Friday

1) 2 p.m. Church crawl

Hire a car and driver and get your historical bearings in Goa Velha (Old Goa), the original walled Portuguese city once hailed as the Rome of the East. Goan Catholics make up about a third of the state’s population today, and their influence is palpable in every corner. You can see where it all began in Old Goa, at places like the 17th-century Basilica of Bom Jesus; the Se Cathedral, the largest Roman Catholic church built by the Portuguese in Asia, with its distinctive single belfry (the other one was struck down by lightning in 1776 and never rebuilt); and the Church of the Lady of the Mount, which has expansive views over the Mandovi River.

When plague decimated Old Goa in the 19th century, the capital was moved a few miles west to Noa Goa, or New Goa, now known as Panaji or Panjim, the capital. There, you’ll find the whitewashed Immaculate Conception Church, originally built in 1600, with zigzag steps modeled after Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga, Portugal. Stroll through Fontainhas, the colorful Latin Quarter, where you’ll find old villas splashed in shades of marigold, turquoise and emerald, and fountains and handmade Portuguese tiles aplenty. Instagram was made for neighborhoods like this.