IDENTITY CARD
Formalities Passport valid for six months after the end of the trip. Visa application via the website indianvisaonline.gov.in
Area code : + 91.
Currency Rupee (INR). 1 euro = 76 INR (Sept. 2017).
Best season From June to September, it's monsoon season, with torrential rain spoiling the holiday somewhat. The peak tourist season runs from November to February.
Time difference 3 hours 30 minutes faster than France in summer and 4 hours 30 minutes faster in winter.
Group size : This destination is best suited to small, exclusive groups. But the excellent quality of the hotels in Goa and Bombay allows much larger groups.
TO FIND OUT MORE
Indian National Tourist Board
13, bd Haussmann. 75 009 Paris - Tel. 01 45 23 30 45 - Email : indtourparis@aol.com - Internet: incredibleindia.org
GETTING THERE
Air India offers a daily service between Paris CDG and Goa via New Delhi on the outbound leg (12h flight in total), and Bombay and New Delhi on the return leg (15h25 journey time). Long-haul flights are operated by the latest-generation Boeing B787 Dreamliner 787, with 18 seats in Executive class, 49 cm wide and convertible into 180° beds, and 238 seats in Economy class. Domestic flights are operated by Airbus A321. It should be noted that Air India has a TGV Air agreement, allowing departures from 19 provincial cities.
Tel.: 01 55 35 40 11 - Internet : www.airindia.fr
Goa
HOTELS
Novotel Goa Resort & Spa
In the centre of Candolim, in a very lively district and five minutes from a popular beach... There's nothing pretentious about this Novotel, this is a seaside resort without the fuss, and you can feel it as soon as you enter, in the human-sized lobby. The best part is the landscaped garden, with its fountains and coconut trees galore. At the end: a swimming pool and a restaurant under a straw hut which lights up with a thousand lanterns in the evening and serves delicious Lusitano-Indian cuisine. The hotel has 121 rooms and a 745 m² conference centre.
Pinto Waddo, Off Candolim Road, Candolim Bardez. 40 3515 Goa. - Tel: +91 832 711 24 24 - Email: h8861-re@accor.com - Internet : www.novotel.com
Hyatt Place Goa Candolim
A lobby completely open to the bar-restaurant, very contemporary public areas, long convivial tables to help people meet... As you can see, the Hyatt Place is in the spirit of the times. And that's to be expected, given that it has only been open for just over a year. Very urban despite its proximity to the beach, it offers open-plan lounges and brown rattan sofas set in cool pools of water that cascade down in murmuring waterfalls. Directly opposite are meeting rooms, which is actually quite rare in Goa... 147 rooms. Swimming pool.
Anna Waddo, Main Candolim Road. Bardez. 40 3515 Goa. - Tel: + 91 832 716 1234 - Email: goacondolim.place@hyatt.com - Internet: goacandolim.place.hyatt.com
Taj Exotica
A marble-paved atrium that, for once, doesn't look too oversized, a tree-lined Mediterranean patio in the centre and high-quality armchairs, consoles and banquettes everywhere. That's for the central unit of the Taj Exotica, a magical place, stretched out in its entirety on a beach to the south of Goa, where the white sand stretches for miles. The rest is the same, very chic and very relaxed, seaside and sunny. The garden? English-style lawn dotted with solitary palm trees. It completely surrounds the hotel, starting on the seafront alongside the buildings of the central unit, the rooms and the villas, and stretches right down to the beach, housing a very large, beautifully landscaped swimming pool, a helipad, tennis courts and even, as India is wont to do, a cricket pitch... When it comes to catering, the Taj Exotica is not to be outdone, with five restaurants, all of very high quality. 42 rooms, 96 villas. Spa. Three meeting rooms for 40 to 400 people.
Calwaddo Benaulim, Salcete. Goa 403 716 - Tel : +91 832 668 33 33 - Email : exotica.goa@tajhotels.com - Internet : www.tajhotels.com
Bombay
HOTELS
Oberoi Trident
What a view! The whole of Bombay behind the bay windows of its rooms and suites. What style! Hyper-contemporary without being cold, ultra-precise without being reductive. The historic building on the seafront, the Trident, dates back to 1973. Its annex, built next door in 1986, is the Oberoi Mumbai. You move from one to the other without really realising it, passing through a modernity that is almost everywhere embellished with contemporary art.
Including a red piano, standing alone in the middle of the atrium, which could perfectly well be interpreted as a minimalist work. It's chic, open to the world. The rooms and suites are ad hoc.
Nariman Point - Tel : +91 22 6632 5757 - Email : reservations@oberoigroup.com
- Internet : www.oberoihotels.com
Taj Mahal Palace
More than an institution, it's a historic monument that's part of the city tours. The international gotha have all passed through its gold and crystal. This palace, built in 1903 by India's most famous businessman, Amestji N. Tata, has a soul, and what a soul it is! Untouched despite the palace's complete renovation in 2010. It shines through everywhere; in its countless lounges, bars and restaurants, in its standard rooms and in its most luxurious suites. The staff are eminently stylish, sometimes magnificent when wearing the traditional Sikh turban. A true delight. 285 rooms and suites for the Taj Mahal Palace and 258 rooms and suites for the Taj Mahal Tower, its modern annex. Six restaurants (Indian, Mediterranean, Japanese, Chinese, etc.), two of which can be fully privatised, 12 meeting rooms for 9 to 550 people. Spa, swimming pool...
Apollo Bunder - Tel: +91 22 665 3366 - Email : tmhbc.bom@tajhotels.com - Internet : www.tajhotels.com
PRIVATE HOUSE
Aida de Menez Bragança
Casa Menezes Bragança. Near Church. Chandor - Goa 403 714 - Tel: +91 2784 201. - Bookings: Judith Borges (Tel: +91 832 278 6222).
RECEPTIVE
Discover India
59/17, First Floor. Kalkaji Extension. Guru Ravi Dass Marg, New Delhi 1100 19. - Tel: +91 11 406 54 000. - Email : info@discoverindia.net - Internet : www.discoverindia.net
Representation in France (Soazig Lemoine): Tel: 06 61 78 78 83 - Email: soazig@discoverindia.net
PRACTICAL GUIDES
Le Petit Fûté South India, Backpacker's Guide South India, Lonely Planet South India.
