There are a wide range of travel & booking options open to the holiday golfer planning golf holidays in Portugal. It really comes down to how much control you want over your itinerary. Going with a tour operator can on occasion reduce the flexibility of your plans (flight times, courses available, etc) so be sure to research which flights & courses are being provided in their packages and what flexibility, if any, is available should you wish to select specific courses.
Tour Operators
There is a huge selection of golf tour operators providing full package deals offering flights, accommodation and green fees deals to the various regions. Notably, the Algarve has a lot of competition in this area so be sure to shop around and compare the deals tour operators are offering.
In picking a full package, look out for the various options and established what is included in the package. Discounted Green Fees, luxury coach transfers, car hire, apartments/hotels/villas and insurance are all key elements that the modern packages and even cheap holidays are competing on.
With the package deals, you should look for the variety of courses that are on offer, use our details of courses to establish the actual costs of playing these courses. Doing some simple maths could show that your package deal may not be the bargain you expect. A quick addition of flight costs, hotel/villa costs & green fees (averaging about €50-€80 for 18 holes of golf in the majority of Portuguese golf clubs) should be done to evaluate the package deals on offer.
With all inclusive deals that include dinners and breakfasts, be sure to take this into consideration with your itinerary of courses. If you plan renting a car and doing day trips to outlying courses and regions then it may suit you better to enjoy a relaxing evening meal at the clubhouse or whichever local village you come across. Portugal has a wonderful Mediterranean cuisine so it is worthwhile venturing out from the hotel and experiencing the atmosphere of the local eating spots.
Airlines
Other options include arranging flights and accommodation by your own means. The canny golfer should realize that there are a variety of carriers flying into Portugal. This can really benefit those who are not flexible about the dates of their trip and wish to avoid chartered timetables.
Those on a long hop journey will also find some direct flights, into Lisbon principally, but should also keep in mind the option of flying in to one of the bigger hubs (London, Paris, Barcelona) and then making a connecting flight. Keep a look out for the various consortia/alliances of airlines that offer better prices if you choose connecting flights with airlines within their consortium (e.g. the 11 airlines in the One World Alliance).
Here is the latest list we’ve been able to collate of airlines currently (Jan 2010) flying to Portugal:
| Acores | Aegean Airlines | Aer Lingus | Aeras |
| Aerocondor | Aigle | Air Berlin | Air Canada |
| Air Europa | Air France | Air Maroc | Alitalia |
| All Nippon Airways flights | American Airlines | Angola Airlines | Austrian Airlines |
| Azur | Binter | Blue Air | bmibaby |
| British Airways | Brussels Airlines | Canarias | Cathay Pacific |
| China Southern | Cimber Air | Condor | Continental Airlines |
| Croatia Airlines | Czech Airlines | Delta | EasyJet |
| Egypt Air | Finnair | Flybe | FlyNiki |
| France | Germanwings | Iberia | Japan Airlines |
| Jet2 | JetairFly | KLM | LAM |
| Lauda Air | Linhas | LOT | Lufthansa |
| Luxair | Monarch | Norwegian | Royal |
| Ryanair | Santa Barbara Airlines | SAS | SATA |
| South African Airways | Spanair | Swiss | TAAG |
| TACV | TAM | TAP | Thai Airways |
| Thomas Cook | Thomson | Transavia | TUIfly |
| Tunisair | Turkish Airlines | Ukraine Int. | United |
| US Airways | Vueling Airlines |
In addition, the following carriers are currently (Jan 2010) making the flight out to the island of Madeira:
| Acores | Aerocondor | Aigle Azur | Air Berlin |
| Air France | Austrian Airlines | Binter Canarias | Brussels Airlines |
| Cimber Air | Condor | EasyJet | FlyNiki |
| Hamburg International | JetairFly | Lauda Air | Lufthansa |
| Luxair | Santa Barbara Airlines | SAS | SATA Air |
| TAP | Thomas Cook charter | Thomson | Transavia |
| TUIfly | Ukraine International |
Booking Golf Clubs
Once flights and hotel are booked, then tee times can be booked online for the large majority of clubs. Some clubs do group together and offer special deals where you get a discount for playing/booking a selection of co-located clubs. These deals are usually advertised on the websites for each one.
The best deals though are from the online tee time booking services who receive major discounts on green fees. At the very least, some googling of green fee costs of the more elite clubs can make for major savings.
~ The Golf Holidays Portugal website also has an article that provides an overview to golfing regions in Portugal.
~ Discover the Golf Holidays Portugal Guide Top 10 Portuguese Courses.
Related Posts: Golf Holidays Portugal | Golf Holiday Algarve | Golf Madeira | Golf Lisbon and Estoril | Top 10 Golf Clubs in Portugal
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