Diu

Diu is a small, serene island off the southern tip of the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, connected to the mainland by bridges and wrapped in the gentle, time-stilled air of a former Portuguese colony — one of the most relaxed and picturesque seaside escapes in western India.

• The Portuguese ruled Diu from 1535 to 1961, and their long presence is written across the island in baroque churches, whitewashed houses, blue-shuttered lanes, and above all the magnificent Diu Fort, built between 1535 and 1541 on a seaward promontory, its massive ramparts, moat, cannons, and lighthouse looking out over the Arabian Sea.
• Within the old town stand grand Portuguese baroque-era buildings (one of them deconsecrated and now a museum).
• The island's coastline strings together fine beaches — the famous horseshoe-shaped Nagoa Beach, fringed with distinctive hoka palms (found almost nowhere else in India), and the broad Ghoghla beach to the north — while the rock-cut Naida Caves, a labyrinth of tunnels and stepped chambers from which the Portuguese quarried stone for the fort, make a captivating wander.
• The Gangeshwar Mahadev temple, set in a seaside cave where five Shivlingas are lapped by the waves at high tide, is the island's most atmospheric shrine, and the INS Khukri Memorial honours the naval ship lost in the 1971 war.
• The carved Zampa Gateway, the Sunset Point at Chakratirth, and the island's many quiet viewpoints reward a slow circuit on a rented scooter or cycle, and Diu's winter kite-flying festival fills the sky with colour.
• For vegetarian travellers, Diu sits within Gujarati food culture, so vegetarian dining is the norm — Gujarati thali, dhokla, khaman, fafda-jalebi, farsan, and fresh tender coconut and seasonal fruit along the shore.
• The best season is October to March, when the sea is calm and the island at its most welcoming.