Vidago Palace Hotel Golf

Few golf experiences in Portugal carry the historical weight of Vidago Palace. The course is the companion piece to the grand Belle Époque palace hotel built in 1910, a spa resort that drew European royalty and aristocracy to this remote corner of the Trás-os-Montes region in the country's far north. The golf has roots in that same Edwardian era, though the layout was substantially redesigned by Cameron Powell and reopened in 2010 — restored alongside the palace itself after years of neglect — bringing the course properly into the modern game while respecting its storied surroundings.

The setting is unlike anything else in Portuguese golf. The course winds through dense woodland of oak, chestnut, and pine in the valley of the Avelames River, with elevation changes and a cool, green atmosphere that feels closer to northern Spain or the British Isles than to the Algarve. The climate here is genuinely fresh, even in summer.

As a hotel course, it rewards guests who take their time — walking rounds with views toward the palace's elegant copper-roofed towers serve as a reminder that this place was built for leisure done properly.