7 daysAlgarveWinter sun

A week-long Portugal golf itinerary

Portugal · Planning

The route

The beauty of the Algarve is that you barely need to move: the best courses cluster within 30–40 minutes of one another, so a single base gives you a full week of world-class golf without long drives. Base around Quinta do Lago and Almancil or lively Vilamoura, fly into Faro (20–40 minutes away), and play a round a day with time for the beach.

It is the most relaxed of golf weeks — warm winter-sun golf when the rest of Europe is frozen, firm and green courses, and green fees a fraction of a summer trip north. A car is worth having for the day trip east to Monte Rei and the run west to Lagos, but you could almost do the central week on resort shuttles. Book the marquee rounds — Monte Rei above all — well ahead; the rest can often be arranged a few days out.

Day by day

Arrive Faro — settle into the central Algarve

Land at Faro and drive twenty to forty minutes to your base around Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo or Vilamoura. Settle in, find the beach, and have an easy first dinner — Almancil, just inland, is the region's fine-dining capital and an easy drive from any of the resorts.

See the Algarve guide for bases and the full run of courses.

Quinta do Lago & San Lorenzo

Ease in on two of the Algarve's grandest: Quinta do Lago South, an eight-time Portuguese Open host through umbrella pines and lakes, and the beautiful San Lorenzo, which runs along the Ria Formosa nature reserve — many players' sentimental favourite in the country.

The Ria Formosa lagoon and its islands are worth an evening boat trip, and Almancil's restaurants are on hand for dinner.

Vale do Lobo

Play Vale do Lobo's Royal course and its famous par-3 16th, carried over a line of crumbling red cliffs above the beach — one of the most photographed holes in Europe. The gentler Ocean course alongside makes an easy second round if you want 36.

The afternoon is for the beach — Vale do Lobo and Quinta do Lago sit on some of the finest sand in the Algarve.

Vilamoura — the Old Course & the marina

Move the golf to Vilamoura for the classic Old Course, the “Grande Dame” of the Algarve — Frank Pennink's 1969 design winding through a magnificent forest of umbrella pines. Its neighbours, the Pinhal and Millennium, are easy add-ons.

Spend the evening around Vilamoura's buzzing marina — the liveliest dining and nightlife on this stretch of coast.

Monte Rei — the showpiece

Drive east — about forty-five minutes — for the special-occasion round of the week: Monte Rei, the Jack Nicklaus Signature course regularly rated the finest in Portugal. Low-volume tee sheets, a buggy for every round, roving on-course refreshments and a celebrated lunch included in the fee make it a full day rather than a quick eighteen. Golf run as pure hospitality.

The quieter eastern Algarve around Tavira and Cacela Velha is lovely, and a world away from the central resorts — worth lingering on the way back.

West to Lagos — Palmares or Amendoeira

Head west for a change of scene. Palmares, above the Bay of Lagos, is the Algarve's closest thing to a true links, tumbling down to a stretch of genuine seaside dunes; inland, Sir Nick Faldo's Amendoeira is a bold, desert-style test.

Finish with the west Algarve's scenery — a boat trip to the Benagil sea caves, or the old town and cliffs of Lagos, before the drive back.

Depart Faro

Faro is twenty to forty minutes from the central resorts. With a later flight, a final morning nine — or simply a last few hours on the beach — rounds off the week. Allow time to return the car and check in; Faro is a busy but manageable airport.

Add Lisbon & the Silver Coast

With more time, or for a different trip entirely, fly into Lisbon and play the courses around the capital: Oitavos Dunes, Penha Longa and the Silver Coast— West Cliffs, Praia d'El Rey and Royal Óbidos around Cascais and Óbidos — pairing golf with the city, the beaches of the Estoril coast and the palaces of Sintra. Two or three days added to the Algarve week, or a week in its own right.

Getting around

The central Algarve is the easiest golf-trip driving in Europe: the A22 motorway runs the length of the coast, and no course on the central week is more than forty minutes from the next. A hire car is worth having for the trips east to Monte Rei and west to Lagos, though the resorts are close enough that you never face a long haul.

Portugal drives on the right, so it is one of the more familiar trips for European and North American visitors. The A22 is a toll road using electronic tolls — most hire cars come fitted with a transponder, so check when you collect the car. All the courses offer hire sets and buggies.

What to know before you go

October to May is the prime season — warm, firm winter-sun golf when northern Europe is frozen, and the reason the Algarve is Europe's busiest winter golf destination. Midsummer is hot and better for a beach-and-golf family trip. Book Monte Rei and the Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo courses ahead in peak winter months; most others can be arranged a few days out.

Portugal uses the euro, and cards are accepted everywhere. Most courses are resort-run and take tee times online, so a self-drive trip is easy to assemble. English is widely spoken across the Algarve.

Our trip planner ties any of this into a day-by-day schedule with hotels; see also the best time to visit and what it costs.