Anjuna Flea Market — Held on Wednesdays during the season (roughly November to April), the original and best-known Goan market, dating to the hippie era. Clothing, jewellery, textiles, handicrafts and a lot of tourist tat. Bargain hard.
Arpora Saturday Night Market — A seasonal night market with a more organised, festival-like atmosphere, including food stalls and live music.
Mapusa Friday Market — A genuine local market rather than a tourist one, where Goans actually shop. Produce, spices, chorizo sausage, and household goods. Worth going for the atmosphere.
Panaji and Margao markets — Everyday municipal markets, good for spices, produce and local goods.
Calangute and Baga market strips — Beachwear, souvenirs, and general tourist retail.
What to buy:
- Feni — Goa's local spirit, distilled from either cashew apple or coconut sap. It has protected geographical indication status. Cashew feni is the more distinctive. Note that it cannot legally be carried out of Goa in unlimited quantities and there are restrictions on transporting alcohol across state lines — check current rules.
- Cashew nuts — Goa is a major producer; buy from established shops rather than beach vendors
- Spices — from the plantations near Ponda or from Mapusa market
- Port wine and Goan wines — widely sold, variable quality
- Azulejo tiles — hand-painted ceramic tiles in the Portuguese tradition, made by a handful of Goan studios. A genuinely distinctive souvenir.
- Bebinca — the layered Goan dessert, sold in tins that travel reasonably well
- Kunbi sarees — the traditional Goan handloom, a red-and-white checked cotton weave, increasingly revived
- Crochet and lacework, a Portuguese-influenced Goan craft
- Beachwear and clothing — Goa's markets are full of it, quality varies