I've bumped a thread for you on tips for first timers.

Hi jimjean welcome to the forum.

Where in Goa will you be staying?

we are staying at the marinda dourada and fly out on the 19th feb for two weeks. can you tell me the best places to eat. whats the best money to take ect

Hiya and welcome,

East meets west is very very good ate there loads, and its not to far from you i dont think !!! We got our money at the atm at the airport its on your right hand side as you come out of the airport hope this is of some help to you but i know you will get a load more help from here

Pip
x

Just up the road from you is all spice one of the best,theres a couple of othere good ones near there,then go to baga to many to mention, and yes east meets west is good.

Restaurants - All Spice is 5 mins walk from your hotel and the indian food is excellent, never had a bad meal there,it gets very busy after 8pm. Down the road towards the beach you have Lila Cafe for great breakfasts and lunch, closes at 6pm. Everything they make is great. Ingo used to be a baker in a previous life, so good bread. In Baga, La Poisson Rouge has good fish dishes. Carvala Hotel has good food, and live entertainment at weekends. It attracts an eclectic mix of wealthy locals, expats, tourists and Bollywood. For excellent french food at very reasonable prices try Le Restaurant on the baga beach road towards Calangute, they also have a beach restaurant, La Plage in Ashvem. Havent been to Kim Fa for years but judging by reports on HT its still good as ever if you fancy chinese food. Oriental Thai restaurant in Calangute. Sublime in Anjuna for modern european/fusion. Basilico in Anjuna for classic italian (italian owner). Happy eating.

As for money, id take mostly travellers cheques, stirling, not US Dollors.
Travellers cheques are widely accepted in Goa, and if you happen to lose them you can get them replaced within 24hours, this is with american express travellers cheques.
But with cash, then obviously you wont get it back.

We've just got our travellers cheques, i looked high and low for commission free travellers cheques everywhere, but could only find ones with commission.

We ordered 600pounds of travellers cheques and paid 606pounds, so only an extra 6pounds for the extra security.
The rest of our holiday money we have decided to use OH's card, his bank do not charge anything to withdraw abroad, but we are still taking a couple of hundred in cash, which is for essentials such as the sweets and drinks on thje flight there and back etc.

I dont know why we are taking so much money with us, Goa is still very cheap, and i know for a fact i will be bringing back some travellers cheques, thats why i looked for the commission free buy it back facility, so you dont get charged to cash your travellers cheques back to pounds when you return .

Nicola

Hi Nicola. You really shouldnt have had to pay commssion on your travellers cheques as there are many places that do free of commssion now days. Whatever you do, dont pay any commssion on changing them back. You can always make them payable to yourself and pay them into your bank account as you would do a cheque if your bank does not cash them back free of commssion.
Jackie

thanks for the tips will let you know what we think when we get back. only five weeks to wait before we go im really looking forward to going.

keep checking on here

Jackie - believe me i searched for over 3 days for commission free sterling travellers cheques , the only commission free were foreign currency and standard travellers cheques, however it didnt apply to sterling

yummymummy

You are correct, you will have trouble buying sterling travellers cheques commission free, This is because there is no commission payable when you cash them back in on return to the UK. you can just pay them back into your bank account like any other cheque.

The issuing bank would not be making any money by issuing them for free.

They can offer foreign currency travellers cheques commission free because they make money on the exchange buy/sell rate. As there is no exchange rate when buying sterling cheques with sterling cash this doesn't apply.

I would say the £6 over the top you paid on the £600 if reasonable for the extra security you have.

You say your OHs bank account don't charge for foreign withdrawals Assuming this is Nationwide, this is the very best way to obtain you money abroad. Not only is there no charges but you get the inter bank exchange rate, not the tourist exchange rate, a much better deal.

Enjoy you Hols
Cheers
Penny Pincher Rog

Rog, thanks for that.

If i remember rightly, last year i got sterling travellers cheques commission free, i ordered £800 american express cheques from my bank, HSBC, and the posted them to me the next day, and only £800 was taken from my account.
I got back home from Goa and went into my bank to pay in the £200 travellers cheques i had left, and it was shown on my bank statement as the whole £200 had been paid in.