The other country on the Iberian Peninsula is finally getting the respect it deserves for its culture, cuisine, comforts—and great golf
For a long time, Portugal was the Rodney Dangerfield of Western European countries. While its larger neighbors drew visitors by the millions to their signature attractions, Portugal was mainly known as the home of port wine. Today, Portugal’s getting the respect it deserves—both as a feast for the senses and a playground for golfers looking for something deliciously different.
For those looking to combine exhilarating golf with high-spirited fun, the capital city of Lisbon obliges beautifully. From the ramparts of the São Jorge Castle on Lisbon’s highest hill, you can gaze across the Rio Tejo to the town of São Francisco—which is fitting, since the City of Seven Hills and California’s City by the Bay have much in common. The historic Alfama neighborhood, which sits just below the castle, is a warren of narrow, twisted streets like those of San Francisco’s Mission District. And both cities have a rich legacy of arts, gastronomy, and seafaring, which for Lisbon dates back centuries to legendary explorers like favorite son Vasco da Gama. From the riverfront neighborhood of Belém, famous for its monuments and sweet pastel de Belém breakfast pastry, to the Bairro Alto district, where the soulful notes of Portugal’s fado music accompany your nights of dining and dancing, Lisbon pulsates with a character all its own.
You don’t have to travel far to experience golf that’s just as scintillating. South of the capital near the Sado Estuary in Alentjo, the David McLay Kidd-designed Dunas course at Terras da Comporta was named Europe’s best new track in 2023. Its two nine-hole loops wind their way through stands of tall pines, with sandy waste areas widening corridors and large greens presenting accommodating targets (if you can avoid the large bunkers guarding them). Trees aside, it plays like a true links course, with lots of fun features like the half-pipe green at the par-three 6th hole. Though it’s young, it’s already a must-play.
Northwest of Lisbon in Sintra, imaginative architecture is the main draw. There, in the summer hangout of Moorish rulers and Portuguese aristocrats, grand palaces like the Pena Palace with its brightly colored onion domes and crenellated towers, the gleaming white National Palace with its conical chimneys and elaborately tiled rooms, and the Quinta da Regaleira with its comical gargoyles each beg for exploration. Just down the road, the Atlântico Course at Penha Longa Resort has hosted Portuguese Opens, and like most local courses features frequent elevation changes—plus Roman ruins and postcard views of the enchanting coastal towns of Cascais and Estoril. Set within a national park on a site of verdant, rolling foothills, Penha Longa features its own 14th-century monastery and two Michelin-star restaurants that elevate tapas to an art form.
Keep trekking north along Portugal’s dramatic Silver Coast and you’ll reach surfing country. Just south of Nazaré, where big-wave surfing is a religion (and an awe-inspiring spectator sport), strong golf awaits near the walled, medieval town of Óbidos. Topping the list—and its most difficult—is West Cliffs in Vau, a natural links where the ocean is on stage for every hole. Its tight, twisting, dunescape fairways bordered by low-lying vegetation mean you may go through multiple sleeves here; the undulating greens don’t show much mercy, either. More sandy dunes await at the out-and-back design at Oitavos Dunes in Quinta da Marinha, which has hosted four Portuguese Opens. Its rollercoaster, par-five 8th hole, the green shoehorned into the heel of a sandhill, is just one of the course’s many memorable monsters when the wind is up.
You’ll traverse the same kind of rousing dunesland at Praia D’El Rey, which has a mix of treelined and shorefront holes. The sea is in view again here, with water hazards on several of the inland holes, too. If time permits, play the parkland track at Royal Obidos next, where eons of runoff from the nearby mountains (and the hand of man) created a series of lakes that Seve Ballesteros routed 18 holes around. Along with the water, you’ll be challenged by confounding elevation changes and enough length to give your long irons a daylong workout.
In the country’s far north lies Porto, the ancient city at the mouth of the River Douro. Its timeless city center is a World Heritage site, and its waterfront Matosinhos district one of the world’s best places to gorge on fresh seafood—like cataplana, a savory stew similar to bouillabaisse. Take a sunset cruise on the Douro to gander at the miles of steeply sloped terraces where port wine grapes are cultivated and stop at whitewashed quintas, historic vineyard estates like Quinta do Bomfim, to enjoy Portugal’s most famous export. The top course nearby is Estela, a coastal layout in the resort town of Póvoa de Varzim with narrow, undulating fairways and seaside holes that are as close to a pure links experience as you’ll find in these parts.
To reach the golf-rich Algarve region on Portugal’s southern coast, it’s approximately a three-hour drive from Lisbon (or a short flight into Faro). The cobbled streets of Old Town Faro are the perfect place to seek out an intimate café or handcrafted souvenir, while to the west, the city of Lagos boasts its own cobblestones, along with 16th-century walls, nightlife that doesn’t dim ’til dawn, and close proximity to dozens of golden sand beaches.
Golf came to the Algarve in 1920, and 40 years later Englishman Henry Cotton dropped by to create the traditional parkland course that now bears his name at the posh Penina Hotel & Golf Resort. Every decade since, more courses have sprung up, and today, the Algarve’s 100-mile coastline is home to more than 30, most very affordably priced. It’s Portugal’s golf epicenter, the Myrtle Beach of Europe.
Algarve summers run hot and dry, but its shoulder seasons are pleasantly moderate, making them perfect for a golf break. If you have only a few days in the area, spend them at the Quinta do Lago Resort, which like the other large properties in the Algarve comprises multiple golf courses, accommodation options, restaurants, and other luxe amenities spread among privately owned Mediterranean-style villas. Set within the Ria Formosa nature reserve and named Europe’s Best Golf Venue in the 2024 World Golf Awards, its three tracks (North, South, and Laranjal) wind through avenues of umbrella pines and wildflowers and feature generous fairways with bold bunkering. The South Course has hosted eight Portuguese Opens and offers a day of doglegs, hill climbs, working the ball both ways, and gazing at the sea. The resort’s more-open Laranjal Course adds fragrant orange trees to the tapestry.
The Algarve’s other multi-course resort option is Vilamoura, where the nightclubs, casino, and boisterous bars and restaurants ringing the marina will make your nights as exciting as the days spent on the resort’s four high-quality courses. Its two best are Martin Hawtree’s sneakily challenging Millennium Course and the Old Course, a more forgiving and aesthetically beautiful parkland layout with several drivable par fours that present birdie opportunities if you can keep your ball out of the cork trees.
Competing with Quinta do Lago’s South Course for No. 1 honors in the region is the North Course at Monte Rei, located away from the shore in the hills northeast of Tavira. Jack Nicklaus set out to create a championship test here and may have exceeded his own expectations. Be prepared for cavernous bunkers, elevated and angled greens, and water hazards galore. Every hole here is its own private world, and none is weak. One of the more striking is the par-four 13th, where you tee off from high on a hill to a fairway pinched by dunes, then play your approach to a tabletop green with nothing beyond it but a steep drop-off to a lake below.
Back at seaside, several holes at San Lorenzo Golf Course border the beach and Ria Formosa Estuary, and while holiday homes are often in view, it’s a popular choice with a natural design and a pair of stout finishing holes on each nine that share the same ball-hungry lake. At Palmares near Lagos, the three Robert Trent Jones II nines overlook the Bay of Lagos and Meia Praia Beach from a hilltop setting that sweeps down to a handful of linksy holes near the sea. The ocean views from the course’s ubiquitous hills are gorgeous—as is the modern architecture of the hotel and residences.
Before leaving the Algarve, make sure to wander the coastal Seven Hanging Valleys Trail and marvel at the expansive beaches and giant limestone formations—or just view them from the comfort of an oceanfront café. The monkfish and prawn kabobs at O Algar in Lagoa come highly recommended. Enjoy them with a cool, crisp glass of Arinto—and, by all means, top off your day with a postprandial port as the sun goes down. Out of respect, of course.
