Golf Holidays and Golf breaks in Algarve - Portugal

Ahhh, the magnificent Algarve! This amazing region in the south of Portugal was voted the Best Golf Destination in the World and this explains why many generations of golfers have experienced sheer bliss on golfing holidays and built memories for their lives. More than 300 days of sunshine, high quality accommodation, exceptional first-class local and international cuisine restaurants, a very friendly atmosphere, a beautiful coastline landscape and 39 of the best golf courses in the world. You just can't be wrong travelling to the Algarve for a golf break.

Where to Stay in the Algarve for Your Golf Holidays

The Algarve has so much to offer and such beautiful, amazing, and unique places that it will be hard to pick one to stay in.
Lagos, Alvor, Portimão, Carvoeiro in the West Algarve, Albufeira, Vilamoura, Vale do Lobo, Quinta do Lago, Faro in the centre of the Algarve.
Tavira, Altura and Monte Gordo in the East are the main locations to look for accommodation for your golf holiday in the Algarve, Portugal.

All of these resorts and towns offer plenty to choose from, including quality and fantastic hotels, villas, or apartments to combine with your selection of golf courses.

Where to play golf during your Golf Holidays in the Algarve?

The Algarve has 39 golf courses and is Europe's top golf destination, attracting players from around the world. This ideal destination for golfers of all ages and abilities has something for everyone's taste and budget.

All golf courses are parkland, with the exception of the most recent 9 holes of Palmares golf course near the beach, which feature a more links-style layout. The Algarve has different price seasons throughout the year, so you can play all year. To make it easier to find a spot, golf courses offer a variety of rates throughout the year: high, medium, and low season; early bird, prime-time, green fees with buggies included, twilight, and unlimited golf.

What to do during your golf holidays in the Algarve?

If you have a free day or two on your golf holiday, there is much you can do in your free time.

Go on a gastronomy tour, wine tour or spend a day on the magnificent blue-flagged white sandy beaches, do a boat tour, coast’s natural cave tours, dolphin sightseeing, group or private round-trip day tours and sightseeing, countryside jeep safari, quad off-road tours, historical city walking tours, wine tasting tours, horse riding, buggy safari, segway tours, and day cruises are some of the many options.

Gastronomy in Algarve during your Golf Holidays

Among the Algarve's treasures are culinary specialties, wines, desserts, and the famous medronho brandy.

Try both traditional and contemporary dishes to embark on a culinary adventure that will delight your taste buds with flavors and sensations that will astound you.

The flavors of the sea are the standard bearers for the high quality of food served in the Algarve. Restaurants have excellent, always fresh fish and seafood to transform into delectable dishes. During the summer, grilling, particularly of fresh fish, is very popular in the Algarve. Other more elaborate dishes, such as octopus rice, seafood açorda, tuna with onions, salt cod and fish stew "Caldeirada", and sea food "Cataplana," are appropriate in the mid-season and winter months.

Combine those flavors with one of the magnificent region's wines and one of the popular traditional sweets, and you've arrived at heaven.

When you think of food experiences, you will always remember your trip to the Algarve.

Shopping in Algarve during your Golf Holidays

A good meander around the shops is difficult to beat. The Algarve has an incredible selection of stores, ranging from global brands and massive shopping malls to small local shops brimming with handcrafted items, gypsy markets, and designer outlets.

Traditionally, the best bargains were linens, pottery, and leather items. That remains true today, but keep an eye out for handcrafted gems, furniture (which can be shipped! ), aromas, and gadgets. Also, keep in mind that the prices for cigarettes and liquor are extremely competitive.

Algarve - Land of Passions

There is not just one Algarve, but several. When we think of this land of light and sea, we immediately think, of course, of the beaches and holidays. From the most extensive beaches to the most hidden and secluded, only accessible by the most adventurous, the Algarve is the sand and sun route.

But there is much more to discover, from the mountains to the natural parks, including the rich built heritage -witness to the Arab and Christian heritages, which reminds us of important episodes in Algarve history.

All of this can be found in the Algarve: natural beauty and a rich culture, which we can visit in the many museums and cultural spaces in the region, or taste in the typical dishes, the regional sweets, the specialities refined and improved from generation to generation.

It is this wealth, based on the pride of welcoming visitors with open arms, that we bring to you here. From the great attractions and entertainment venues to the lesser-known activities and routes, we reveal some of the Algarve's holidays most exciting secrets. Here you will always find a unique experience, tailor made for you.

And the majestic Guadiana

Challenges us to explore the mountains, the natural parks, the banks of the majestic Guadiana. It opens its arms to sportsmen and sportswomen - from golf to motoring, hiking and adventure sports. It rewards us with some of the best gastronomy in the country.

Monte Rei Golf & Country Club is one of the places to stop, since it is the best in Portugal. But in this area you will find others equally versatile and good. If you want a refined vacation and still play golf while complementing nature.

Getting there is easy: heading south on the A2 or the comfortable IC1, coming by train or landing at Faro International Airport, the ease of access guarantees the proximity of the region - two hours from the capital and a hop from neighbouring Spain on the fast and comfortable Via do Infante.

It is also in the accessibility, in the ease with which you can connect to the world, that much of the cosmopolitanism of the Algarve lies, a meeting point for people of various nationalities, lovers of nature or entertainment, driven by the desire to spend a relaxing season with family, or to celebrate a few days of adventure, partying and entertainment among friends.

An open destination, truly democratic, with a diversified and quality offer for all pockets and all types of traveller. This is the Algarve, welcoming, dynamic, friendly and hospitable. Welcome to the kingdom of discovery!

The Guadiana and the natural parks

The river and the natural parks are unmissable attractions of the Algarve region. Discover why.

Born in Spain, the Guadiana river forms the border between Portugal and Spain, separating Vila Real de Santo António and Ayamonte.

Navigable for the last 48 kilometres, between Pomarão and Vila Real de Santo António, the Guadiana was one of the region's first "motorways", connecting the Algarve coasts with the Alentejo interior.

Up this river, the landscape is reminiscent of a painting, with the banks dotted with riverside vegetation, framed by a sinuous horizon, where the hills decorated with cistus, olive and almond trees serve as a hideaway for schist buildings and as a habitat for waterfowl, kingfishers, mallards and other aquatic birds.

In turn, the Odeite, Beliche, Foupana, Cadavais and Vascão streams, all tributaries of the right bank of the Guadiana, make their way through schist outcrops and provide shelter for birds such as the starling and the azure-winged magpie, which take refuge in the dense reeds which grow along the banks.

Natural Parks

But the majestic Guadiana is not the only natural wonder in a region that boasts two protected areas. Not far away, the Ria Formosa Natural Park is one of the Algarve's most beautiful natural assets, not only because of the variety of its ecosystems, but also because of its location.

It stretches 60 km from Quinta do Lago area to Tavira and acts as a shelter for migratory birds and very rare species.

Here you can also play golf at some of the best golf courses in Portugal such as San Lorenzo Golf Course.

The Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park covers a long stretch of coastline (74,788 hectares) from the Ribeira da Junqueira to Burgau; and a two-kilometre stretch of coastline over 100 kilometres long.

Wild, dramatic beaches, which can only be accessed by knowing the secrets of the road, are some of the attractions of an area famous for nature tourism, which you feel like visiting - whether by car, on foot or by boat.

This coast is also much sought after by divers, reminding us that in the Algarve there is always something new to experience under the surface.

Algarve - Mountains and countryside

The interior of the Central Algarve from Silves to Tavira, from the Barrocal to the Serra, is an area with many attractions to discover.

Beaches aside, it is really worth heading inland and exploring the Monchique, Espinhaço de Cão and Caldeirão mountains.

The objective is only one: to discover a different Algarve, where people live in harmony with the flavours and knowledge of the land.

Geologically, Monchique has no relationship with its surroundings and its flora is unique in the Algarve landscape.

It is likas a mountain within a mountain.

- with a scenery of streams flowing through the valleys

- of peaks where the strawberry tree grows

- and of hills where oaks, pines and chestnuts grow.

Monchique is a veritable garden of orange trees, rosemary, yams and oleanders. Between the village of Fóia and the Picota hill, this imposing mountain range is a place with a mild climate and a great variety of plant species, also known for its high quality thermal waters.

Overlooking this mountain range of great plant diversity and a mild climate are the Morgado and Álamos Golf Courses and the hotel Morgado Golf and Country Club, ideal for those seeking tranquillity on their holidays.

From where you can see the Alentejo

The village of Fóia, the highest point in the southern region of Portugal, is a natural belvedere from where it is possible to see the extensive Alentejo and the infinite maritime horizon.

This is another Algarve, with broad horizons, between undulating hills and deep valleys. Also with the green of the forests of cork-oaks, pines, holm-oaks, eucalyptus and strawberry trees living in harmony with the golden tones of the wheat and barley fields or the dark shrubs of cistus and rosemary. Curiously, in the east, the landscape changes and vegetable gardens and orchards appear.

Still further east, there is the Serra de Espinhaço de Cão, a range of small hills that descend to the sea.

The mountain has slopes full of strawberry trees and small but fertile valleys where fruit trees and a wide variety of vegetables grow. It is also inhabited by small game, mainly partridge, pigeon and rabbit.

Further south, eucalyptus trees mark the landscape which, despite everything, is transformed into magnificent colourful scenes when, in spring, the fields are covered with rockrose.

Far from the beaches but close to nature, the Algarve hills are a discovery not to be missed!