise sit within a few kilometres of one another. The drier months from October to March suit it, since heavy rain falls here from June to October and averages close to 2,900 mm a year.
The white church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception looks over the town square from a rise, reached by a symmetrical zigzag stairway of 78 steps added in the 18th century. A chapel stood on the spot in 1541 and the church itself dates from 1609. Its bell, brought from the Augustinian ruins at Old Goa, is the second largest in the state. On 8 December the building is lit up for its feast, which follows a nine-day novena.
Fontainhas, the old Latin Quarter, fills the ground between the Altinho hills and Ourem Creek. António João de Sequeira began it in 1770, and its lanes keep houses of the 18th and 19th centuries in pale yellow, green and blue under red tile roofs. The small white Chapel of St Sebastian, built in 1818 at the southern end, holds a crucifix brought from the Palace of the Inquisition at Old Goa. The quarter is compact enough to cover on foot in a morning.
Evenings belong to the river. The state tourism corporation, GTDC, runs hour-long cruises with live Goan folk songs and dances from the Santa Monica jetty beside the Mandovi bridge, and longer backwater cruises pass the Adil Shah Palace, a structure of around 1500. Miramar beach lies about 3 km west and Dona Paula about 7 km south-west.
Treat Panaji as a base as much as a destination, because its own sights fit into a day and Old Goa lies roughly 10 km to the east. Dabolim airport is about 30 km away and Mopa airport about 40 km. Karmali is the closest railway station, and Madgaon Junction is the main rail hub for the state.
Known for
A church of 1609 reached by a zigzag stairway of 78 steps
Happening soon
Updated Oct 4, 2026Feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Panaji
festivalPanaji's hilltop church is lit up for its patronal feast on 8 December, after a nine-day novena, with a fair on the square below.
Fontainhas Festival of Arts
culturalUsually in February. No dates for 2027 were found.
A yearly arts festival in Fontainhas with music, dance and art programmes, run to build awareness of Goan heritage among younger people.
Reach out to us for the confirmed datesQuick facts
Tropical monsoon climate, with summer highs around 32 C and about 2,900 mm of yearly rain, mostly from June to October.
Goa International Airport (Dabolim), about 30 km; Manohar International Airport (Mopa), about 40 km
Karmali (Konkan Railway), the closest to Panaji; Madgaon Junction
Old Goa is roughly 10 km east of Panaji.
Time the church climb for the evening, or plan around 8 December when the building is illuminated for its feast
Start a Fontainhas walk at the Chapel of St Sebastian at the southern end, and give it a morning because the quarter is small
Join a river cruise from the Santa Monica jetty beside the Mandovi bridge, and ask on the day about timings, which were not confirmed
Plan a trip to Panaji (with Fontainhas)
Tell us your dates and we will shape the route.