Golf courses in Porto and the North

Porto and the North is Portugal's quieter, greener golf country, a world away from the busy resorts of the south. Stretched along the Atlantic from the dunes of the coast up the valleys of the Douro and Minho, the region's half-dozen courses are wrapped in the lush landscape that also produces vinho verde and port. The mood here is unhurried and authentic: fewer crowds, traditional towns and a coastline that runs from surf beaches to river estuaries. There is real variety across the six courses. Estela Golf Club is the standout for purists, a true links laid out among the rolling dunes right beside the ocean, where the wind is part of the test. Inland, Axis Golfe Ponte de Lima sits in the green hills of the Minho near the Spanish border, while Vale Pisão Golfe and Clube de Golfe da Quinta da Barca offer parkland golf in handsome river-country settings. Closer to the city, Campo de Golfe de Miramar and Golfe da Quinta do Fojo provide easy rounds within reach of Porto itself. For the travelling golfer, the appeal is the pairing of golf with one of Europe's most engaging cities, the Douro wine region just upstream, and a temperate climate that keeps play comfortable from spring through autumn.