How To Have An Amazing Weekend Golf Break In Almancil

The Algarve is a great location for golf, even for the shortest of breaks. Its airport in Faro has regional connections on a daily basis from many regional airports to the north of Europe. Flight time is under 3 hours so it is possible to leave poor UK weather early in the morning and be playing is short sleeves the same afternoon. Portugal’s latitude means that the climate is warm for many months of the year and even in mid-winter the weather can be pleasant and the courses remain in good condition.

Almancil is a good choice for overseas golfers, as small town close to Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, excellent golf venues. There is plenty of accommodation for every budget as well.

Quinta do Lago is within the Ria Formosa Natural Park and is just 15 minutes from Faro Airport. Its courses:

• Laranjal is in an old orangery and has many hazards to test golfing skills.
• Pinheiros Altos has 27 holes so three different combinations of 18 hole play.
• Quinta do Lago North has been redesigned fairly recently and was named best new golf course in Europe in recent awards.
• Quinta do Lago South has hosted the Portuguese Open several times.
• San Lorenzo annually rated highly be Golf Magazine

Vale do Lobo has a very comprehensive calendar with specific competition weeks. It has hosted the National Open as well and there are two courses which combine parkland and links golf:

• Ocean has few rivals when it comes to a spectacular setting.
• Royal which is noted for its Par 3 island green 9th and the drive over the cliffs on the 16th.

If you just have a weekend available it is ideal to have a good selection of courses fairly close to each other. There is a well-established tourist infrastructure in the Algarve ranging for transfers and vehicle hire to accommodation for all budgets, good restaurants serving excellent local cuisine, especially fish and golf courses for players of all abilities.

If you are only in the country for a weekend you may not have time to see much of the area or take advantage of the opportunity to get lessons locally. However if a weekend is your first taste of golf in the Algarve you are likely to resolve to come back for even longer at some time in the future.