2nd hole at Quinta do PeruSanto Estevao on a dry day The stunning Golden Eagle

Portugal is a great place to visit, and if you’re a golfer the Algarve has become the home-from-home for the travelling British and Irish player. It may not have the courses that our islands can boast but what Portugal does have is great golf in near-enough guaranteed sunshine – something unfortunately the great links courses in this part of Europe cannot always guarantee.

The downside to this is the five-hour-plus round of golf, but don’t worry I have a solution: you can still enjoy Portugal but just go two hours further north to Lisbon. This beautiful city not only offers some superb golf courses but currently receives only a fraction of the traffic that the Algarve gets – perfect for enjoying a game on some great designs in beautiful sunshine without having to wait on every shot or having balls flying at you from all angles.

Lisbon also offers a fantastic nightlife away from the golf course where you can enjoy the many restaurants, bars and clubs, along with two illustrious and hugely successful football clubs in Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. And for those who like a bit of local history on your golf tour, Portugal is steeped in it. The oldest city in Europe, it predates London, Paris and Rome by hundreds of years, with roots going back to the Neolithic period – check out the standing stones and related sites which still survive on Lisbon’s outskirts. Legend has it that Odysseus founded the city after the Trojan War, and around 1200BC the Phoenicians are believed to have established a trading post on one of the seven slopes above the sheltered harbour in the Tagus River estuary, from where they travelled to the so-called Islands of Tin, Scilly and Cornwall.


Quinta do Peru

Santo Estevao

Riba Golfe

Golden Eagle

Quinta da Marinha

Penha Longa

Montado Hotel & Golf Resort

Belas Clube de Campo

Riba Golfe 2

Oitavos Dunes

Royal Obidos