Vidago Palace Golf sits within the grounds of the historic Vidago Palace, a Belle Époque hotel deep in the mountains of northern Portugal, near the Spanish border. The original nine holes opened in 1936, designed by the Scottish architect Philip Mackenzie Ross. In 2010, the firm Cameron & Powell, specialists in Mackenzie Ross's style, extended the course to a full eighteen holes and rebuilt it to USGA specification, working to preserve the character of the original design rather than override it.

The join between old and new is part of the course's charm. The front nine, true to its 1936 roots, plays through mature pine, oak and cedar, with tee boxes set on raised granite outcrops that are unmistakably of their era. The back nine is the more demanding half, with real elevation change that asks more of your fitness as much as your swing. Fairways stay tight throughout, and this is a course that plays harder than its length suggests.

Facilities include a driving range, golf academy, resident professionals and a clubhouse restaurant, all set against the backdrop of the Palace itself. There's no buggy GPS here, in keeping with the setting's unhurried, old-school character. For golfers heading into northern Portugal who want history alongside their golf, and don't mind a walk with real hills in it, Vidago Palace is a genuine find.