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Golf guide • Portugal • Northern Portugal

Golf in Porto: Atlantic links and port lodges for the nineteenth hole

Porto, in northern Portugal, has two links courses less than forty minutes from the centre: Oporto Golf Club at Espinho, founded in 1890 by British port merchants and the oldest club in the Iberian Peninsula, and Estela, laid out by Duarte Sottomayor across three kilometres of dunes north of the city. Golfers come for the seaside golf, the UNESCO-listed old town and the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, ideally between April and September.

Plan this tripUpdated

Porto has always lived by trade, and golf arrived with the wine. In 1890, Britons settled in the city for the port trade laid out nine holes in the sand: this would become Oporto Golf Club, the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula. More than a century later, the coast north and south of the city still offers what the rest of Portugal has little of: true links golf, among dunes, marram grass and Atlantic rollers.

A stay revolves around two nearby courses, Oporto Golf Club at Espinho, half an hour to the south, and Estela, thirty-five minutes to the north. The choice of courses remains modest: beyond these, allow an hour to reach Ponte de Lima, in the green Minho valley, and around an hour and a half to Vidago Palace, in the mountains of Trás-os-Montes, where you come mainly for a night in a palace hotel dating from 1910.

The rest of the time belongs to the city: the azulejo-tiled façades of the Ribeira, the Dom Luís I Bridge spanning the Douro, the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia on the far bank. Three to five nights are enough to play both links, spend a day up the Douro Valley and dine at one of the great tables of the north, with the smell of grilled sardines still drifting along the quays.

The courses

Links green among dunes and marram grass, sandy beach and Atlantic waves, maritime pines in the distance

Oporto Golf Club

  • Opened 1890
  • 18 holes
  • Par 71

At Paramos, in the municipality of Espinho, the senior Iberian club began life in 1890 as Oporto Niblicks, on ground that was almost entirely sand. The 18-hole course, the first in Portugal, opened in 1934; Philip Mackenzie Ross designed a green there in 1955 and Frank Pennink reworked the 1st in 1964, before the layout was redesigned in 1978. A par 71, it keeps the character of a flat, wind-battered links, bordered by the Porto–Lisbon railway line. An intimate, historic members' course for golfers comfortable playing the ball along the ground.

Official website

Estela Golf Club

  • Architect: Duarte Sottomayor
  • Opened 1989
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

North of Póvoa de Varzim, Estela opened in January 1989 on a strip of dunes some three kilometres long beside the Atlantic. Duarte Sottomayor, who trained under Robert Trent Jones, set tees, fairways and raised greens among the dunes, with few bunkers: miss the fairway and you end up in the marram. A par 72 of just over 6,100 metres, it hosted the Portuguese Open in 1991 and the European Seniors Championship in 1994. The sea breeze sets the day's difficulty: a course for consistent players, best played in the morning.

Signature hole. The 4th is a 175-metre par 3 across a hollow to a green bordered by the beach; the 13th, a par 5, then runs alongside the sand like a classic links.

Official website

Axis Golfe Ponte de Lima

  • Opened 1995
  • 18 holes
  • Par 71

Opened on 15 September 1995 two kilometres from Ponte de Lima, an hour north of Porto on the A3, this par 71 of 6,005 metres plays in two registers: an outward nine over the hills, climbing and falling, then a flat homeward nine in the Lima valley. The clubhouse, where holes 1, 9, 10 and 18 meet, has a swimming pool and sauna, and a hotel from the same group stands on the estate. A course for a full day out, with lunch in the old town.

Official website

Vidago Palace Golf Course

  • Architect: Philip Mackenzie Ross; Cameron & Powell
  • Opened 1936
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

In the spa park of Vidago, around an hour and a half from Porto, the course designed in 1936 by Philip Mackenzie Ross has been entirely rebuilt by Cameron & Powell as an 18-hole par 72. The first four holes play beneath the park's century-old trees, the next eleven in the Oura valley, and the last three on higher ground with views over the hills and villages. The tees are held up by low walls of local stone. Plan it with a night at the palace rather than as a day trip.

Official website

Where to stay

The Yeatman

Opened in 2010 on the hill of Vila Nova de Gaia, The Yeatman is the wine hotel of the descendants of the Yeatmans, in the port trade since 1838, and a member of Relais & Châteaux. Every room has a terrace or balcony facing the old town: ask for a Panoramic category, where the whole sweep of the Douro lies below the window. From April to October, the decanter-shaped pool awaits after golf. Espinho is half an hour away.

Casa do Conto

In March 2009, a week before it was due to open, this nineteenth-century townhouse burned down. Its architect and owner, Alexandra Grande, rebuilt it in raw concrete: just six rooms, whose ceilings carry texts in relief by six writers on the house and the city. After golf, make use of the garden and pool at Tipografia do Conto, the sister house a few minutes' walk away.

Vidago Palace Hotel

Commissioned by King Carlos I, the Vidago spa palace opened on 6 October 1910, the very year the Republic was proclaimed. The thermal spa and the clubhouse are by Álvaro Siza, and the course starts at the end of the park. Ask for a Clássico room or a junior suite on the park side, take the Chá das Cinco, served from 4pm to 6pm, and dine beneath the crystal chandeliers of the Salão Nobre.

Terrace with a stone balustrade and two glasses of red wine, tiled rooftops and a river at dusk

Where to dine

Casa de Chá da Boa Nova

Set on the rocks of Leça da Palmeira, the tea house designed by Álvaro Siza, a listed national monument, is home to Rui Paula's restaurant, holder of two Michelin stars. The Cantos menu, inspired by Camões's Lusiads, comes in six, twelve or twenty-one courses. Book lunch rather than dinner: the Atlantic breaks on the rocks beneath the windows in full daylight. An ideal stop on the way back from Estela.

O Gaveto

Opened in 1984 by Manuel Pinheiro on Rua Roberto Ivens in Matosinhos, the town of grilled fish, this marisqueira belongs first of all to the people who live nearby. Choose your fresh fish from the display and have it simply grilled, or share an arroz de marisco, a soupy seafood rice. Closed on Tuesdays; the private car park is a blessing in this neighbourhood. Twenty minutes from the centre, on the road to Estela.

Adega São Nicolau

In a lane of the Ribeira, a few steps from the river, this adega serves Porto cooking without fuss: salt-cod fritters, garlic prawns and above all filetes de polvo, fried octopus fillets served with their rice. The dining room is small and the terrace has only a few tables facing the Douro: book, and ask for one in the evening. Closed on Sundays.

Beyond golf

The Ribeira and the Dom Luís I Bridge

The historic centre, the Dom Luís I Bridge and the Serra do Pilar monastery have been inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The bridge, opened in 1886, is the work of Théophile Seyrig, a former partner of Gustave Eiffel. Walk across its upper deck at sunset, then wind back down the lanes to the Ribeira, or climb the 240 steps of the Clérigos Tower, designed by Nicolau Nasoni.

The port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia

On the south bank, facing the Ribeira, the great port houses age their wines in lodges open to visitors. A tasting of tawnies of different ages tells the story of the city and its British merchants better than anything, the very men who founded Oporto Golf Club. Set aside a late afternoon, then walk back across the bridge.

A day in the Douro Valley

Upstream, the Alto Douro, the world's first demarcated wine region under a royal charter of 1756, has been a World Heritage Site since 2001. Its schist terraces drop towards the river for kilometres. A day with a car and driver, lunch at a quinta, is the best rest between two rounds.

Terraced vineyards in autumn colours on schist slopes, a white house and a river at the bottom of the valley

When to go

April to September: Porto stays temperate, with highs of around 25 to 26°C in July and August and rarely above 30°C, and the summer is almost dry, ideal for links golf. It is also a rainy city by Mediterranean standards: from October to February, Atlantic showers are frequent, December being the wettest month. Spring and September offer the best balance of weather, course conditions and crowds.

Getting there

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), eleven kilometres north-west of the centre, is linked to the city by metro line E and is around twenty minutes by taxi. It is also the best placed for Estela, about twenty minutes to the north. A car is essential for the courses: Oporto Golf Club is half an hour to the south, Ponte de Lima an hour to the north.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course near Porto?

Estela, a par-72 links designed by Duarte Sottomayor and opened in 1989 at Póvoa de Varzim, thirty-five minutes to the north. It hosted the Portuguese Open in 1991.

What is the oldest golf club in Portugal?

Oporto Golf Club, founded in 1890 by British port merchants. It presents itself as the oldest club in the Iberian Peninsula, and its 18-hole course, opened in 1934, was the first in the country.

How many golf courses are there around Porto?

Two 18-hole links less than forty minutes from the centre: Oporto Golf Club at Espinho and Estela at Póvoa de Varzim. Ponte de Lima is an hour away, Vidago Palace around an hour and a half.

When is the best time to play golf in Porto?

From April to September, when the weather is mild and dry. From October to February, Atlantic rain is frequent.

How many days do you need for a golf trip to Porto?

Three to five nights: both links, a day in the Douro Valley and an evening in the Gaia port lodges. Add a night at Vidago Palace for a third course.

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