7 Nights BB & 5 Golf Rounds
Book Vila Galé Porto, located in the heart of Porto, is a ten-minute walk from the famous shopping street and with easy and quick access to anywhere in the city and to the airport.
Having cinema as its inspiration, common areas are decorated with pictures that recall iconic movie scenes. During your stay take the opportunity to stroll around the historical city while you are enjoying the unique golfing experience of North Portugal.
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Vidago Palace Golf Chaves, Oporto
Vidago Palace Golf sits within the grounds of the historic Vidago Palace, a Belle Époque hotel deep in the mountains of northern Portugal, near the Spanish border. The original nine holes opened in 1936, designed by the Scottish architect Philip Mackenzie Ross. In 2010, the firm Cameron & Powell, specialists in Mackenzie Ross's style, extended the course to a full eighteen holes and rebuilt it to USGA specification, working to preserve the character of the original design rather than override it.
The join between old and new is part of the course's charm. The front nine, true to its 1936 roots, plays through mature pine, oak and cedar, with tee boxes set on raised granite outcrops that are unmistakably of their era. The back nine is the more demanding half, with real elevation change that asks more of your fitness as much as your swing. Fairways stay tight throughout, and this is a course that plays harder than its length suggests.
Facilities include a driving range, golf academy, resident professionals and a clubhouse restaurant, all set against the backdrop of the Palace itself. There's no buggy GPS here, in keeping with the setting's unhurried, old-school character. For golfers heading into northern Portugal who want history alongside their golf, and don't mind a walk with real hills in it, Vidago Palace is a genuine find. (...)
Ponte de Lima Golf Club Ponte de Lima, Oporto
Ponte de Lima Golf sits in the hills above one of Portugal's oldest towns, in the rural Minho countryside around 70km north of Porto. Opened in 1995 and designed by Daniel and David Silva, the course is built as two distinct nines, each with its own name and character, meeting at a clubhouse set between them.
The front nine, Quinta de Anquião, is the hilly half, running through old cork, oak and chestnut trees with genuine elevation change and views out over the Lima Valley toward Viana do Castelo. The back nine, Quinta de Pias, drops into more level ground through vineyards and orchards, offering a different kind of test after the climbs of the first half. Reviewers consistently rate the course highly for condition, and just as consistently recommend a buggy or electric trolley for the front nine's slopes.
The clubhouse, sitting between the two nines, has a restaurant, bar, terrace, sauna, pool and tennis courts alongside the golf shop and equipment hire. A handicap certificate is required to play. For golfers exploring northern Portugal who want a genuine change of terrain from hole to hole, and don't mind a proper hill workout along the way, Ponte de Lima delivers something distinct. (...)
Estela Golf Club Póvoa de Varzim, Oporto
Estela Golf course sits on the Minho coast north of Porto, near Póvoa de Varzim, where three kilometres of natural sand dunes run straight into the Atlantic. Founded in 1987 by a group of northern Portuguese industrialists determined to bring golf to a region that had none, it was designed by the Portuguese architect Duarte Sotto-Mayor, who trained under Robert Trent Jones. It's one of the country's genuine links courses, not just a coastal course borrowing the name.
The wind decides everything here. Narrow fairways run through the dunes with barely a fairway bunker in sight, because the dunes themselves do the work. The par-4 6th is the signature hole, a tee shot over a pond to a fairway that climbs the hillside, an old windmill standing behind the green. Two lakes add further bite, and greens that run fast and true reward anyone who can flight the ball low under the breeze. Estela has hosted the Portuguese Open and the Atlantic Open Vinho Verde, among other national and European events.
The clubhouse looks out over the course and the ocean, with a restaurant, driving range and golf academy alongside. A handicap certificate is required to play. For golfers who want proper Scottish-style links golf without leaving Portugal, and don't mind the weather doing some of the talking, Estela is one of the country's real tests. (...)
Oporto Golf Club Porto, Oporto
Oporto Golf Club sits near the beaches of Espinho, south of the city, and it's the oldest golf club in Portugal. Founded in 1890 by British port wine traders as the Oporto Niblicks, it laid out a rough nine-hole links on sandy ground before growing into the full eighteen holes played today. The club still hosts the Skeffington Cup, played every year since 1891 and widely regarded as the oldest continuously run golf competition in the world.
The course itself is a genuine, old-fashioned links, remodelled over the decades by architects including Philip Mackenzie Ross and Frank Pennink. The opening hole sets the tone: a par 4 played straight into the nortada, the prevailing north wind, to a narrow, two-tiered green. The 4th and 11th are widely reckoned the hardest holes on the course, while the 16th, a par 3, is the signature hole. Both nines close with a gettable par 5, which has settled more than one competition on the final green. This is a walking course, so leave the buggy at home and take in the tradition at your own pace.
A handicap certificate is required to play, and the clubhouse, a genuine piece of Portuguese golfing history, offers a restaurant that's a longstanding favourite with members. For golfers who care about where the game in Portugal actually began, Oporto Golf Club is essential, not just another round. (...)
