Golf in the North & Porto

Northern Portugal is not a golf factory like the Algarve — but that is exactly its charm. It holds a handful of characterful courses steeped in history, greener and cooler than the south, and it comes with two of the country's great experiences attached: the city of Porto and the terraced Douro Valley. A morning's golf and an afternoon tasting vintage port is a hard combination to beat.

Oporto Golf Club, at Espinho just south of Porto, was founded in 1890 by British port-wine traders and is one of the oldest golf clubs on the Iberian Peninsula — home of the Skeffington Cup, one of the longest-running tournaments in the game. It is a genuine, wind-blown links by the beach, full of atmosphere and remarkable value. North of the city, Estela at Póvoa de Varzim is a rare true links on the Atlantic dunes, with greens rated among the fastest in Portugal. And inland in the spa country of Trás-os-Montes, Vidago Palace— a 1936 design by Turnberry's architect Philip Mackenzie Ross, set in the grounds of a Belle Époque palace hotel — is one of the most romantic rounds in the country.

Stay in Porto for the city and the port lodges, with Espinho a 35-minute drive south and Estela 30 minutes north; or make a night of it inland at Vidago, pairing golf with the thermal spa and the Douro. Porto has its own international airport.

In Porto, The Yeatman — a wine-themed luxury hotel across the river in Gaia, with a Michelin-starred restaurant and views over the city — is the standout, with the Pestana Porto on the riverfront a characterful alternative in the heart of the Ribeira. Inland, the restored Vidago Palace Hotel is a grand Belle Époque stay beside its own golf course and thermal spa.

Porto is a food-lover's city. Try the francesinha— the city's outrageous toasted sandwich in beer sauce — at a classic like Café Santiago, tapas at Cantinho do Avillez, or the tasting menu at The Yeatman. And no trip is complete without a tasting at one of the historic port lodges— Graham's, Taylor's or Sandeman — across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Porto itself is one of the great little cities of Europe — the steep riverside lanes of the Ribeira, the ornate Livraria Lello bookshop, the azulejo-tiled São Bento station and the Dom Luís I bridge over the Douro. Beyond it, a cruise or drive up the terraced Douro Valley— one of the world's oldest wine regions — is unforgettable, and the historic town of Guimarães, "the birthplace of Portugal," is a UNESCO World Heritage Site nearby.

It makes a characterful add-on to a Lisbon & Silver Coast trip, or see the best courses in Portugal.