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Portugal Golf Trip (but with Gf, so don't get crazy)

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shadymg

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heading to spain next year with my gf to visit family i have in northern spain, and I had been hearing about how wonderful golf in Portugal was and flights lined up, so we're ending our trip in LISBON, PORTUGAL!

So now the big debate comes, where do I need to make sure I book & play (and stay?) while I'm in the area?? Not sure how many rounds I'm going to be able to get away with, but figure I'll ask for more and be happy with a few less. Not sure if LISBON is ideal, but obviously for travel I had to end the trip there, so if there's good courses there that would also be ideal and make travel with golf clubs easier. I won't have a car, so convenient locations would be ideal.

Will be going in May/June, so hopefully weather should be great.

Here are the list of the courses I found based on Top100golfcourses website, and some recommendations from some other folks. My gf has never been to Portugal, and neither of us are lay-by-the-beach-and-do-nothing types, so looking for not just the best courses, but also good areas with plenty of things for her to do in between rounds (she golfs, but doesn't love it, so can't golf everyday lol)

CourseOverall Portugal RankFrom LisbonPrice (in euro)Price (USD)
West Cliffs21hr 11 mins north€83.00$97.94
Troia3Via Ferry? just south€100.00$118.00
Oitavos Dunes433 mins west$0.00
Praia D'El Rey81hr 11 mins north€54.00$63.72
Penha Longo1131 min west$0.00
Quinta do Peru1633 min south$0.00
Royal Obidos171hr 11 mins north€69.00$81.42
Aroeira 12230 min south$0.00
Ribagolfe (1)2943 min east$0.00
Belas3630 min north$0.00
Aroeira 23730 min south$0.00
Quinta da Marinha3830 min west$0.00
CampoReal3940 min north$0.00
Santo Estevao40$0.00
Bom Sucesso41$0.00
Ribagolfe (2)4343 min east$0.00
Estoril46$0.00
Lisbon Sports Club
 
Haven't been in about a decade, but there's a good chance if you're anything like me you'll discover there's just too much to see in Lisbon to get much golf in. Make sure you save an evening to go to a Fado bar.

For the views alone I'd say go to Quinta da Marinha.
 
So West Cliffs is great and has 2 courses, so I would recommend that above all.

Penha Longa is super underrated on that silly Top 100 list; and on the flipside Oitavo Dunes is overrated.

With your ask for plenty to do West Cliffs and Penha are good choices.
 
Aroeira has two excellent courses , Penha Longa is an enjoyable track. Both provide good accommodation. I would stay north of Lisbon, Cascais , and close to the beach. Quinto do Peru is close to Aroeira and worth playing. Great seafood, try John Dory, marvellous bread, and very friendly people.
 
Does anyone happen to have some suggestions for courses in the PORTO area?


We took enough people's suggestion to rent a car and drive around, so planning on flying into Porto, driving down to Coimbra, then go to Nazare and play one of those stellar courses like West Cliffs or Obidos, then end the trip in Lisbon and play something like Penha Longo.
 
shadymg said:
Does anyone happen to have some suggestions for courses in the PORTO area?


We took enough people's suggestion to rent a car and drive around, so planning on flying into Porto, driving down to Coimbra, then go to Nazare and play one of those stellar courses like West Cliffs or Obidos, then end the trip in Lisbon and play something like Penha Longo.
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I never made the trip up because, surprisingly, there is not much good golf there. But a lot of the lads at work that took vacation there always gushed over Estela. The only other positives I heard from them was Vidago, which is about 2hrs inland.
 
This is perfect, Estela looks AMAZING!!!

So i think the trip is solidified--starting out in Porto & Playing ESTELA. Then Driving down to Vau area and playing ROYAL OBIDOS, then driving down to the lisbon area and the final course (*tear*) would be OITAVOS DUNE.

Some tough choices to make, but it doesn't seem like there's a bad call to be made. For others that have more time, my close calls were Praia D'El Rey (instead of Obidos), and then Quinta da Marinha (instead of Otitavos). Hopefully i'll be able to go back some day and check those off the list.
 
shadymg said:
This is perfect, Estela looks AMAZING!!!

So i think the trip is solidified--starting out in Porto & Playing ESTELA. Then Driving down to Vau area and playing ROYAL OBIDOS, then driving down to the lisbon area and the final course (*tear*) would be OITAVOS DUNE.

Some tough choices to make, but it doesn't seem like there's a bad call to be made. For others that have more time, my close calls were Praia D'El Rey (instead of Obidos), and then Quinta da Marinha (instead of Otitavos). Hopefully i'll be able to go back some day and check those off the list.
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Your not getting West Cliffs in? That is the best course on the west coast of Portugal.
 
West Cliffs was on my list, but a few people said Praia Del rey and Royal Obidos (in particular) were better if I only had time for one. Would love to hear others. It's SO HARD picking such few 😢
 
shadymg said:
West Cliffs was on my list, but a few people said Praia Del rey and Royal Obidos (in particular) were better if I only had time for one. Would love to hear others. It's SO HARD picking such few 😢
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Wonder what they based that on....IMO, Just on the fact that WC is on the water and RO is inland puts it above. But I know a lot of people don't like it because it is a very diffcult course. And I guess it could have gone downhill over the years - that happens.

No matter what, you will enjoy.
 
For sure ,I'll explicitly ask for some.more WC feedback because with the gf with me I'm sure she'd prefer the gorgeous ocean views. We're both decent golfers so don't mind a challenge

Thoughts on the choice of Oitavos Dunes as the last and final course (in the Cascais/Lisbon) area?

Thank you!!!
 
shadymg said:
For sure ,I'll explicitly ask for some.more WC feedback because with the gf with me I'm sure she'd prefer the gorgeous ocean views. We're both decent golfers so don't mind a challenge

Thoughts on the choice of Oitavos Dunes as the last and final course (in the Cascais/Lisbon) area?

Thank you!!!
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It is a good course, overrated imo - has a few meh holes. But it is not bad and I would suggest playing it.
 
Whoops, guess I forgot to update this thread after the trip. Long story short, it was great :) Got rained out in Porto which was an ultra bummer, but then the rest of the courses hit were spectacular -- Praia Del Rey & Oitavos Dunes.

We ended up renting a car and driving in portugal was a BREEZE. The toughest part was Porto where the streets are ULTRA narrow, but luckily every hotel i booked had parking. We drove from Porto made numerous stops and then ended up in Lisbon where the rental car dropoff was walking distance to the hotel. Best decision ever though was getting the toll pass, as those highways were empty and allowed us to coast without pressure of time or traffic. Gorgeous country, can't believe how many trees there are, and the golf was spectacular and ULTRA affordable.
 
shadymg said:
Whoops, guess I forgot to update this thread after the trip. Long story short, it was great :) Got rained out in Porto which was an ultra bummer, but then the rest of the courses hit were spectacular -- Praia Del Rey & Oitavos Dunes.

We ended up renting a car and driving in portugal was a BREEZE. The toughest part was Porto where the streets are ULTRA narrow, but luckily every hotel i booked had parking. We drove from Porto made numerous stops and then ended up in Lisbon where the rental car dropoff was walking distance to the hotel. Best decision ever though was getting the toll pass, as those highways were empty and allowed us to coast without pressure of time or traffic. Gorgeous country, can't believe how many trees there are, and the golf was spectacular and ULTRA affordable.
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When you chat with caddies in Scotland/Ireland they all speak of going to Portugal for winter golf trips. It's the Myrtle Beach of Europe. Affordable and quality golf. Glad you had a great trip.
 
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