Golf on the Lisbon & Silver Coast

The region around the Portuguese capital is the country's rising golf star — a smaller, more varied and more scenic alternative to the Algarve, with the huge bonus of one of Europe's great city breaks attached. You can pair championship golf with Lisbon, the palaces of Sintra and some of the finest coastline in Portugal, all within an hour's drive.

Within half an hour of Lisbon, Oitavos Dunes, on the Estoril–Cascais coast, is regularly ranked the number one course in the country — an Arthur Hills links-style masterpiece through Atlantic dune land with Sintra behind and Cabo da Roca on the horizon. Up in the wooded hills of Sintra, Penha Longa is a dramatic Robert Trent Jones Jr parkland in a UNESCO World Heritage landscape, and just south of the city the tree-lined Aroeira— the "Wentworth of Lisbon" — threads through dense umbrella pines.

An hour north, near the medieval town of Óbidos, the Silver Coast has emerged as one of Europe's most exciting new golf destinations. Cabell Robinson's Praia d'El Rey mixes pinewoods and true Atlantic-dune links; its neighbour West Cliffs— Cynthia Dye's spectacular 2017 links — was named the World's Best New Course on opening; and Severiano Ballesteros's Royal Óbidos rolls over the hills above the lagoon. South of the capital, the fierce Tróia links completes the picture.

Cascais and Estoril make a sophisticated seaside base for Oitavos and Penha Longa, with Lisbon and Sintra close by; the resorts around Óbidos and Peniche anchor a Silver Coast trip. Lisbon airport serves the whole region.

Cascais & Sintra

The Grande Real Villa Itália and the seafront Farol Hotel are the stylish Cascais choices; Penha Longa Resort lets you stay on the course in Sintra, and the historic Palácio de Seteais is a fairy-tale palace stay.

Silver Coast

The Praia d'El Rey Marriott and the Evolutee at Royal Óbidos put you on the golf, with the walled town of Óbidos a lovely alternative base minutes inland.

On the coast at Guincho, Fortaleza do Guinchois a Michelin-starred clifftop restaurant in an old fort, and Cascais is full of good seafood. In Lisbon, José Avillez's Belcanto is one of the finest tables in the country, while the buzzing Time Out Marketgathers the city's best cooks under one roof — and a pastel de nata from Belém is non-negotiable.

Lisbonitself is one of Europe's most beguiling cities — the Belém Tower and Jerónimos Monastery, the tram-clanking hills of the Alfama, and miradouros at every turn. The palaces of Sintra — the technicolour Pena Palace and the mysterious Quinta da Regaleira, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape — are unmissable, as is Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe. On the Silver Coast, the perfectly preserved walled town of Óbidos (try the cherry liqueur ginja in a chocolate cup) and the giant surf at Nazaré are the highlights.

Combine it with the Algarve to the south, or read the best courses in Portugal.