Preparing for my holiday to Goa needed some planning - visas from the Indian embassy, GP for vaccinations, chemist for malaria tablets - but, all was forgotten the minute I stepped out of the airport into the hustle of bustle that is India…..

Goa is a destination of two halves. The South is home to luxurious hotels with tranquil beachfront locations and amazing seafood restaurants, the perfect place for a hotel based holiday. Palolem beach with its white sand and calm waters is a favourite, and we spent a night in a beachfront tent with breakfast served on the sand - an evening I'll never forget, I wish I was still there now……..

The North of Goa gave me a fantastic insight into what India has to offer. Our hotel was centrally located in Candolim which meant that we were within walking distance of the beach, had a variety of fantastic restaurants to eat in and a great selection of shops and stalls selling knick-knacks and souvenirs. On more than one occasion we stayed on the beach, chilling out in a beach shack until early evening, watching the sun set whilst sampling cocktails prepared by friendly locals.

Our visit to the weekly market in Anjuna was an interesting experience…. There were hundreds of stalls all bursting with colour and overflowing with goods, which is where I spent the majority of my holiday money, not on gifts for friends but on presents to myself!! Clothing, hand-made jewellery, leather bags, wooden carvings, paintings….. You name it I found it! It's great to think that this market was started by hippies in the 60s and was the place people came to trade homemade goods.

It would be difficult for me to say what my favourite part of our holiday to Goa was, I loved all of it. However, I would say the food was a highlight, not only because it was so reasonably priced but the quality and choice was unbelievable, local Indian restaurants with fish curry rice being a speciality, fine dining menus, steak restaurants, Italian, Thai, you name it, it was available and all delicious!!