Margao (6km) is the commercial heart of South Goa — a busy market town with a covered produce market, fabric and spice shops, and the main railway junction for the region. Worth a half-day for the market and to stock up on anything the village doesn't have.
Benaulim and Varca are the nearest beaches to the south (2km and 5km respectively), both quieter than Colva and easy to reach by scooter or bicycle in under half an hour.
Old Goa (30km north) is the UNESCO World Heritage site at the heart of Portuguese colonial Goa: the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the Se Cathedral, and a cluster of churches and convents that are the most impressive surviving monuments of Portugal's Asian empire. A full morning is barely enough.
Palolem (around 45km south) is a crescent-shaped beach that is widely considered one of the most beautiful in Goa — more sheltered, cleaner, and more dramatically scenic than Colva. The drive takes about an hour by scooter on the NH66, or longer via the back roads.
